"A&E admission for my grandmother"

About: The Ulster Hospital / Emergency Department The Ulster Hospital Emergency Department BT16 1RH

Posted by Chlwf57 (as a relative), last month

My grandmother was admitted to A&E with pneumonia following a bad chest infection. My mum and I were pleased that she was seen so promptly by staff and was triaged shortly after we arrived.
I appreciate the immense pressures on our health service, especially in an emergency department, but I was incredibly let down by the lack of interpersonal skills displayed by medics.
After administering antibiotics and steroids to my grandmother, she expressed to me that she didn’t feel well and began shaking. In the seconds that followed, she began to seize up and was unable to communicate coherently.
No staff were coming to our aid despite me asking several times for someone to help.
As I am sure anyone would appreciate, this was a terrifying scenario to be in seeing your loved one change so suddenly.
I will be the first to admit that I did then begin to shout because I was panicked and needed reassurance from staff who understood why this was happening to my grandmother.
As they attended to her, I asked one of the surrounding staff to explain to me what was happening.
I was met with a hand up in front of my face and told to stop being dramatic. As aforementioned, I appreciate the pressures all staff are under but feel a little bit of reassurance would have gone a long way.
I myself work in a regional hospital and meet patients/families every day who feel let down by the lack of communication/personality from medical professionals.
As per the trusts values, I believe it’s important we are honest and transparent as possible with those we care for. This was not the case for our experience.
I would however like to pass my greatest thanks to the nurses who are continuing to care for my grandmother. They are truly worth their weight in gold and have been totally transparent with us throughout a confusing and scary time.

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Responses

Jennifer Nicholson

Lead Nurse - Emergency Care, Emergency Medicine - A&E,

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 28/01/2025 at 16:55

Published on Care Opinion at 16:55

Hi Chlwf57
Thank you for taking the time to tell us of you and your grandmother's experience when attending ED at the Ulster Hospital. Thank you for your comments recognising the pressure staff, the health service especially ED is experiencing continually and the excellent supportive nursing care received.
It is disappointing to hear you didn't receive help when your grandmother became unwell and it is appreciated it was a frightening experience for you all. I will raise it with the medical leads and remind them of the need to respond appropriately and communicate clearly at all times at what is a difficult experience for those involved. The behaviour you experienced is not what we would support and I sincerely apologise you did not get the help you needed.
I hope your grandmother is improving, best wishes to you all at this difficult time.
Kind Regards
Jenny
Lead Nurse

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