Royal Victoria Hospital: Emergency Department

I had a great experience at this hospital.Yes, the waiting was long. I arrived there at 1 am and left at 11 am. Yes, it was cold in the waiting room and no blankets were available. Yes, I saw multiple nurses until a doctor got to see me. Yes, getting to each sector was chaotic and signing was terrible. And yes, there was no security staff or receptionist at the A&E to manage patients.But: I was there on holidays so I was a little bit scared, specially with english not being my first language. Every nurse was great, they really listened and were empathetic. They kept me monitored, they were efficient and diligent. The hospital's equipment was great. The staff was very kind, people that had nothing to do with the emergency room walked us through the hospital to show us the way when we couldn't find it. You could really see everyone was doing the best they could, even when having to deal with some very rude patients. The doctor that saw me was amazing, one of the best doctors I've had the pleasure to meet. He made me feel comfortable and his diagnosis was spot on. He still got me to have an x-ray to be sure and then explained the results to me very kindly. I wish I lived in Belfast just to have him as my doctor. The x-ray was quick and the staff was very friendly. They gave me the meds I had to take.Having not gone to this hospital I could've faced a much bigger health problem later. And everything was free, which to me, being a student and a foreign, was a blessing. So I'm very grateful at everyone in this hospital and I wish they'd get the recognition they diserve.

Visiting the morning after St.Patricks day, 10/10.30am and it was relatively quiet upon arrival, was seen to quite quickly. 7.5 hour visit while to get bloods done, some consultation with doctors, meds+fluids administered through IV, and dinner to make sure I could eat again before leaving. The only issues I had were a line in my arm seemingly messing up as injections didn't go into my arm properly, and a doctor seemed shocked that I wasn't given painkillers before I got to him. All the staff were brilliant with me and checked in on me regularly, asking how I was doing and seeming like they genuinely cared. The ENT doctor and the nurses/doctors in the short stay area were particularly good.

It is easy to find with very large signs outside. Modern, very professional. Very large seating area with plenty of natural light. Well stocked drinks and snacks machines. The coffee machine wasn't working, unfortunately. I waited for 30 minutes before a nurse checked me over. I had 2 ECG's, 3 blood tests and a chest X-ray inside the 9 hours before leaving. The blood tests took a minimum of 90 minutes to be processed, enough time to pop down to the shop for wraps, sandwiches and coffee.

Excellent care yesterday (15th May) by the dedicated team of professionals in zone B. Definitely a 5/5 from me. Thank you Dr Ali and your team of highly trained Nurses.We are so lucky to hava world class hospital on our doorstep.

Wow what an awful experience.. I arrived at a&e with chronic abdominal pains at 2pm. I got blood tests and didn’t leave a&e with blood results until 9:10am the next day. Even tho I didn’t need blood tests. No water fountain so you’re left thirsty and hungry as you’re afraid to leave in case you’re called. You can’t sleep in case you’re called and the chairs are uncomfortable. Left in A&E for 19 hours just to be told my bloods are fine and to ring the gynaecologist myself and wait another 3/4 hours instead of them sending me straight to the gyno clinic with an emergency. I went to the gyno when I eventually got an appointment and they got me mixed up with a patient who wasn’t an emergency so I’ve had to wait more time when I was told I’d been seen straight away. Waste of time, no sleep, no health improvement.Basically if you want to be seen, you need to create a dramatic scene and start crying and they’ll see you or you’ll be waiting for nearly 24hours..Checking bloods and telling me the gyno phone number should take 15 mins not 19 hours. :(

Nurses & Doctors were fantastic from beginning to end. Knowledgeable and considerate. Doctor Chris in the A&E was exceptional. Made a very painful situation bearable.

We came by ambulance with my 3 month old son and were waiting 6 hours, we didn’t see doctor because nurse said that we need to wait 2-3 hours more. It is unbelievable that you need to wait so long with the little baby.

Very bad hospital looks like nobody is working there been there for 10 hrs waiting , not many people are here and nothing is moving forward. Well there was some homeless people here and bunch of staff come in 5 min, to remove them, didn't give me any pain killers or anything ,been in pain for about 20 hrs . Worst hospital.Just been told that waiting is 13 hrs , well this is terrible.

I attended here as a serious medical emergency on the advice of my consultant and GP back in April. I was left for 16 hours before I was sent for an urgent MRI, 19 hours later I was sent home with a batch of opioids which I explained hadn't worked before and wouldn't wouldn't solve the problem. I was told to contact my GP who told me to write to my MP. It wasn't even busy so I dread to think how long the wait is if the waiting room is full.The NHS in NI rolls on from one crisis to another, there is no accountability and no political will to sort out decades of underfunding and mismanagement. I know I've been waiting 5 years for supposedly urgent surgery.