"My experience as a relative at Lewisham"

My husband was taken to Lewisham hospital A&E in an ambulance. The ambulance staff were excellent, keeping updated about what was happening.

However, the attitude of the nurse and the first doctor who attended my husband was appalling. There was hardly any information given to me or my husband as to what was happening at first and why. When I inquired what my husband blood sugar level was on the blood gas, the doctor responded I shouldn't worry.

I mentioned to him that I was a nurse and had some understanding about blood results. He responded that his priority is the patient and I should let him get on with his job. I don't think that was very professional answer. The fact that the staff nurse telling my husband to "hurry up, we don't have much time" when he was trying to remove his shirt for him to put his gown on, felt also very uncaring.

The infection control aspect of the care was non existent. The doctor wasn't wearing any gloves to insert cannulas, neither did he prepare the skin with the clorprep that was sitting in the box on a trolley.

When he was moved to resus part of the A@E the nursing staff were better although I was still left feeling that there could have been more communication between nursing staff and my husband.