Glamorgan Gazette

INJURED MUM ‘SENT HOME FROM A&E’

- NATHAN BEVAN Reporter nathan.bevan@walesonlin­e.co.uk

A MUM-OF-TWO claimed she was told to “go home and ring her GP or come back the following day” after waiting in A&E in agony for more than six hours. Nicky McLoughlin had gone to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend after suffering a painful tumble.

A MUM-OF-TWO claimed she was told to “go home and ring her GP or come back the following day” after waiting in A&E in agony for more than six hours.

Nicky McLoughlin had to call on her sister to take her to the nearby Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend for treatment after suffering a painful tumble whilst roller skating with her daughter last month.

The 50-year-old – who had a broken left wrist, fractured right elbow, slipped disc at the base of her spine and swelling to her head – claims that, after arriving at 6.30pm on Saturday June 19, she was finally told in the early hours of the following morning that there were no doctors available to treat her.

“Because ways to exercise had been limited throughout the pandemic I thought roller skating might something nice to try,” said property investor Nicky.

“I felt really confident too until I went flying and hit the ground hard. I was in agony and just wanted to go home. But, after a while, I gave in to the pain and phoned for a lift to A&E.”

Arriving in the early evening she was surprised to find a number of people already waiting, some in wheelchair­s - while, at 8pm, a nurse pinned a sign to the main door which read: “Waiting time – six hours. Only two doctors in emergency department. If you are not an accident or an emergency please ring 111 or see your GP. Thank you”.

Then, at around 1am, she said she and the others were told to go home.

“One girl I was chatting to told me it was the second time she’d been turned away, by which point her injury - ruptured ligaments in her foot - was already four days old. I couldn’t believe it really. They couldn’t even give me a sling or painkiller­s strong enough to take the edge off because a doctor wasn’t available to sign them off.

“And when I rang up again later that same morning I got told I faced yet another long waiting time,” added Nicky.

So, after calling a couple of other hospitals and also being told not to attend, she finally went to the fracture unit at Neath Port Talbot Hospital on the Monday.

“I had a broken left wrist, a fractured right elbow, a slipped disc and swelling on my head where it had hit the floor. I couldn’t even get to and from the toilet without my daughters’ help – that’s how bad it was.”

However, Nicky added that she understood the enormous pressure coronaviru­s had placed on the health care system.

“The NHS needs more funding and more staff, many of whom have been overrun and are off sick themselves as a result. And if the system isn’t coping now what’s going to happen come winter if infection rates rise?

“I can only recommend, from my own experience, that other people display caution when it comes to sports and outdoor activities and don’t take any unnecessar­ily risks that might end up requiring urgent medical attention.”

A spokeswoma­n for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board said: “We have been seen increasing numbers of people attending the emergency department month on month this year at Princess of Wales Hospital and we apologise to anyone who has had to wait a long time for treatment.

“Our staff are working extremely hard and triage all patients on arrival, patients are then seen in order of emergency so there may be delay for those patients that are not urgent.

“In addition, our clinical staff regularly review all patients waiting to ensure that any change of condition is also managed appropriat­ely. We are currently working to try and reduce waiting times, from recruiting additional medical staff to improving the discharge arrangemen­ts across the site.

“We would urge anyone with any illness that isn’t an emergency to use alternativ­e health services such as minor injuries, their local pharmacy, GP, optician or dentist. They can also use the 111 online symptom checker https://111.wales.nhs. uk or view our website for advice on which service is best for their need.”

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 ?? NICKY MCLOUGHLIN ?? Mum-of-two Nicky McLoughlin says she was told to ‘go home and ring her GP or come back the following day’ after waiting in A&E in agony for more than six hours
NICKY MCLOUGHLIN Mum-of-two Nicky McLoughlin says she was told to ‘go home and ring her GP or come back the following day’ after waiting in A&E in agony for more than six hours

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