Frontline workers can save health service

RECENTLY I had occasion to visit a relative who had collapsed and was taken by ambulance to CUH.

He was treated with great care and respect by the overworked and harassed staff of the A&E department, and their caring and humour was second to none.

I felt I had to write and emphasise this, as they often get bad press, through no fault of their own. My disbelief in the conditions that these people work in, and the overcrowding that I witnessed was overwhelming. Elderly people sitting on chairs, as there were no more trolleys available. Even if they were available, there was no room for any more trolleys. People being examined and treated on corridors, even outside the A&E unit in what was the old ambulance bay, cold, draughty, and totally unsuitable for ill or injured people.