"Horrendous"

Having been told that I had experienced a missed miscarriage at EPU, I opted for a D&C. The wait for this was 8 days. The physical implications of this were impractical as I was already bleeding and had been for three weeks. The thought of going to work with a dead baby inside me which may appear at any time, was challenging to say the least. I felt there was no choice but to opt for a "medically managed" miscarriage. Nothing was managed in this process apart from the insertion of four misoprostol abortion pessaries on a public ward, with a woman in the next bed with a baby crying. The doctor who handled this process was inexperienced to the point of embarrassment, with the emotional intelligence of a flea. The junior doctor assisting her was more capable. After half an hour I was allowed to go, with no pain relief, no information on what to expect, merely a very high level leaflet. A few hours later as I sat on the toilet in agony, trawling the internet for info and re reading aforementioned leaflet, I realised all was not well. Returned to stanway ward gushing blood, unable to stand straight from pain. Was very lucky to get a bed, one left. Saw a doctor 3 hours later who performed a thorough sweep with no pain relief whatsoever as I had "products" stuck in the neck of my womb, asking her assisting nurse for a pot half way through in which to put my baby. Yes I felt relief afterwards, euphoria even. I was given pain relief and sent home. In shock. I would not wish this experience on anyone. No dignity, no expertise, no resources. And when I rang 48 hours later as requested, I was asked several times by the nurse who answered, why are you calling? And when I eventually became exasperated, saying for God's sake, was asked "not to be horrible". The one saving grace of this department is a fabulous sonographer who was kindness and professionalism personified. Why she is wasting her career in Colchester General is beyond me. I was also admitted in April for emergency removal of my appendix, which again was a catalogue of incompetence, broken processes and medical professionals who need to practise medicine a bit more before they are let loose on patients. I will be processing my experiences here for some time. My advice? Go elsewhere. I wish I could say otherwise.