Total chaos in the A & E department
I fell recently and was sent to St Michaels A & E Department with a suspected broken bone in my foot. First and foremost living so far away from the hospital I had to pay 150 Euros for taxies for the return journey. (When I rang 112 for the emergency department of the HSE I encountered rudeness and sharpness which I have never encountered before. They couldn't take me to St. Michaels even though I am a pensioner. The abrasive manner I found in the emergency service was appalling.) I arrived at St. Michaels A & E at around 10.30 a.m. and found the place in chaos. There was no sign of any type of organization whatsoever. I couldn't find any trace of triage anywhere. It was a free for all. After two hours I eventually had x-rays but the porter who took me down to the x-ray department disappeared and never came back to take me back tot the department. I eventually had to push the wheelchair back myself with a broken foot. After waiting several more hours the x-ray results couldn't be found. In the meantime I had been up since 5.30 a.m. and had had nothing to eat for 8 hours so I took myself off to a restaurant as I was on the verge of collapse due to hunger. When I returned to the hospital they still couldn't find the x-rays. Eventually I was given a boot to wear to support the fracture (the nature of which I never discovered). The boot was far to big and too long and I kept falling over when wearing it. I knew it would never work as it was dangerous for me to wear it. There was no alternative. It was either the boot or nothing. There was no support of any kind given to my injury to help me walk so I had to go to Boots Chemist to buy a foot and ankle support which helped. Crutches are no longer an option nor is plaster of Paris which used to be used for damaged bones. Going to St Michael's A & E was a total waste of money and time. I would like to thank those employees who ACTUALLY WORKED which were few and far between. There was a lovely red haired lady, more mature than the rest, who seemed to hold the entire department together. She worked extremely hard while others did very little. This used to be a wonderful A & E department in the past but I would never go back again as there was no organisation anywhere that day. I was told by patients that Tallaght Hospital was worse! A young man of 17 years old was left sitting with all the sick patients for hours on end when he should have been seen first. He had had transplants in the past and was back for bloods and x-rays. There was no consideration given to this young man who with his father spent hours and hours sitting among patients with all kinds of illnesses etc. Any A & E worth its salt would have given him priority because of his transplants but none was given to this young man. All told the A & E Department in St. Michael's Hospital on Thursday was a disgrace! As I am in a great deal of pain and have no proper foot support. Following my disastrous trip to A & E in St. Michael's Hospital, a doctor from St. Vincent's Hospital contacted me and asked me to come immediately to St. Vincent's Hospital to have the x-rays and examination done again. Apparently I should never have been discharged in the way I was and as I have been walking on the broken foot, St. Vincent's Hospital fears that further damage has been done to my foot. They have sent me a proper boot in the post so that I can keep my foot off the ground in the meantime. Since writing this review (the content of which will not change) I have been to the Bone and Joint Clinic in St. Vincent's Hospital where I was given the utmost care. X-rays had to be repeated and discussed with me. I was finally fitted with an extra small boot as it was the only one to fit me. I was also given crutches in order to keep myself balanced. The care in St. Vincent's Hospital was first class unlike that in St. Michael's. In addition I was seen within a short time of arriving, x-rayed soon after and the boot and crutches given to me. It was a very quick and efficient service and I was out in 2 hours. I was 7 1/2 hours in St. Michael's and nothing done for me.
