"Lack of communication"

I was admitted as an emergency case to our local hospital's emergency assessment unit for an urgent scan on my kidney.

When the nurse was admitting me I said that I did not really require a bed and would it be possible to be seen in through ambulatory care instead. She said that now I had been admitted to a bed this was not possible. I felt that I was wasting a valuable bed space and it was not the best use of the hospital's resources. If after my scan it was then found that I needed a bed then fair enough.

I then waited in the chair next to the bed for over 5 hours before being seen by a doctor. By then it was too late to book a scan that day and the up shot was that I discharged myself that night to free up the bed space and came back early in the morning through ambulatory care!

A nurse said that they were ready for me to have my CT scan and I took myself along for the scan without any escort. When I returned I felt that I ought to let them know I was back so went to the nurses station before returning to the ambulatory care room.

I then sat and waited to be seen and this was about 4 hours later that I saw the doctor. I asked 3 times if I was allowed to eat or drink and the HCSW's and nurse said they would find out but never came back with an answer. It was not until about 20 minutes before seeing the doctor that I was apologised to and told that I could eat and drink. Considering I am diabetic I think this lack of communication was rather poor.

During my time sat waiting and waiting I observed the nursing staff being very attentive to patients and answering any questions or concerns that they had.

So it wasn't so bad, but could have been better if they had listened to their patient in the first place and then communicated with them in a timely manner.