Royal Gwent A&E patients turned away due to ‘lack of doctors’

9:30am Saturday 18th August 2012 in News

'NOT ENOUGH DOCTORS': Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital's accident and emergency department had to tuen patients away 'NOT ENOUGH DOCTORS': Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital's accident and emergency department had to tuen patients away

PATIENTS waiting at Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital accident and emergency department this week were turned away because of a lack of doctors.

A woman, who did not want to be named, visited the emergency room on the advice of police after a car accident on Monday, suffering from a swollen wrist and pain in her knees, back, neck and hips.

She was seen by a triage nurse around 3.30pm who told her she needed to see a doctor.

But she said around 8pm she and around 25 others in the waiting room were addressed by a nurse practitioner who apologised that no doctors were available because they had been called to the ‘majors’ unit to deal with more serious cases.

The nurse explained she could treat those only with very minor injuries and all others would have to return in the morning or wait to be treated - but admitted she had no idea what time that would be.

As a result the injured woman went home without seeing anyone and had to make her own neck brace.

She said: "I was shocked, I totally appreciate that if a major accident come in and the majors team are busy that they need to doctors to see people, but I would have thought that in this day and age a hospital would have enough doctors."

A spokesman for the Aneurin Bevan Health Board said doctors were on duty on Monday night but said the health board, along with others in south east Wales had experienced "exceptional demand".

He added: "Depending on the nature and volume of patients attending, doctors are sometimes relocated from our minor injuries department to our 'majors' emergency department on the site when the volume and acuity of patients require this.

"During periods of extreme pressure, our staff do make patients aware of the potential for a prolonged wait and where appropriate they are made aware of the availability of alternative services."

Comments(37)

Magor says...
9:49am Sat 18 Aug 12

No doubt she will be making a claim.

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bloggsy1 says...
9:57am Sat 18 Aug 12

Perhaps the real reason there was no doctors was that they were working in the Hereford and Worcester hospital. The Royal Gwent is not fit for purpose.

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crosskeysgirl18 says...
10:23am Sat 18 Aug 12

RGH is getting more ridiculous by the minute!! This message is to the woman who made her own neck brace...Get to Leo Abse and start legal proceedings for clinical negligence. Dont suffer because of the doctors mistakes.

Why dont they employ more doctors if they are that "busy". I had to wait hours on end with my broken foot and not only that, I had to limp from the disabled car park into the waiting area! But was given pain relief 20 minutes later!

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rgh says...
10:24am Sat 18 Aug 12

Maybe too many people visit A&E when there's no need. If they were well enough to walk out they cud have waited to see there GP.

Call me suspicious bit I guess our Penelope Pitstop featured in this article wanted to see a doctor to validate her car crash compo claim. If she sat there for hours then she wasn't that bad.

Its people who waste A&E's time that cause problems like this. No wonder she didn't want to be named.

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Dixie Smith says...
10:28am Sat 18 Aug 12

I had to take my adult daughter to A&E late in the evening on 6 August and I actually had to explain my daughter's condition to the dr because he had never heard of it!!!!!!! She was put in a cubicle with other members of the public walking in and out because the way one of the cubicles is set up means members of public have to go through that cubicle to be seen in a side room. The only good member of staff was a bank nurse who took the time to speak with us and understand what was going on. The other staff couldn't have cared less.

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Dixie Smith says...
10:28am Sat 18 Aug 12

I had to take my adult daughter to A&E late in the evening on 6 August and I actually had to explain my daughter's condition to the dr because he had never heard of it!!!!!!! She was put in a cubicle with other members of the public walking in and out because the way one of the cubicles is set up means members of public have to go through that cubicle to be seen in a side room. The only good member of staff was a bank nurse who took the time to speak with us and understand what was going on. The other staff couldn't have cared less.

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spanner100 says...
12:03pm Sat 18 Aug 12

Whilst we have the current Political "CLOWNS" in control things will become much...much worse until eventually they achieve their ultimate goal....Private Medicine for those who can afford it!!!!.

