Hospital bosses respond to father’s nightmare experience at A and E
Health / Sat 27th Sep 2025 at 09:39am
AS you may have seen, we have just published a letter to the editor, regarding one reader’s experience at the Accident and Emergency at Princess Alexandra Hospital on Thursday night.
We have given the hospital a right of reply.
Sharon McNally, chief nurse and deputy chief executive at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT), said: “There was an extremely high demand for our services from seriously unwell patients with life-threatening conditions and a high number of ambulances yesterday (Thursday 25 September).
Consequently, your reader’s son and other patients experienced very long waits for treatment in our emergency department (ED).
“Patient safety is always our absolute priority and we ensure that patients are triaged and seen in order of clinical need, with the sickest patients seen first.
“We are preparing to pilot a new streaming process aimed at urgently improving patient experience in ED and we are reviewing our processes to improve patient flow across the hospital.
“We are unable to comment further on individual cases. We are very sorry to hear of his poor experience in ED and would like the opportunity to investigate this further.
We encourage him to contact the patient experience team on 01279 827084 or [email protected]for further support.”
Julian
2025-09-27 09:59:37
They kept my daughter at the hospital for 10 hours she had no had a wee for 17 hours. They did not scan her bladder to check for any blockages. She Then managed to dribble a bit of wee out. They then said she could go home. I asked if they would check her urine for infection they said no. I asked to see someone else, and they said there wasn't anyone else. I took her private the next morning low and behold she had a urine infection! I won't be going to this hospital again I would rather drive to London.
Mr Bean
2025-09-27 10:21:35
They need to make their minds up, is it high demand or is it the process that needs fixing? If high demand cannot be accommodated then they need more capacity. It's not going to be the same number of patients every day, they need some spare capacity for the busier times. Then in the quieter times perhaps people would get seen immediate, imagine that. Also, there is no need for a trip to Las Vegas to sort these problems out, before you start planning that one.
Carley Pearson
2025-09-27 10:40:51
They failed in my daughter care, she had her tonsils out in May 2025 at Barnet hospital, when she come home she bleed out bad was taking to hospital by ambulance, we was told they would transfer her to broomfield we waiting 3 hours for an ambulance for transport by that time my daughter was bleeding for hours tongue swelled up no doctors come and see her until me and her dad kicked off to the point she was actually bring up black tar blood.. they told us they had to react quick as she would of died on way to broomfield or 10 mins from death here.. she need second operation 12 hours apart from first operation to close a blood vessel that wasn’t closed properly from Barnet hospital… NHS failed my daughter and she only 5 luckily she’s still here today
David Forman
2025-09-27 12:08:38
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine published research in January this based on surveys of 71 Emergency Departments (ED). Only 11 said they "were confident that their ED could adequately respond to a major incident." Also, 63 ED's reported that their hospital’s major incident plan required them to clear the ED but only six of the 63 thought this was achievable." Dr Adrian Boyle, President of The Royal College of Emergency Medicine said: “Just this week we have seen how sorely unprepared the health system is to deal with events as predictable as a surge in flu and cold weather." See RCEM research at https://rcem.ac.uk/press-release/emergency-departments-too-crowded-to-cope-with-a-disaster/
David Forman
2025-09-27 12:11:27
It's clear to me having read the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's research that hospital bosses like Sharon McNally are acting as unpaid PR staff for failed government policies.
Adam
2025-09-27 13:56:52
We need to stop treating the NHS and its staff like a sacred cow. It is largely poor and its staff are largely idle and gaming the system doing as little as possible. Sure the low paid health care assistants might be run of their feet but the nurses and drs are not. Same for GPs most are part time.
Tim smith
2025-09-27 23:14:22
You seriously are a cretin adam, you have no idea how hard nurses and doctors work, you try and stand on your feet for 13 hour shifts and look after 10+ patients, youre constantly knocking the staff at pah when you have no idea what goes on, you really need to get a life.
Adam
2025-09-28 01:11:41
Tim Smith - I knock them as they deserve it, they nearly killed my wife and child in child birth. It was obvious what was happening and going to happen but despite my polite comments and requests I was ignored while consultants made stupid decisions and ignored reality. Driving to an outcome which was entirely avoidable (as they ignored notes etc) then when asked why it went so wrong notes etc disappear and ranks are closed and student midwife blamed. So I care not they stand on their feet for 10 hours a day I care they are arrogant and evidently poorly trained. It is no fun to be holding your new born son while your wife is bleeding to death due to the NHS mistakes, thankfully she was OK eventually, but it is a few hours I never want to experience. The NHS largest problem is its staff and their attitudes especially the arrogance of consultants, the rest of the world has functional health services I suggest we follow the same approach.
Max
2025-09-28 06:46:47
Adam you have no idea what you are talking about! I wish to see you working in the condition like nurses and doctors in a hospital,you wouldn't survive even 3hours!
