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"My ordeal at accident and emergency"

About: North Middlesex Hospital

(as the patient),

I was taken into North Middlesex hospital Edmonton via ambulance, due to a problem with my knee. I was scared and distressed, as I have never been taken into hospital before and was unable to walk. On arrival, a nurse took my blood pressure and temperature and wrote my results on what looked like a napkin. No one spoke to me after that, and for an hour and a half I was left crying by myself. Throughout that time, no one asked if I was ok. I then had an x-ray. At this point, the nurse told me they had spelt my name wrong, and I then noticed they didn’t even have the right date of birth. I then had a splint fitted to my leg, which was the wrong size and caused me a great deal of pain. The nurse told me it was cramp, caused by stress. She gave me an injection, closed the curtains, turned off the lights and told me to calm down. I spend the next half hour trying to get someone’s attention, to remove the splint. Eventually, this was done and I was then given crutches. They made me an appointment to come back and said I could go home. But as I couldn’t walk, I asked how I was to do this - I had no transport, I couldn’t walk and had steps going up to my flat. I was told I would have to manage. I told them I couldn’t get up the stairs, so they just left again. Eventually, they arranged for transport to take me to a family members house, as there was no stairs. My ordeal lasted 6 hours, I’ve never been so scared in my life. Surely they have a duty of care, not only while you’re in hospital but what happens to you afterwards.

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