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Templar05 says...
1:11pm Sat 18 Aug 12

I can see why , tending to hamster bites and scratches on knees . No wonder the wait time is so long . I worked in the A and E Department and seen what the staff and paramedics went through . God Bless them and keep up the great work . Tony Pickering , from Canada .

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Xkeys417 says...
2:14pm Sat 18 Aug 12

The poor women had to make her own neck brace? its terrible! now i can understand doctors may be needed somewhere else where a case is major! but the gwent need more doctors! they need more staff full stop! i was in the royal gwent nearly a year ago, bank holiday with stomach pains(major) had to wait all weekend for a scan 4 days of pain, told i had a water infection, couldnt offer me a scan as they were only scanning and operating on people in 'real life-threatening situations'! on the fourth day when i was in and out of Consciousness and deteriating it took 6 hours to get a doctor to me! i nearly died! was my appendix and ended up in intensive care! very poor staff levels are costing people their lives, this dosent even scratch the surface.

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Limestonecowboy says...
3:34pm Sat 18 Aug 12

A woman went to the RGH on advice of the Police would she have gone without this advice, did she need to go?

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Bobevans says...
7:00pm Sat 18 Aug 12

Limestonecowboy wrote:
A woman went to the RGH on advice of the Police would she have gone without this advice, did she need to go?
Yes she did need to go. She was adviced by the police to go. All poilice officers are trained first aiders and ost have good knowledge on the likely impact of a car crash.

To ignbore such advice could affect any possible insurance claim for injuries as well as the potential medical risk of ignoring such advice

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Bobevans says...
7:03pm Sat 18 Aug 12

bloggsy1 wrote:
Perhaps the real reason there was no doctors was that they were working in the Hereford and Worcester hospital. The Royal Gwent is not fit for purpose.
The constant excuse for this issues is exceptional demand but thy never back it up with figures. I doubt if the figure for say the past 12 months were published that it would show exceptional demand on this day.


It is about time a full public enquiry was carried out on the Royal Gwent and the constant catalogue of failures and problems that occur their

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CwmbranMark says...
7:38pm Sat 18 Aug 12

I had a similar problem when I took my mum a few months ago. She had suspected broken ribs (possible osteoperosis) and was advised by her GP to go.

We got there at 7:15pm and eventually saw a doctor at 2:45am. By the time we left it was 3:45am.

The same excuse then was that there were no doctors, as they had been called away to the majors area. They seem to be stripped back to the bone and can only cope if there is an "average" level of demand. A hospital A&E department should (within reason) be able to cope with all eventualities.

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Limestonecowboy says...
7:53pm Sat 18 Aug 12

Bobevans wrote:
Limestonecowboy wrote: A woman went to the RGH on advice of the Police would she have gone without this advice, did she need to go?
Yes she did need to go. She was adviced by the police to go. All poilice officers are trained first aiders and ost have good knowledge on the likely impact of a car crash. To ignbore such advice could affect any possible insurance claim for injuries as well as the potential medical risk of ignoring such advice
so could it be the case that a reason that A & E doctors are in such demand is for (no win no fee) insurance claim? Just spare a thought for doctors in the NHS dealing with such restricted resourses.

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Ranger12 says...
8:27am Sun 19 Aug 12

Only this week we have had reports of the public wasting the time of the 999 service. The same happens at A&E why don't people use the out of hours GP service the clue is in E emergency if you can sit for 8 hours are you an emergency? People are too quick to complain about the excellent FREE service provided. Maybe if there was a charge for attending A&E other than as a stretcher admission staff time would not be wasted and real emergencies would be dealt with immediately.

