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"Waiting time"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Accident & Emergency

(as the patient),

I came to A&E at around 22:24 with an infection. Triage saw me at around 23:42 and stated it was clear this was an infection in my elbow, so I needed antibiotics. Took a blood sample.

At 7:24 the next morning I am still waiting for the blood test results and no doctor has seen me. After coming out of triage I was informed the waiting  was 5 hours and 27 minutes; I have just checked and the waiting time now is 10 hours and 12 minutes. I cannot leave the waiting room or I will wait my place in the queue. 

This is beyond the joke. Not sure why I am paying my taxes to be treated like this. 2 doctors working to cover all the emergencies and other duties. Might as well take a plane, go abroad and get checked in a hospital there; it will be faster than sitting in this waiting room.

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Responses

Response from Kirsti Smith, Clinical Nurse Manager, Emergency Department, NHS Lothian 2 weeks ago
We are preparing to make a change
Kirsti Smith
Clinical Nurse Manager, Emergency Department,
NHS Lothian
Submitted on 07/08/2026 at 12:48
Published on Care Opinion at 12:59


Hi,

I am saddened to hear of your long wait times within the Emergency Department in recent days. We do experience high demand on occasion where our wait times exceed that of what is expected, I am sorry to report that this was the case for you on this presentation. We try our best to see and treat patients within a 4 hour time period, however this is not always possible. We continue to review how we are performing each day and we will take your feedback on board to form improvements within the service where we are able.

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