Pensioner criticises Northampton General Hospital after two and a half hour wait in A&E book-in room

A pensioner has criticised Northampton General Hospital’s (NGH) accident and emergency department for having ‘no organisation whatsoever’.

Dorothy O’Neill took her partner Richard, who has cancer, to NGH on Thursday, February 8 at around 1:30 pm.

She said: “We wouldn’t have been down there, but my partner has cancer, and the hospital has said if anything untoward happens, then we should go to NGH.

"The nurse told us to go to the hospital and tell them we’re here, but those in the A&E department book-in room refused to do this.”

Dorothy and Richard instead found themselves waiting in a mobile building just before the A&E department for two and a half hours.

She said: “I don’t think they know what they’re doing down there. When you first arrive, you have to go into a room in a mobile block; it was pouring down with rain, it was crowded, people were having to queue outside.

“There was a gentleman in there who should have been organising things, but he was not seating people in the correct order, so people who hadn’t been there long were getting through a lot quicker than some of us who had been there a long time.

“There was no organisation whatsoever. It didn’t used to be like this; you used to queue up and be given a ticket and booked in.”

Dorothy went on to say that her partner’s chemotherapy will have to be stopped if he picks up any illness or virus, making the two and a half wait in a crowded room full of sick people very risky.

She said: “If he were to catch a virus or anything, then the hospital would not be able to give him any more chemotherapy at that moment in time; that’s why we had to go straight through, but we couldn’t.

"We had to go back on Sunday, but this time we were in an ambulance and got straight through.”

Dorothy believes hundreds of other patients have likely faced the challenges she has faced and is urging NGH to fix the issue.

A spokesperson for Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust said: "We offer our sincere apologies to Mrs O'Neill and her partner. This is not the experience we would expect for patients that should be fast tracked and we are reviewing our process to ensure this does not happen again.

“We apologise to anyone who has experienced a longer wait than usual when attending the Emergency Department Streaming Hub. We will review the communication given to patients on arrival to the Streaming Hub of what to expect from the service and will look to implement any required changes.

“We'd like to thank our local community for their patience during these times of pressure and high demand for our services.

“We are committed to improving the experience of our patients. If anyone would like to raise any concerns about their care we would encourage them to contact our PALS and complaints team via email [email protected] or phone 01604 545784."

Labour councillor Enam Haque (Castle ward) recently blasted the state of NGH, and blamed its decline on the Conservative government’s ‘systematic underfunding of the NHS’.

Councillor Haque said: “On a recent visit to NGH with my mum, I saw just how much our overwhelmed NHS is struggling under years of neglect from the Tories. Patients were spending up to six hours in ambulances, unable to be unloaded due to a lack of bed space. Paramedics were forced to stay with them while seriously ill people waited for ambulances at homes or workplaces. This is not the fault of hospital staff; they are brilliant and can't do enough for their patients, like my mum. However, they're working in outdated conditions for inadequate pay. It's no wonder staff retention is low, and we're depending on agency staff.

“Our town deserves a bigger and better hospital – a purpose-built hospital. Our population is growing, and our needs are becoming more diverse. Northampton General Hospital cannot last another 10 years the way it is."