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Port/UNB says...
9:11am Sun 19 Aug 12

Ranger12 wrote:
Only this week we have had reports of the public wasting the time of the 999 service. The same happens at A&E why don't people use the out of hours GP service the clue is in E emergency if you can sit for 8 hours are you an emergency? People are too quick to complain about the excellent FREE service provided. Maybe if there was a charge for attending A&E other than as a stretcher admission staff time would not be wasted and real emergencies would be dealt with immediately.
You obviously have not got a clue. The only way to get processed into the hospital system is to wait your turn. Weather this is in A&E, or if taken in by ambulance. What do you think the out of hours GP service would do for a boken bone?. They would advise you to go staight to A&E, but you would have then wasted the GP's time first. Clue up mate.

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Outthere says...
10:34am Sun 19 Aug 12

I agree with Ranger12, let the out of hours doctors refer to A&E, they can call call first to let A&E know that they are sending someone down giving them preference over the time wasters. This would free up for what A&E should be used for and give the out of hours GP work and then if they need to increase the number of out of hours GP's on call then so be it.

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Bobevans says...
2:20pm Sun 19 Aug 12

Ranger12 wrote:
Only this week we have had reports of the public wasting the time of the 999 service. The same happens at A&E why don't people use the out of hours GP service the clue is in E emergency if you can sit for 8 hours are you an emergency? People are too quick to complain about the excellent FREE service provided. Maybe if there was a charge for attending A&E other than as a stretcher admission staff time would not be wasted and real emergencies would be dealt with immediately.
What out of hours GP service? That is practically non existant and youwould wait even longer and in most cases they would just suggest you go to A&E

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val d'is says...
2:29pm Sun 19 Aug 12

Health care in gwent is tettering on a knife edge and is only kept going by the goodwill of the staff at the front line. Where's the chief exec and medical director when all this is going on?. Increased demand is always blamed but the demand has and will always be there. Things like the Frailty scheme are promoted as the answer with the idea that keeping people at home is better than hospital but they only work between 8am-10pm thus leaving the infirm and vunerable alone through the night. I was in casualty in the RGH the other night and as per usual the ambulances were backed up outside with a queue of 7 unwell people on trollies in the corridor waiting to be seen - god knows how many were in the walking wounded side of cas. On going upstairs I was then confronted with D2E being completely empty apart from it being used as a storage area for all the beds that have been "closed" . Dont even get me started on the waiting lists and the manipulaton of these by the health board to enable them to reach their targets. The senior staff both medical and administative need to get real and start from scratch and listen to those who see what is going on but arent listened to when suggestions are made. Hopefully the Gwent will not turn into another North Stafford but I'm not holding my breath

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RugbyNo8 says...
3:02pm Sun 19 Aug 12

I had the same problem Tuesday, I had to pay £30 to get a taxi up to Abergavenny and another £30 to get back to Newport. You would think they would of combated the problem a long time ago in a big city but it's gone past a joke now. Actually do not want to go back there again !!!

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richie55 says...
9:55am Mon 20 Aug 12

I have had the misfortune to visit A&E at the RGH twice this year. The first time I collapsed in a local supermarket and after waiting over 30 mins for an ambulance with a suspected heart attack had to wait nearly an hour at the hospital to be seen by any staff. I later attended A&E with severe back and side pains and after spending 20 hours on a trolley was admitted to a ward suffering from pneumonia and was kept in for 8 days. The problems at the RGH are bad and I fear will only get worse.

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richie55 says...
9:55am Mon 20 Aug 12

I have had the misfortune to visit A&E at the RGH twice this year. The first time I collapsed in a local supermarket and after waiting over 30 mins for an ambulance with a suspected heart attack had to wait nearly an hour at the hospital to be seen by any staff. I later attended A&E with severe back and side pains and after spending 20 hours on a trolley was admitted to a ward suffering from pneumonia and was kept in for 8 days. The problems at the RGH are bad and I fear will only get worse.

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high x boy says...
12:28pm Mon 20 Aug 12

out of hours would not come out to see me because they had no drivers because of cut backs.

