To expect privacy in A&E.

Is this so very different from doctors' receptionists very loudly on the phone? Eg 'So Mrs X, you have a very unfortunate rash on your genitals.....'

I think complaints are warranted if a member of staff is rude, negligent or deliberately behaving in an unprofessional way. Hospitals need to be staffed by people with some understanding of 'bedside manner'. Also, if the 'system' is failing: lost documents/ poor communication between depts. etc it is helpful to complain so it can be investigated and hopefully improved.
If however you just don't get the answer you want, don't like a foreign doctor or just think you could do the job better, even though you know nothing about the detail of the organisation, then No that does not warrant a complaint and wastes time and resources better sent on patient care!

Lack of funding is undoubtedly a political issue, but lack of professional behaviour is not.

No-one should need to explain details of an illness or other medical condition in public!

Hospital staff should make sure that a certain amount of privacy is insisted upon. A desk, three chairs and a screen can be fitted in to even the most overcrowded hospital ward, thus giving a modicum of privacy, although if the patient is hard of hearing privacy might well be an illusion.

Certainly complain to the hospital administration, about being expected to explain symptoms or to change into a hospital gown in a public area.

Not according to the heart unit he was transferred to and as he’s already had a bypass he is well versed with heart conditions. And I know it was a lie as there had been comments from the other ‘professionals’ was ‘late again, probably children running late for school. I am dismissive due to the dreadful experience my late husband had whilst suffering from cancer and the treatment my elderly mother received after breaking her hip & shoulder, 3 different hospitals all absolutely dreadful with the exception of the specialist staff in ICU at the first Heart Centre. Experience equals dismissal of ‘professionals’

The nursing code of practice says we should ensure privacy. These are horrific stories and the triage nurse should not be interviewing people in public as the OP has described.

When ever a gransnetter experiences or sees a situation like this I urge them to write or e mail the hospital mamagement and complain. If we complain on mass them something has to be done. If you have a smart phone you can do it whilst you are at the hospital.

I see the programmes about over crowded A&E departments but this is a standard that should not be allowed to slip. Providing a private interview area should be a priority.

I have no objection to curtains between beds in A&E or ED, my most recent experience (Diabetic Hypo), taken into Hospital by Ambulance, triaged in a private room , moved into a bay, I was not required to change out of my own clothes & had excellent care, this was between 3am & 7am when I was allowed home.

I have never had to explain why I'm there in A&E in a public area & have always been treated with respect. I have been in several different Hospitals in different area of the UK.

As for Doctor's Receptionists, my Surgery has a message when you ring in stating that it is helpful to know why you want an Appointment/Telephone Call with Doctor but you are not obliged to give the information. If I had an embarrassing/intimate problem I would state that I was unwilling to discuss a personal matter in a public area.

There is no excuse for asking for personal medical details in public, and you have every right to refuse to give them until privacy is provided. The OP should send a letter to the PALS, but also to the CEO, with cc to the local press at the bottom.

Someone said 'free NHS' the NHS is not free. It is free at point of use, taxpayers pay for it.

Our local hospital has a private room for triage but you do have to report to reception first which is open to all. Apparently on the nights England was playing in the football recently A& E was just about empty, must mean something and no it is certainly not Free and we should all ask a lot more about who and what our money is spent but how do we do it?

I spent over 9 hours in A&E with my mother when she had a fall last December. She was moved about a lot, private room, then the corridor, parked next to the desk in a vacant space and eventually in a cubicle. Each time we went for a test we returned to a different space, for the simple reason that everywhere was occupied. It did give me time to look at all the people and listen to the staff, they were dealing with criminals, drunks, mentally ill, suicide attempts, people with alzheimers and of course every sort of accident. The sister in charge was amazing, keeping on top of things informing all the staff called in from other areas and even managing to plaster a broken arm when there was no one else to do it. It wasn't ideal that my mum was kept on a trolley in a public area for such a long time but given the amount of people they were dealing with and her complicated medical history it was the best they could do. I suggest you write to the new Health Minister and tell him to fund hospitals better and staff them properly.

With so many of us turning up at A&E for non-emergencies we can expect crowded A&Es with insufficient space for a lot of privacy.

When I have a complaint at our local hospital,and I've had a few, I write a letter to the Chief executive of the hospital. It always generates a reply from appropiate dept within in a week,and usually a follow up the following week too. Works every time and it does get things done.Tryit.

Gabriella-BEHAVE! Lol!

Don't know which is worse....Socialized medicine or "Capitalized" medicine.

