"Atrocious - better care in developing world."

Anything else?

My husband has Stage 4 cancer and was referred to RLH for tests into possible prostate cancer as well. We waited a minimum of 1 1/2 hours and up to 2 1/2 hours for all his out-patient appointments. The diagnosis took 4 months rather than the 61 days the government recommends for a cancer diagnosis. He had to be admitted for surgery - the wrong letter was sent out so that he was told to be there at 7 am with nil by mouth from midnight when his surgery wasn't due to take place till 4pm. He was left in a waiting room on uncomfortable chairs, cold, tired, hungry and thirsty for 4 hours until he kicked up a fuss and was moved into a side room where, at least he could rest. His operation was moved forward to 2.30 so I was appalled to get a message at 4.30 to say that he'd been discharged - just 2 hours after a general anaesthetic. I collected him at 5.30 and he had blood running down his arm from the cannula and a catheter strapped to his leg. He could hardly move he was in so much pain from the catheter but was given no pain killer - just told to take some when he got home. He could not manage the stairs so had to sleep on the settee at home and the catheter wasn't fitted properly so that urine was running down his leg. He was told that a district nurse would be contacted to come to the house to remove his catheter 3 days later but then received a phone call to tell him to go back to RLH - no way! I tried all morning to phone the relevant department and was put through to 5 different people including the dental hygienist. All in all, I would expect better care in a field hospital in a developing country. Our experience is awful and I was never, ever recommend anyone to go there.