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bloggsy1 says...
1:28pm Mon 20 Aug 12

Out of hours GP service don't make me laugh, they're worse than the prats in the gwent

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pawnofprophecy says...
1:59pm Mon 20 Aug 12

you guy's ought to visit the gwent or nevill hall when there's a planned visit from the assembly. it's like a ghost town then. no patients, empty beds and staff trying to "look busy" for when the penpushers actually arrive.
Tell me how that actually helps anyone when hospital bosses are actually trying to make out that there is no problem, DUH!!!!

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Outthere says...
6:27pm Mon 20 Aug 12

Unfortunately that happens everywhere pawnofprophecy, you visit schools, nursing homes etc when theres a visit afoot and you get the best for that day/week only, it's the same with work, when the big bosses are arounds toilets are cleaned, carpet hoovered, smiles from supervisors and they can't do enough for you etc. The ones at the top never get to see the real world.

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corpardguy says...
11:29pm Mon 20 Aug 12

The RGH has decended into farce. Either fund and staff it properly or close it and put the staff elsewhere. For a suposed major CITY hospital it is apalling. I have had plenty of dealings with this facility through family and personal ijury/illness. The good unfortunately get tarred with the bad/don't care attitudes. Over the last 10 years there have been more (a lot more) bad publicity/stories than good. Time for a change... a BIG one. people are "dieing" for it.

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mike464 says...
11:35am Tue 21 Aug 12

hospitals should turn away non life threatening patients anyway and equip doctors surgerys with xray machine for whiplash cases etc. the ambulance service is a taxi service for people without transport these days taking the old biddy to a&e who fell and hurt her hip a week previous waiting over 3 hours for one to arrive, whilst the angry family follows behind in their car or the guy that is just lonely or the local drunk. to me to many people are going to an "emergency" case place without good reason. what should happen is the welsh ambulance service along with the royal gwent actually publish what stupid cases they deal with day in day out. but we as a nation like to bang on about the negitives. how many of these 25 people could of seen their doctors if the sugery had the right equipment? maybe all of them? leaving the hospital to deal with life threatening conditions (heart attacks, stokes etc) we are the ones to get our act together not the nhs

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Antigone12 says...
11:53am Tue 21 Aug 12

The A&E department at UHW, Cardiff has been experiencing similar problems for a long time - and it's getting worse! Nursing and medical cover is kept at a bare minimum, so staff are unable to deal with an increased number of patients. When there is any kind of major emergency situation, all resources (i.e. staff) must be diverted to that area, leaving other patients without care. Also, an increased number of binge drinkers and IV drug users coming through A&E has made the situation worse. You do have people seeking non-emergency treatment too, but sometimes, this is because they cannot get an appointment with their GP (a 2 wk wait is not unusual) or no out-of-hours GP is available. Another problem is bed-shortages. Sometimes, there are no beds on hospital wards to move A&E patients into. Therefore, A&E staff are not only being expected to provide care to patients in the unit, but also patients outside in ambulances and on trolleys. They simply can't cope with so many patients.

Central government, the Welsh Assembly and the NHS have tried to cover up poor staffing levels for far too long. Also, the centralization of services has led to a significant number of beds (inc. entire wards) being lost.

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Ranger12 says...
7:33am Wed 22 Aug 12

mike464 wrote:
hospitals should turn away non life threatening patients anyway and equip doctors surgerys with xray machine for whiplash cases etc. the ambulance service is a taxi service for people without transport these days taking the old biddy to a&e who fell and hurt her hip a week previous waiting over 3 hours for one to arrive, whilst the angry family follows behind in their car or the guy that is just lonely or the local drunk. to me to many people are going to an "emergency" case place without good reason. what should happen is the welsh ambulance service along with the royal gwent actually publish what stupid cases they deal with day in day out. but we as a nation like to bang on about the negitives. how many of these 25 people could of seen their doctors if the sugery had the right equipment? maybe all of them? leaving the hospital to deal with life threatening conditions (heart attacks, stokes etc) we are the ones to get our act together not the nhs
I totally agree there are far too many people who abuse the service which puts it under strain. Maybe if we had to pay for A & E we would have a very efficient service only dealing with emergencies

