A busy night at Warrington Hospital’s Accident & Emergency

THE Accident & Emergency Department at Warrington Hospital has been extremely busy over the Christmas and New Year Period.

Warrington Worldwide correspondent Helen Bennicke got first hand experience when a famlily member became ill late at night.

“IT’S early January and my family member has fallen ill in the middle of the night.
“I was woken by their desperate cries and the sound of an unfamiliar voice on the phone that the relative had put next to my ear.
“It was a call handler from 111 telling me that they (the family member) needed an ambulance but none was available. Could we get them to A&E? I genuinely didn’t know what the answer to this question was.
“Still groggy from deep sleep, I still thought I was dreaming.
“I probably asked stupid questions in my half wake state.
“What follows is a pen portrait of seven hours in Warrington Hospital accident & emergency department.
“We arrived shortly after 3am. The department was pretty full, yet relatively calm.
“Until about 6am only two other adults booked in as walk ins.
“I kept checking the live feed with the numbers waiting to see a medic and the waiting time. Around 32 people waiting more than four hours – as I’d expected. Numbers overall were in the high 80s and, at times, 90s.
It dipped down slightly as the night wore on. There were also ambulances parked outside with patients onboard.
“We expected a long wait and we are not complaining about the wait at all.
“It was bitterly cold and the devastating floods had hit Warrington just a day earlier.
“At one point during the night, the department’s computers went down (it was around 5am) and the staff had to resort to using paper records as they couldn’t access their details digitally.
“There were two patients who were either homeless or very vulnerable seeking out warmth inside. One kept telling the staff he was an alcoholic. The other slept across seats, meaning a pensioner moved over to me and my relative.
“She said she’d been waiting for more than 24 hours to be admitted. I wasn’t sure if this was true.
“Every couple of hours, patients’ vital signs are checked by nursing staff.
“Another patient took umbrage as my relative was asleep when they were called in to see the nurse and said it was not fair that they were being seen when they were awake.
“We both ignored this irrational outburst.
“As night turned into day, people came and went and more doctors inevitably appeared for the working day which marked the end of the festive season. No longer a Bank Holiday.
“A brilliant and very kind emergency department consultant turned up and read out a list of names of patients who were being moved to the Same Day Emergency Care. This is a modern facility near A&E where patients are typically referred by family doctors during weekdays when GP surgeries are open.
“My relative was on this list and the patients were seen in order of their arrival. The emergency room was a distant memory.
“Time expands and contracts in a hospital emergency department in the dead of night in early January.
“It’s not a place where anyone wants to find themselves. Least of all not I and my relative.
“I thank those that cared for my family member with such compassion, though, in the face of such overwhelming demand on the health service.

Ali Kennah, Chief Nurse at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals, said: “Whilst our Emergency Department continues to see extremely high demand, it is great to hear positive experiences from those who have recently attended the department.
“Our staff in the Emergency Department and Same Day Emergency Care centre work incredibly hard, particularly over the festive period, and we appreciate all the feedback we have received from patients and their families about the high-quality care, kindness and compassion our team continues to deliver.”