Nursing staff 'keep hospital going'

It comes after fed-up patients at Ronkswood A&E last night were told they faced a three-hour wait to see a doctor.

"It's strange sitting on the other side of things," said one off-duty nurse, who was waiting for attention with a patient in A&E but did not want to be identified.

"The poor nurses haven't got time to even tell the patients what's going on. They're working so hard but they can't cope with the demand.

"I don't know what the answer is - probably more staff and bigger departments. I just wish people would remember that they're doing their best."

The nursing staff also won praise from Barbara Barton, from Lower Wick, whose mother was treated at A&E with a suspected heart attack last week.

She could not fault the staff in what she described as "horrendous" conditions.

"When I was there, it was particularly busy with patients on trolleys and in corridors," she said. "I can't fault the care my mother had at A&E. Everybody was so kind, but having to wait around with my dad, who's quite elderly, for a bed for my mother was just terrible."

Kath Wood, chairman of Royal College of Nurses at WRI, said nurses were powerless.

"Everybody's under pressure. But, for nurses who have to make apologies to patients and relatives for not being able to treat them, it's different to looking at situation from a distance and not having this personal contact," she said.

"It's quite distressing when they have to work under pressure and see patients short-changed, like last week, for example, when they couldn't get them out of ambulances and into the hospital.

"They can only do their job to the best of their ability - what else can they do? They can't change anything, they don't have the power to change anything.

"They probably go home feeling more distressed than if they were effectively resourced.

"They do what they have to do. They're employed to do a job, but the circumstances dictate they do it under more pressure than in an ideal world."

Tempers flare at three-hour wait

TEMPERS flared last night as patients at Worcester Royal Infirmary's A&E department left without being treated by a doctor after being told they faced a three-hour wait.

Last week ambulances were backed up for more than an hour because there were not enough beds for patients.

But in the early evening yesterday some patients left the Ronkswood site claiming they would prefer to "chance it'' at home or other medical centres than stay.

The Evening News was alerted to the problem by concerned callers.

Sarah Minton, whose two-year-old son Cameron had taken a tumble, left moments after walking into the waiting room.

"I think he might have a broken nose," said Miss Minton, of Cranham Drive, Warndon, Worcester.

"There's a notice up saying it will take three hours to get treated. I think it's disgusting. He's only two. My doctor told me to come up here, so I'm taking Cameron to Primary Care now."

One woman, who did not want to be named, said her 17-year-old daughter had suffered a suspected ectopic pregnancy.

"It's taken two-and-a-half hours for her to see a doctor," she said. "She was referred from her GP.

"I did play my face in there, but she needed to be seen. I'm extremely angry. My daughter's scared and upset. She needed to see a gynaecologist hours ago.

"Tempers were rising in that waiting room. There's nowhere to sit so a lot of people are just going home without being seen."

Paul Tyler, of Cornmeadow Lane, Claines, had waited more than four-and-a-half hours for a doctor to assess his suspected fractured wrist.

"I had it X-rayed and put in a sling, but that was it," he said. "I was in absolute agony and had to ask them for some painkillers.''

Irene Corns, of Elgar Avenue, Malvern, left A&E with a swollen wrist.

"I fell over and it really hurts," she said. "But it was chaos in there. I decided to go home and chance it for the night, but I'm in agony."

A Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spokeswoman said the forthcoming Minor Injuries Unit and Medical Assessment Unit at WRI would help ease the pressures.

"At the moment emergency patients, GP referrals and the walking wounded all come to A&E," she said.

"Under that system staff have to prioritise and that is why at busy times we are getting people waiting.

"We're not happy with this situation and we're trying everything we possibly can to resolve it."

Health watch hotline planned

Praise for staff under pressure

From P1 / 6 for a bed for my mother was just terrible."

Kath Wood, chairman of Royal College of Nurses at WRI, said nurses were powerless.

"Everybody's under pressure. But, for nurses who have to make apologies to patients and relatives for not being able to treat them, it's different to looking at situation from a distance and not having this personal contact," she said.

"It's quite distressing when they have to work under pressure and see patients short-changed, like last week, for example, when they couldn't get them out of ambulances and into the hospital.

"They can only do their job to the best of their ability - what else can they do? They can't change anything, they don't have the power to change anything.

"They probably go home feeling more distressed than if they were effectively resourced.

"They do what they have to do. They're employed to do a job, but the circumstances dictate they do it under more pressure than in an ideal world."