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flowerpower21 says...
4:09pm Wed 22 Aug 12

This also happened to me In march i was told to go home and come back in the morning because there were no doctors available in minors they were all in majors, the out of hours doctor in st wool as thought septacemia was setting in to my skin condition, i was on a code yellow and needed to be seen within two hours, eight hours later I was eventually seen by a very rude doctor who told me to go to my own doctor, three courses of steroids and a week in st wool as dermatology unit I can now say my skin is better.
I am still having treatment to keep the condition under control. All praise to st wool as but none to the went.

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Carrot's says...
6:37pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Go back 100 years and we would have had no treatment at all without paying. Having lived in other countries - we are very fortunate to have our NHS. In my time in Africa I met people who waited for days to see a doctor - yet in this country we seem to whnge if we have to wait in A&E for a few hours.

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Ranger12 says...
6:45pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Carrot's wrote:
Go back 100 years and we would have had no treatment at all without paying. Having lived in other countries - we are very fortunate to have our NHS. In my time in Africa I met people who waited for days to see a doctor - yet in this country we seem to whnge if we have to wait in A&E for a few hours.
Well said, we just do not appreciate how lucky we are!

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Ricci says...
9:31pm Wed 22 Aug 12

Recruit in eastern europe more doctors, they cant be any worse then the ones here! You could pay them half a salary of the doctors native here.

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Antigone12 says...
9:07am Thu 23 Aug 12

Ricci wrote:
Recruit in eastern europe more doctors, they cant be any worse then the ones here! You could pay them half a salary of the doctors native here.
Somehow, I don't think the exploitation and mistreatment of immigrants is the answer.

Most healthcare posts have been completely cut or frozen. Even if the NHS did employ a few more cheap immigrant doctors, it would not resolve the problem of chronic understaffing. Maybe Ricci thinks that the next step should be to sack all British doctors in order to replace them with cheap Eastern European ones or force all doctors to take a 50% pay cut.

A similar tactic was used in the late 1990's in Wales and didn't work. Nurse staffing levels had fallen so low that hospital wards had started closing and the next step was for hospitals to start closing. This problem was temporarily resolved by bringing in nurses from the Phillipines. These nurses were not always treated particularly well, being subjected to racial abuse from both patients and visitors. Also, many had been lied to to get them into the country. A lot of the Phillipino nurses I knew had worked in very highly skilled areas such as ITU, and had been promised jobs in those areas. Instead, they were placed in the worst areas imaginable where working conditions were appallingly bad. Many chose to return to the Phillipines, once fulfilling the conditions of their contracts.

Treating healthcare staff badly will not bring them into or keep them in this country. It will drive them out!

We must not scapegoat front-line staff anymore for the problems that exist within the NHS. We must confront the underlying, core issues and deal with them head on. Otherwise, there will be no staff and there will be no NHS.

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Ranger12 says...
7:20pm Thu 23 Aug 12

The better question would be why are British doctors not attracted to hospitals in Wales. Maybe it is the want something for nothing and then moan about it culture or maybe they do wish their children to be forced to learn welsh a language with no use what so ever. The WG really need to wake up to their inclusive ideological policies which are a turn off to the type of professional people they need to attract.

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Antigone12 says...
11:51pm Thu 23 Aug 12

Ranger12 wrote:
The better question would be why are British doctors not attracted to hospitals in Wales. Maybe it is the want something for nothing and then moan about it culture or maybe they do wish their children to be forced to learn welsh a language with no use what so ever. The WG really need to wake up to their inclusive ideological policies which are a turn off to the type of professional people they need to attract.
Part of the problem is location. British doctors are often not attracted to hospitals in more isolated parts of Wales. Another problem is that some British doctors think that they have to learn Welsh to work in Wales, and that if they don't they won't be accepted by the local community. Also, there is still a strong anti-English sentiment in some parts of Wales, deterring English doctors from accepting posts there.

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