Szekeres Judit

Review of Whittington Health

I'd like to share my experience in the Emergency R...

I'd like to share my experience in the Emergency Room last night - the most disappointing and outraging experience I've ever had in London. I had to take my friend in who had a sudden vertigo attack and have been unstable for a couple of hours. After consulting 111, we were advised to go to Whittington ER. After the assessment we were waiting in the cold, drafty waiting area from 8.50pm, until midnight, when we finally gave up and left.
The long wait time on it's own not the biggest issue - being an Emergency room, I understand that waiting times can vary. That said, it wasn't busy.

What really made us leave is the overall atmosphere and maintenance.

During the 3 hours, there wasn't a single cleaning staff tidying up the floors and attending to the rest rooms. There was litter on the floor everywhere and the hospital workers were rather navigating around the debris, then arranging for cleaning staff to take care of it. I've never seen anything like it.

We've seen security staff coming in and out, but no real safety attendance. So much so, that at a certain point an old man showed up, begging for money and cigarettes to everyone in the waiting area.
Instead of a security person escorting this man out or into the main hospital area where he might escaped from, he was allowed to loiter around in his tattered, soiled clothing. Nobody at the front desk seem to notice, or care enough to call for help. The man left but then appeared again about an hour later, asking for a cigarette. He then sat down next to a group of guys, managed to get a cigarette, and a short while later walked out to smoke it. As he moved, it was obvious that he has freshly wet himself. He lit up the cigarette around the ER entrance in a way that the smoke was coming back into the waiting area. At that point many of the waiting parties murmured a bit, as it clearly crossed a line.... As we have seen many of the staff leaving at midnight, I said to my friend that we should leave, as the hospital did not make the impression of a place where we will receive adequate care for the health issue at hand.
Other parts of the hospital might provide a better care, but the ER room was a true disappointment.