A&E Eastbourne District General Hospital

Dear Robert, thank you for taking the time to leave us some positive feedback about the care and treatment provided to your son at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH) after he suffered a shoulder dislocation; we do appreciate it. The Trust works hard to provide all patients with a high and responsive standard of care, and so we are delighted to learn this was the experience you and your son had. We very much hope he has made a good and comfortable recovery, and send you our best wishes.

Thank you for taking the time to leave us some feedback about your attendance to the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH); we do appreciate it. The Trust continues to work hard to provide all patients with a high standard of care, and we are sorry this was not your experience on this occasion. As you will have seen from the media, ED's up and down the country are seeing ever increasing numbers of patients attending for a wider range of illnesses and injuries, and the rate of attendances can be unpredictable which means there are times when the wait to be seen can be a great deal longer than we would hope for. As ED's have a high volume of patients passing through each day and were never designed to be areas where patients sat and waited for in excess of several hours, the seating has to be practical, easy to keep clean and maintain, and as comfortable as possible bearing in mind some of the conditions patients present in. In terms of your comments about facilities, there are toilets located in the immediate area of the ED at Eastbourne DGH, a water fountain is just around the corner and vending machines offer drinks and snacks if the nearby coffee shop and Friends shop are closed. Although the requirement to wear a face mask in public areas was removed by the Government in 2022, we reintroduced the requirement in our clinical areas in order to keep patients, staff and visitors safe, but of course you will appreciate that some individuals are exempt from wearing a mask and it is not for the Trust to challenge those who are not wearing one. We care very much about our patients, despite the ongoing challenges we face in the current healthcare climate, and can only apologise that from your brief attendance you do not agree. We very much hope that you were able to get your symptoms reviewed and are now well again in your health.

Dear Gillian,

Thank you for taking the time to leave such lovely words about your recent care in the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we appreciate it. The Trust works hard to provide a high standard of care for all patients in what continues to be challenging times, and so we are delighted to read you were treated with care and kindness at what was clearly an uncomfortable and distressing time for you despite how busy the ED was.

We very much hope the infection has cleared up and you are feeling much better, and will share your feedback with staff. Take care Gillian, keep well and stay safe.

Thank you for taking the time to leave us some feedback about your three recent attendances to the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we are sorry for the disappointing experiences you have described, which appear to have been repeated on each visit, and offer our sincere apologies. This is not how we wish any patient to feel, particularly given you mention being pregnant, as your symptoms would have also been an extra worry for your unborn baby.

As you may be aware, ED's up and down the country are experiencing ever increasing numbers of patient attendances for a growing range of illnesses and injuries due to difficulties accessing primary care services such as GP's and coupled with the unpredictability of emergency and life threatening cases arriving, there can regrettably be a delay in the ability of staff to see patients as quickly as they would want to. We continue to work with the wider healthcare system across Sussex to ensure that those patients who do need to be seen in the ED are seen as soon as possible, but appreciate this is of little consolation to you and apologise for this.

We are concerned to note your comments about staff not attending to you when in pain, and will ask our Head of Nursing to reflect on your feedback. Please be assured that whilst you describe three very unsatisfactory experiences of care, we are doing our best in complex and challenging times to provide a good standard of care.

If you would find it helpful to speak to a member of staff about your experiences, do contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS); they can be called on 0300 131 4784, you can reach them via email at esh-tr.PALSE@nhs.net or you can visit their office between 10.00am and 3.00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

In the meantime, we very much hope you have received treatment for the symptoms you presented with and are feeling better. Please take care, keep well and stay safe.

Dear June,

Thank you for taking the time to leave us such kind words about your recent experience of the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we really appreciate it. The Trust works hard to provide a high and timely standard of care for all patients, and in what you observed to be an extremely busy time, and so we are delighted to read that in spite of how busy the ED was, you received a standard of care you felt was second to none.

It was also assuring to read your experience reflected the Trust values of kindness and compassion, and you were treated professionally and with care. We will share your generous words with staff as they will want to read your appreciation, and very much hope you have now been treated for or are due to receive care for the bowel blockage, and are keeping safe and well. Take care June.

Dear Janet,

Thank you for taking the time to leave us some helpful feedback about your recent experience of the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we do appreciate it. The Trust strives to provide a high and timely standard of care for all patients in what has been, and continues to be, challenging times, and particularly for our ED's who are receiving high volumes of patient attendance.

