Epsom Hospital Emergency Department

I took my daughter to A&E in Epsom last night and was absolutely bowled over by the amazing care and service. Initially seen by a nurse whose name I didn’t get but she was amazing talking to my 17 year old daughter about her excruciating abdominal pain. We were then very quickly seen by the most amazing doctor called Millie. It was 4am and she got bloods, X-ray s and fluids/pain relief within an hour of us getting there. She had such lovely manner and she was incredibly reassuring and knowledgeable, putting both of our minds at rest. I honestly cannot praise them enough. How lucky we are to have this free service on our doorstep.

It is unacceptable that patients, including one I was accompanying , have had to endure wait times exceeding three hours in an accident and emergencies case requiring urgent medical attention. While I understand that the staff is doing their best with the resources available, it is clear that there are underlying issues within the management of accidents and emergencies.This was to see a nurse practitioner not a GP for injury with bleeding.

Arrived at 13:25pm , visibly in pain, and barely able to stand, I stood in the Que waiting.I was shocked at how many staff were on site, but not actually assisting people, more so standing around with colleagues drinking coffee and chatting.Got through triage pretty quick and had a canula put in my arm.Whilst waiting to be seen by a DR I was in agony and proceeded to move back and forth from the toilet throwing up as well as the other …..During this time, the Drs who ignored my tears of agony and pleads for some privacy, decided to call security and ask me to be removed from the toilet.With the door being banged down very loudly whilst I was literally on the toilet was very humiliating and to be told “Sir you need to leave” was even more so, as I am a women.I left the bathroom as requested and asked where a suitable place to go to the toilet and throw up and “the other” was …. 7 hospital workers behind the nurses station ignored me and said “calm down sir” to which I was fuming. I stated I am a women who is in servere pain.Now I understand break times are needed, but when you have a room full of very sick people in A and E and 7 drs/nurses/healthcare assistance standing around calmly drinking coffee and talking about what the Dr was bringing them for lunch in full view of those who are crying begging for help, it’s completely unacceptable.In any job globally let alone being within the NHS compassion is a fundamental part of people skills. I saw zero compassion offered. Infact, my mother arrived and asked for an update and they Drs sat there and argued with her over whether they called me sir or not? For such educated people working with very vulnerable people it was concerning.I wouldn’t have wanted my grandparent treated there under that team under any circumstances, was truly an outrage in professional behaviour.I can only hope that they are made aware of this and can put themselves in the shoes of someone very poorly and imagine what it’s like to be completely ignored. I know they get this day in day out, but learn compassion and remember it’s part of the job, if you can’t be compassionate, then you can’t do your job.Eventually I left at 20:50 after a very long upsetting day and I hope to never go back.The reasoning behind the 2 starts are simply for Dr Manning who assisted and for the healthcare assistant who proceeded to offer me tea after the toilet fiasco. The were very friendly and nice and could see I was upset. It’s a shame the rest of the team were so visibly miserable.

Waiting in paediatrics for far too long, so many people sitting on the floor because the waiting area is so small. No decent food available whilst waiting hours to be seen.I support nurses, they work hard but the department is obviously mismanaged because when we came in there was hardly anyone and the staff were walking around without much urgency looking lost.I know it’s not the nurses and doctors fault that there aren’t enough staff. It’s not their fault that it is poorly managed. It isn’t their fault that there aren’t more efficient processes in place. I wish they would just get those paid well in management to support them.

I went to casualty yesterday. The waiting room was full and it made me feel poorly so was taken to a quiet area. I was waiting about 1 & 1/4 hours before I was seen. Once I was seen all the stuff were really friendly and helpful. I was even made a coffee! There’s a television in most areas which is a brilliant distraction and a very clear picture. Altogether from booking in to discharge was only 3 hours. Much friendlier and better than Kingston.

The staff here are brilliant. Although I was told 8 hours wait, the time I was there was under this and with such a busy place, all staff members were consistently friendly and positive. We are lucky to have the NHS and the people that work for them.

Had to visit here after speaking to nhs 111 I was seen really quickly by the triage nurse and sent to the urgent care centre where I quickly saw a doctor and was given treatment - all the staff were caring and friendly and everything was sorted within an hour really impressive thanks

Absolutely amazing staff. Only 2 hours waiting to be sorted with a broken leg. And our local hospital was over 2 hours away. Everyone very helpful and efficient.

Great service from a busy hospital - all the staff from admin to triage to Julie in the UTC were great, and while I was waiting for X-ray I could see the staff in the main A&E were working really hard too. I turned up early and was happy to be out the door two-and-a-half hours later - admittedly with a simple bone injury. Thanks to all.