Hospital waiting (From News Shopper)

Hospital waiting

11:27am Wednesday 18th July 2001

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We were all delighted when the new hospital building went up at Barnet, since the complex it replaced was outdated.

It seemed like the dawn of a modern age in healthcare. But old habits die hard and I found last week that you wait as long in the new A&E as we did in the bad old days.

I went there with a minor injury and knew I would have to wait to be seen. I had no idea that four-and-a-half hours would elapse before I was attended to.

Why do we have to wait so long for minor treatment? This is not a political inquiry but rather begs the questions: How can hospital management be improved? What would happen if there was a major disaster? I wonder what the hospital's managers think and hope they see a problem as real as the inadequate buildings of yesteryear.

William Sholto

Tudor Road, Barnet

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