We are therefore disappointed to read you felt there was no personal touch or any indication of how long you may have to wait to be seen as this does support our values of kindness and compassion, nor our wish to communicate effectively with patients. Staff do endeavour to help patients feel cared for whilst they wait and keep them updated with waiting times but as you will appreciate, increases in patient attendance both informally and via emergency admission can continually impact on this. We will ask the Heads of Nursing to remind staff to check on patients and ensure they do not feel left to their own devices and we are exploring how best to use screens in the ED to keep patients up-to-date with key information.

It is also concerning to read your observation of staff not wearing face masks; it is mandatory for staff to wear a face mask in all clinical areas, and we will ask the Chief of Service for the ED's to remind staff of this requirement. On a positive note, we are delighted to read that when you saw a doctor, you had a greatly improved experience of care.

We very much hope you have now recovered from the symptoms that required your attendance at the ED, and are keeping well. Take care, and keep safe.

Thank you for taking the time to leave us some feedback about your observations whilst under the care of the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital; we appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments through this forum, and would like to apologise for the concerns and upset you experienced as this is not how the Trust would want any patient to feel.

As you will be aware from the national press our ED's, as with those up and down the country, are experiencing ever increasing rates of patient attendance for a wide range of illnesses and injuries and understandably emergency or life-threatening/changing attendances often need to be prioritised. ED attendances are unpredictable, and this does mean we cannot always forecast with accuracy the length of time patients have to wait to be seen, or cared for until discharge is appropriate. However, we are sorry that you incurred a seven hour wait.

In terms of your observations of staff in what you describe as small groups chatting, it is important to remember that the congregation of staff and the act of conversation you saw may have been a clinical huddle where staff were discussing new patients, proposed care plans or other clinical updates. Additionally, a great many staff in the ED do not have the opportunity to take a break during their shift and a brief conversation with colleagues in the department may be the only the chance they have to converse on non-work matters.

On 7 July 2022, the Trust reintroduced the requirement for face masks to be worn in all clinical settings, but it is possible that this message had not reached all staff at the time of your attendance in the ED for various reasons including absence due to illness or annual leave, and shift patterns. Nevertheless, this and the vital need to maintain hand hygiene at all times are matters we will take up the Heads of Nursing and the Chief of Emergency and Urgent Care to discuss with staff. Additionally, we will ask them to remind staff that conversations relating non-work matters should take place in an appropriate area away from patients.

Turning now to your comments about the lack of comfortable seating for relatives and the absence of facilities, the Trust wishes to explain that when the ED was designed, it was not intended that patients and their relatives incur the length of wait that they do now and from a health and safety perspective, we require functional seating that can be easily cleaned. Our hospitals have coffee shops and restaurants providing a variety of refreshments, sweet shops and a range of vending machines but as explained above, the increase in patient attendances will result in facilities being exhausted a great deal sooner than anticipated and operational pressures may result in a delay in these facilities being replenished. However, we are sorry that you found the coffee machine did not work.

In terms of the car parking machines not working and a broken lock on the cubicle door in the men's toilets, these issues may have already been reported and were awaiting repairs, or staff were not aware of them. However, we will share your feedback with our Estates and Facilities Department so that they can review and, as necessary, update the frequency of facility checks.

Finally, please be aware that each shift in the ED is led by a Head of Nursing, a Matron, a Senior Sister or a senior member of the Medical Team, and are available to speak to any patient or relative who wishes to speak about their experience or observations, and patients are also encouraged to complete a Friends and Family Test (FFT) survey about their experience of care.

We are sorry that you have had cause to raise numerous concerns based on your observations of the ED, and we apologise for your experience. We hope you have, or are making, a comfortable recovery from the symptoms that warranted your attendance, and wish you well. Take care and keep safe.

Thank you for taking the time to leave some feedback about your experience of attending the Emergency Department (ED) at Eastbourne District General Hospital during the Easter bank holiday weekend; we do appreciate it.

The Trust strives to provide a high and responsive standard of care to all patients at what continues to be an extremely busy and challenging time, especially for our ED's, and we are both disappointed and sorry to read of your experience. It must have been a worrying and uncomfortable time for you whilst you waited with the symptoms you described, and we apologise for this.

As you will appreciate, our ED's regularly see high volumes of patients attending for a wide range of illnesses and injuries with varying degrees of urgency that we cannot predict, sometimes in life threatening situations, and regrettably this does impact on waiting times despite our best efforts to keep the patient flow moving as quickly as resources and capacity allow. You will also appreciate that in more recent times, our ED's are seeing an increase in attendances due to patient difficulties accessing primary care and this adds to our ED waiting times. We have recently introduced an eTriage system in our ED's to help patient flow and we hope, in time, this will enhance the care we provide in a timely and appropriate manner.

We very much hope you have now received the care and treatment you require for your ear infection, and are feeling better; please take care and keep well.