NHS service can be affectede by lack of funding just as US healthcare can be affected by Greed.....both in equal measure!

Let me start by saying that here in the US, there are many fine healthcare institutions. Let me say also, that some of the worst war stories come from so called "Award Winning" Hospitals.

These hospitals are owned and administered by healthcare corporations (with Latin sounding names) whose sole reason for existence is to make a ton of money.

They spend a lot of time and a good part of their budget on PR, Advertising, Award 'mongering', hosting lavish events and building/decorating newer and ever more lavish facilities.

To cut costs and maximize profits, they outsource many of their key healthcare services such as anesthesiology, radiology etc. They also lease space to many well known stores, restaurants and businesses. Nontheless, patients get billed for everything including every pill and bandage and the insurance companies end up picking up the tab.

Personnel are often underpaid and overworked. Very often the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Mistakes are made and then there is a culture of covering up when it comes to accountability (God forbid they lose their Award status).

So, just as in Socialized medicine, privatized medicine has it's own problems. Maximizing profit creates a tendency to undercut services/quality of care and more often than not, ends up superceding the best interests of the patient.

We found the letter in answer to our complaint was very generic, and didn't actually say how they were planning to rectify several issues.
As far as I know, they never did.

It depends which side of A&E you are entering the department on.

There's the side where you chat to the receptionist about your symptons and are afterwards triaged. Hopefully in a private area. Treatment if neccessary can come along in due time when there is staff free for non emergencies.

Then there's the entrance for ambulances carrying emergencies.
You won't be anywhere near the waiting room if you are an emergency.
Get taken in as an actual Emergency and you won't have time to care who or what else is there.

Nonnie I couldn't agree more.

I haven't been to A&E in this country for a good few years but I had to go twice whilst on holiday in SE Asia, despite going to the one which is Swiss and very modern I had no privacy, even the taxi driver was at my bedside watching and listening. I was in a lot of pain and didn't care who was around, just stop the pain please. But I think in this country we need to put more pressure on the MP and a complaint to the hospital. After all we have all this data protection where this person can't talk to you about a third party but you can lie in A&E and the whole world will know your business. It needs to change.

Trisher - brilliant post - exactly my experience when I spent several hours in A&E with DH recently.
Does it really matter that a total stranger on the trolley next to you hears that you are in pain - surely they are suffering in some way as well and probably couldn't care less about you.
When DH and I were there we overheard several conversations but I am sure we haven't seen those people before or since that day. I certainly wouldn't recognise them in the street afterwards.
I have sat in my GP waiting room before now and been told at great length some dear soul's ailments! Again once they or I have been called it's gone from my mind.

I think, like most jobs these days, there are standards set which they can't hope to achieve, given the tools they have.
Its all very well and right to have standards, but the reality is they are going to fall foul of them at times.

As an ex nurse whom spent several years in what was then "Casualty" there is a clear marked difference with today`s up to date modern but vastly over worked facility.

In my recent experiences I have had good treatment in that each time seen by a triage nurse in a private room fairly quickly.
From there I have on occasions been taken straight to the ward,otherways its a side room,private but with a heating system blowing air that makes it most uncomfortable.
Although one sees the appropriate Doctor and any or all tests carried out this can take many hours,only then do you get transferred to a Ward.
The whole process..........with the repetitive describing of one`s symtoms exhausting.......... but at least one is seen,attended to and in time will move into a ward situation.

However we are fortunate to live in relatively quiet area,nevertheless the call on A & E is totally overwhelming,I think we need to be simply grateful for these services, which if used properly.......by those truly needing their expertise........ it still gives a pretty decent service.

A lot of these nurses leave the NHS. and find employment in the private sector. I can not see them allowing this behaviour.

That sounds like a really awful experience, and the hospital management should be informed; they can't make changes or improvements if they are unaware. I have had quite a lot of contact with the NHS this year and have had absolutely world class treatment and I am more grateful than I can express, but things can go wrong, and it is important to speak up as we get what we will put up with in all walks of life.

Willa45 thanks for that interesting post. I think we all forget that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence (or the Pond)?

Venusdevillendorf your reply was rude. Because you know people who aren't bothered about privacy doesn't mean those who are bothered are wrong. We all know medical staff do their best but the NHS which isn't free by the way has gone very much downhill and we need better. And try getting to see a doctor! Its almost impossible where I live. Yes some countries are much worse off. That doesn't make our service ok. Sometimes telling people to count their blessings is not appropriate.