A NEWLYWED bride has described waiting seven hours for medical treatment in agony at South West Acute Hospital’s (SWAH) Emergency Department the day after her wedding as staff struggled to deal with the surge in demand over the New Year period.


“Crippled in pain” from a kidney infection, the Enniskillen woman, who does not wish to be named, has outlined that over the course of her stay in SWAH, she was moved from trolleys, beds and various wards as the number of people attending Accident and Emergency increased.
Her four-day ordeal at the acute facility, which she describes as “one of the worst experiences of my life” provides an insight into the pressures staff were placed under over the Christmas and New Year period at SWAH.


Over the festive holidays the Emergency Department breached its four hour waiting time target on more than one occasion.
And it was the same story at the weekend, when the average waiting time peaked at over seven hours on Sunday morning.


Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, the Enniskillen bride has described being given a trolley in a side room, only to be woken by staff in the early hours of the morning, telling her they needed it for another patient.


The bride had been suffering for a month with Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) which, despite prescribed antibiotics, had left her with a crippling pain on her left side, just three days before her wedding on New Years Eve.


“Having phoned my GP to be told he was off on leave and his substitute was extremely busy, I tried various other pharmaceutical remedies to try and ease the pain for my big day,” she recalled.
“But I went through the day pumping myself with pain relief and using a heat pack, however come the end of the day it was clear my UTI had become very nasty -- I had a raging temperature but felt so cold.”
The following day, New Year’s Day, she telephoned WestDoc.


“I saw a doctor at 1.55pm, he checked me over and said it was pretty nasty and my temperature was high so he’d have to admit me.”
She was told that as Ward One was full in SWAH, she would have to be admitted via A and E.


“I was sent to A and E around 2.30pm and I wasn’t initially annoyed as there were only four others there. I thought I’d be seen pretty quickly, especially considering they knew what was wrong with me,” she explained.


“However as the hours passed, it quickly became a lot more busy and soon most seats were taken.”
Although initially seen at 4.30pm by a doctor, this was only to have her bloods taken.


“At this stage I asked could I go home and come back as I felt really unwell and sitting was really aggravating my side pain,” she told The Impartial Reporter.
“I was given stronger pain relief and told to go back to the waiting room.”


It was 8pm before she was next seen.
“I was told I had a really nasty infection which had travelled to my left kidney and I needed to be put on two IV antibiotics, however they were really busy and didn’t have any side rooms, beds or wards with free beds at that time -- I would just have to wait.”
At 9.30pm a nurse brought her to the plaster room and administrated the first batch of antibiotics.


“I sat then until 10pm, when they got me a trolley in a side room,” said the bride, “But at 1am a nurse woke me to tell me that they actually needed the trolley I was lying on and I would need to move to the corridor.
“I said: ‘I’m sorry but if you are asking me to go and sit in the corridor, I’ll ring my husband to come and collect me as sitting only aggravates the pain’.”


A proper bed was eventually located, but staff had to put it in what the newlywed has described as a “storeroom” with two other patients.
“ They had found me a proper hospital bed, however had to put it in a room that wasn’t in use with two other patients -- in my eyes the room was a storeroom.


“I spent the night there listening to my IV drip beeping in my ear as the staff were too busy to come and shut it off after it had done,” she said.


The following day, January 2, she was told she would be transferred to Ward Eight -- the only ward with a free bed.
“I was greeted by some lovely ladies who got me settled pretty quickly and I began to feel a little better already, only to be told at 6.30pm that another patient was coming in who needed the bed.”
She was then transferred to the Day Procedure Unit (DPU).
“Only I was so ill, I wouldn’t have stayed,” insists the Enniskillen woman.


“That first night was the worst, because it’s not a ward that opens after 6pm. So there was no heat. I have an app on my phone that tells you the temperature and it recorded it as 2 degrees at 1am.
“This make shift ward didn’t have any of the medication or tools needed to care for the patients, so nurses were having to run here, there and everywhere to get them.”


Although allowed to return home a few days later, the Enniskillen woman says she believes she wasn’t well enough to be discharged.
“But I wasn’t staying there a minute longer,” she added.


“I can’t fault the nursing staff in any way.
“Each and every one I met was so lovely and genuinely did everything they could to make me better and more comfortable.
“It is an absolute disgrace that they are being made work under those conditions.”


She believes an investigation into how SWAH is being run is required.
“The hospital is clearly understaffed,” she said, “There’s no way on earth a hospital so big hasn’t enough beds in wards for people.
“I know my bloods still show a scary level of infection, but with the current set up I wasn’t getting sleep nor rest so I wasn’t going to get better by being there.”


A spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust said: “Respecting confidentiality the Western Trust does not comment on the individual treatment and care of its patients or clients. The Trust apologises sincerely if a patient has to wait longer than normal for treatment during busy periods. At times of pressure patients with a planned discharge may be transferred to DPU which is part of the Trust escalation process, ensuring there is appropriate capacity for the sickest patients”.