"Poor consideration given to my Parkinson's"

I went into Newark hospital in June of last year for an operation on my foot. I went in as a day patient and had a general anaesthetic. I wasn’t too concerned because I had previously been in before for the same operation, which hadn’t been successful, however, I had no complaints about the day care that first time.

However, this second time was a completely different experience. With my Parkinson’s it is vital that I have my medication on time. I was first on the list, which interfered with my medication for a start. My blood pressure was low when I came back from theatre, so the staff would not let me get out of bed to use the commode, which I can understand but I could not take my medication either. I was getting more and more distressed and when I eventually was allowed to use the commode, the auxiliary nurse shouted for all to hear "I need help with this lady, she’s got Parkinson’s". By this time I was totally distressed and all they kept asking was why I crying; I felt totally humiliated. Because of low blood pressure I had to stay in a few hours longer than expected. I felt like I was being a nuisance. It really shocked me at the end when a nurse came and stripped the top covers off the bed with me still in it. Unfortunately this operation also was not successful but no way am I going through that experience again. I am totally independent with my illness at this stage I did not feel that the nurses had any understanding of this at all.