Unfortunately I found myself in a situation where I was too ill to travel anywhere by car and I was stuck in a location 40 miles from my GP. Because it was daytime and I could not get as far as my own bathroom without great difficulty I rang NHS 111. I was informed that the only way I could receive medical help was by attending Walsgrave Hospital by ambulance. (I needed a home visit from a GP, not a trip to A and E). On arrival the doctor treated me like a time waster asking why I thought I needed an ambulance. Fair point, but it was NHS 111 that decided that, not me. The consultation was pointless, and I was discharged. I left the room in A and E on all fours, unable to walk because of the pain in my leg. I was offered a wheelchair, but the pain was increased by sitting so that was useless. A crowd gathered at the door to the department, watching me attempting to crawl out unassisted. The nurse at the nurses station asked me to stand because they would be in trouble if their boss saw me crawling. The nurse was absolutely unconcerned as to why I was unable to stand. I was given no choice but to leave the department on all fours, crawling out into the car park in my pyjamas. Had I not been so upset and confused by the amount of pain I was in I should have objected to being allowed to leave in such a condition, but I had been treated with so little care that I couldn't wait to leave. I have since been treated privately, and looking back at my experience I can hardly believe that such a thing could have happened. I wish that I had taken the name of the doctor who was so unsympathetic. I am sure that the doctor is much more excited by the opportunity to assist more critical patients, but I was a patient in real need of help forced into attending hospital by NHS 111 because red tape meant I had no alternative. I feel appalled by the way I was treated and the condition that I was discharged in. I am bringing this to attention in the hope that no one else has to suffer the same fate.
"Useless"
About: University Hospital (Coventry) University Hospital (Coventry) Coventry CV2 2DX
Posted via nhs.uk
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