In A&E, a cancer patient retiree said she had to wait 11 hours because doctors thought her acute chest symptoms may be a blood clot.
When Beryl Hankin first felt a developing discomfort in her chest early one weekday, she had recently completed a round of radiation.
The 79-year-old woman from Darlington, County Durham, said she called 111 first before heading to the hospital at 7 a.m., when she encountered an impassable line.
Beryl said that there were so many people there at one time that a security guard was forced to urge individuals who weren’t patients or caregivers to reclaim space.
I thought it would be that horrible on a Friday or Saturday night, but this was a weekday at 7am, she added.
“After three hours, there were only seven hours of waiting since, in my opinion, more physicians had arrived for duty.”
The triage was completed in within 30 minutes, which was fantastic. The staff was really accommodating. Because I was so concerned that a blood clot may be deadly, I required an X-ray to confirm that there were none.
The alarming aspect was that the patient count never decreased. It simply increased.
Beryl, who runs a fair trade shop in Darlington, said that several individuals in the waiting room were becoming “restless” and “a little edgy” at this point.
‘When requested to wear a mask in a medical environment, a few individuals became upset. When employees are doing their duties, you don’t want to see individuals being nasty to them, she said.
According to Dr. Neil O’Brien, executive medical director for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), the number of people seeking assistance in the region’s emergency rooms in December was approximately 30% more than it was during the same time period in 2021.
“This has placed a tremendous amount of strain on our personnel, who have worked very hard to cope with this large increase in the number of individuals seeking medical treatment, with many patients arriving with flu, Covid-19, and respiratory issues,” the statement reads.
We’ve also seen a rise in worker illness, which has created new difficulties. We sincerely appreciate the commitment of each and every member of our teams during this very trying period.
»Cancer survivor waits 11 hours for A&E doctor with serious chest problems«