"My visit to Glasgow Royal Infirmary A&E"

I arrived at A&E in January 2023 after suffering with severe stomach pain which had progressively got worse over 5 days. A high temperature and vomiting. I had not ate in 5 days either. I had tingling up my left arm all the way to my left temple and consistently was in and out of sleep unbeknown to myself I was that ill.

The context to why this was an emergency is that I have severe Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis which I had previously been in hospital with a few months before. This was for a severe blockage in my colon and the symptoms I had felt pretty similar.

When I arrived at A&E I was advised by a triage nurse that it definitely was nothing to do with my Crohn’s disease when all they had done was taken my blood pressure and temperature and was not a doctor. I was then advised it was a flu and I was to go home.

This progressively got worse and it turned out I was a blockage in my colon again. I found,  in my opinion the staff are disgusting and uneducated and could have cost me my life.

I saw my own bowel disease nursing team days later where I was cared for properly and the right measures were taken.  I was also severely anaemic and had been rectally bleeding as I explained to those triage nurses in the hospital.

All I can think of is how silly I found these people are, I felt they just wanted to get people out of the door and make their shift a bit easier for them. We pay tax, we are entitled to your help and the healthcare we pay for. Never forget that.