Man waits 10 hours in agony to see doctor at Wrexham Maelor A&E

The 21-year-old, from Alltami, was taken to the Maelor at 10.30pm on Saturday after suffering pain in the right side of his abdomen - a symptom of appendicitis.

Due to covid restrictions, his mother, who has asked for the family not to be named, said he endured a ten hour wait to be seen without pain killers or a bed to lie down on.

They were faced with a sign on the hospital door saying there would be a ten hour wait to see a doctor - a sign that was later amended to 16 hours.

Sign at Wrexham Maelor's ED.

After speaking to her son by phone, she compared his experience in the waiting room to being in a torture chamber.

“It’s just unbelievable. It felt like a Third World Country.”

“The power is in the hands of the triage, but they can only do so much. There must’ve been a reason why they said they can’t give him pain killers until he’d seen the doctor and had the bloods back. But the doctor was ten hours away, so he had to endure almost ten hours of pain.

“He was sat in A&E for hours on end, it was almost like a torture chamber for him.”

“I said what is your pain like? He said it was eight when I dropped him off. When I spoke to him later he said nine out of ten.

“He said it was the worst pain he has ever experienced.”

The 21-year-old was given pain killers at about 8am on Sunday, shortly before seeing a doctor.

After undergoing an operation for appendicitis, he is now recovering at the Maelor.

His mother described having the choice of turning left or right to their Flintshire home to attend the Countess of Chester or Wrexham Maelor.

But she said their was no clear way of knowing which to choose in an emergency.

“I couldn’t get to that hospital quick enough,” she said.

“I thought I’d take him myself as I thought they’d take him straight through. But he was forced to sit in the most uncomfortable of chairs for hours on end without being able to lay down. Even when he was able to go to see a doctor he had to go back into the same room to wait as their were no bays or side rooms available for him to go into.”

She said she has no criticism of the hospital’s medical staff or the job under desperate circumstances, but she is concerned that “the system is broken”.

She added: “They said he was the highest priority they had in the waiting room, but the fact remains that there were six ambulances waiting outside and the doctor on duty was involved in resus and other emergencies. I can fully appreciate that, and I absolutely respect the job that they do. What is concerning me is that’s it not going to be too much longer where people are dying in the waiting room. And this is no criticism of the staff and the job they do, it’s the fact that the resources simply aren’t there.”

She added: “You’ve just got to do everything you can to take care of yourself. Because, oh my god, if you don’t this is what you have to expect if you need hospital treatment.

“I don’t think my son is completely out of the woods yet, and I’m wondering if that could’ve been prevented if he’d been seen sooner.”

Wrexham Maelor Hospital

Emergency services have been stretched during the pandemic, with demand exceptionally high recently, and Betsi Cadwalader University Health Board encourages patients who have experienced issues to contact them so services can be improved.

Dr Steve Stanaway, Medical Director at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said: “We are very sorry to hear one of our patients is unhappy with the care they received and we would encourage them to contact us directly with any concerns. That way we can look at individual issues and pick out relevant details to see where we can improve as well as offer an adequate explanation to the patient.

“The last few months have been exceptionally busy for our Emergency Department, resulting in longer waiting times than usual, despite the best efforts of our nursing and medical staff.

“Patients are always prioritised according to their clinical need and monitored throughout their time in our Emergency Department, which is still operating under reduced capacity given the changes we have had to make as a result of COVID-19.

“The safety of our patients and staff is our highest priority. To help protect often vulnerable people in the current environment patients attending our Emergency Department should visit alone unless they need a carer, for example with visual, hearing or mobility impairment, dementia or other carer needs. This is to ensure we are able to comply with social distancing in our waiting room.

“We would also ask the public to help us; patients who do not need full emergency hospital treatment may find that they can get appropriate advice and care from other NHS services, including our minor injuries units and local pharmacies. Please visit the BCUHB website or contact NHS 111 for advice if you are unsure where to go.”