Adam
2025-09-28 16:29:25
Max - I work 100 hours a week every week running multiple businesses. The fact remains my point about the NHS being so bad it nearly killed two people close to me is missed. It also killed my friend many years ago at PAH when they failed to treat his heart attack. Sorry the NHS is an utter shambles and its staff like any failing organisation bare responsibility
Liz
2025-09-28 22:51:46
When was the last time you sat in a busy doctors surgery ? When you ring 111 for advice they say you need to go to the hospital ! If these two places were working properly and treated people that really shouldn’t be sitting in AE .A few years back each doctor surgery had an out of hours number , you called and you got to see a doctor , bring it back . The hospital AE wouldn’t be so packed .. The system is broke , due to long work hours ,break down of communication between individuals and department .The management of teams .. Certainly don’t expect a pillow if your admitted
Tim smith
2025-09-29 10:44:22
You can't tar every nurse and doctor because you had one bad experience, there is poor staff in every profession up and down the country, agreed the nhs is a mess but blaming every nurse and doctor is just plain stupid.
Student nurse
2025-09-30 17:01:24
Pah is an extremely over subscribed hospital. The wait times reflect the sheer volume of people attending for often minor ailments that should be dealt with by a gp or 111 service. Individuals need to be responsible when making choices about appropriate care for their needs. A strained limb does not require emergency treatment. These unnecessary visits result in the extremely unwell patients waiting to enter the hospital, meaning ambulances are backed up. It is not the incompetence of staff that causes delays. Yes they are human and mistakes are sometimes made but it is not due to carelessness or duress, rather the stress of an extremely busy and fast paced environment. I have recently had a long placement in A and E at PAH and I can assure those nurses work tirelessly for 13hrs a day rarely getting their breaks. So please don’t judge them if you see them stop for a second to take a sip of water, to sit and rest their backs for a minute, or to exchange a smile to each other. Their own mental and physical health needs to be maintained to give you the best version of themselves. I completely accept that sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be fixed with an apology and I sympathise with anyone in that situation and encourage you to seek further clarity and support.
Katie
2025-09-30 20:18:42
I went to PAH A&E two weeks ago after being sent there by a 25 year qualified neurosurgeon, following breathing issues whilst laying down & difficulty swallowing. The neurosurgeon (seen privately because of poor care at Addenbrookes) was concerned that since a neck brace I had removed three days earlier (applied because of a neck & skull fracture) meant that my neck was now unstable & I could have had spinal cord injuries. 10 hours at PAH for them to do absolutely nothing, apart from look at the back of my throat!! The nurses were very busy but the care assistants I spoke to & pharmacy nurse were working at snail’s pace. Plus, the consultants had an hour where there were no new patients taken in (so clearly having lunch)! PAH is not half as busy as the 5 other hospitals I have attended their A&E departments for one reason or another. 5 weeks in Addenbrookes & there were multiple lazy workers with a few nurses who were genuinely busy & working harder because of either lazy permanent staff or the many ‘bank’ nurses. After 10 hours at PAH the day before, I yet again, had to pay privately to see a neurosurgeon the next day & in turn had to pay for an MRI (for the second time). Although I don’t fully agree with the wording, having spent a lot of time in hospitals, I actually agree with Adam. Some of the doctors & nurses are incredible but they are drowning in the system & are overworked, made worse by lazy co-workers. The NHS is unfortunately a dying system. It’s at the stage where it is in such crisis that it cannot provide people the treatment & care that they need safely.
Maxine
2025-10-01 16:13:39
My mum died in Dec 24 due to the incompetence of the staff in PAH - she urinated twice whilst held in ED I was on the phone for 50 mins whilst she called for help. They failed to talk to the family about her health conditions - They failed to tell the family how ill she was and what was wrong with her- no consultants called us despite numerous requests - on the day she died they left her sitting up in a ward with the curtains open and uncovered for the world to see. Totally undignified!!!! But it’s ok they said sorry it won’t happen again!!!!! The hospital is a sham and I feel sorry for anyone ever sent there!!
Michelle Barham
2025-10-04 10:18:29
This hospital killed my mum back in november 2023 surprisingly emergency department were amazing. It's was once my mum got put onto the ward from Penn ward to kingsmore where they left ger to slowly suffer then die. We had to have inquest hearing where negligence was proven. And what do we have no mum lives ruined and a patronising letter of apology. My mums story is not the 1st nor will be the last
Alex
2025-10-04 19:51:35
Same happened to my husband, failed to include family with care & candour. He was left crying in pain, ignored, left to die alone, i was told they phoned to tell me, which was a lie. I had no phone call or time if death, I went to visit & found him dead in the bed, I know he died alone, unforgivable. Our son didn't get to see him again. That's how i found out he had passed, no warning whatsoever. This was Lister ward, changes promised, i have heard its no better. He could have been sent home to die, where he wanted to be with me, I didn't get to say goodbye because I wasn't told. They knew he was end of life but failed to tell us, they do not care, some do, some don't. No one should die in pain. My complaint took months for them to reply??
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