Man waited 11 hours in Queen's Medical Centre A&E to be told to search pain relief on YouTube

A man in excruciating pain says he waited 11 hours in A&E - only to be told to go home and search for pain relief exercises on YouTube. David Chester, 67, was sent home twice from Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham before he was finally given a bed in a hospital run by a different NHS Trust where he says his care was excellent.

The retiree, from Redhill, Arnold, says he was doubled over in the worst pain he said he'd ever experienced. He later discovered he'd damaged tendons in his hip - but because an X-Ray showed no breaks, he was told to deal with the pain himself.

He said: "I couldn't believe it actually. But I was in so much pain and I had been in there 10 and a half hours so I shuffled off like a little lamb. And I'm not soft - I've had broken ribs and I'd take that pain any day of the week over this one. I just didn't know what to do. it was ridiculous honestly."

Mr Chester had been taken to Queen's Medical Centre by his wife on September 30 when discomfort in his right side, which had been niggling for weeks, flared up. The hospital's A&E department was "solid" when they arrived at midday, Mr Chester says.

After signing in within ten minutes, it was three hours before he was seen by a triage nurse and had a blood test. He then had to wait another 5 hours for an X-Ray, and another two or three hours after that for the results.

Doubled over in pain, it was nearly 11pm by the time he got them. He said: "They told me there were no breaks or fractures. I told them that there was clearly something wrong and asked if they could do a scan. They told me that what they'd suggest is ringing my GP in the morning and searching YouTube for pain relief exercises. I was sweating in pain. It was nothing like I'd ever had before."

David and his wife, reluctantly hauled themselves to the car and went home. David tried to rest but the pain did not subside and he ended up going back to the A&E five days later.

He waited another five hours, only to be told again there was nothing that could be done. Exasperated, he had the situation escalated to a more senior member of staff, being told "not to be aggressive" in the meantime, he claims, and was referred to another doctor who suspected a problem with a main artery - but an ultrasound scan showed nothing, so again David was sent home.

It was only when a clinician at his doctor's surgery requested an MRI for him that he ended up getting anywhere. He was sent to another hospital, where staff, he says, were still reluctant to perform the scan - but he insisted, as per doctor's advice, and it was finally completed.

He was eventually hospitalised in Newark Hospital, where he was given painkillers and stayed in bed for nine days. He says his treatment and care there was "excellent", while he was allowed to rest, told he had damaged tendons and prescribed monthly cortisone injections.

He was sent home, with the pain having subsided, on crutches with a long road to recovery. But he got in touch with Nottinghamshire Live after seeing a previous story about a woman who waited for 30 hours in the same QMC department.

Dr Manjeet Shehmar, Medical Director at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, we do recognise the challenges faced by patients and their families due to long waits in our Emergency Department (ED). Our staff are working incredibly hard to ensure patients with the most urgent medical needs are prioritised whilst demand on our services are high.

“Along with our partners in health and social care, we are introducing a number of measures to get patients in and out of our hospitals safely and quickly. We ask the public to continue to help us by thinking carefully about which NHS services they use. If you are unsure, visit NHS 111 online and they will direct you to the best place for your care.

“We welcome any patient who has concerns about their care to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 183 0204 or nuhnt.PALS@nhs.net.”