"Treated in an unacceptable way "

In May I went to the Royal Bolton for a prostatectomy. I had had nothing to eat since the morning of the day before. I had to wait all day in a waiting room and change my clothes between beds as there where no beds available for me.

I eventually went in for my procedure at 4.00pm and they then told me that I did not need it as it was the neck of the bladder that was the problem. I was put back on the ward and did not get anything to eat until 8.00am the following day when I was given some toast.

When the nurse can round in the morning I expected her to give me a bowl to wash my hands in, but she did not. When I asked if I could wash, I felt she looked at me with a blank expression. I got out of bed with my two bags, one with blood and one with urine, my gown not fastened up properly and struggled to make it to the bathroom to wash my hands. I believe the nurse just let me struggle.

I was discharged after two days but had to be taken back after 3 days because I could not stop bleeding. I was kept in for 4 days and the morning I was discharged I asked if I needed a prescription and I was told that I did not. However, I had a phone call from the hospital at tea time saying they had a prescription so I had to go back and pick it up. I do not think it is acceptable to make an ill person travel back and forth like that.

Bolton told me that I would have an appointment in 6 -8 weeks but I have heard nothing from them. They said it would be in August but I have already waited 8 weeks. I have just rang the doctors to ask them to push for an appointment on my behalf as my problem has still not been solved.

I also have a aneurysm in my stomach which Wigan infirmary are keeping an eye on with scans and I missed my appointment for early June because, as I have mentioned, I was admitted to Royal Bolton as an emergency. I asked the doctor at Bolton if I should cancel and he said I should. I rang half a dozen times to cancel my appointment but no one answered, eventually I got through to someone and they said they would pass the message on.

However a couple of weeks later I got a letter from Wigan saying I had missed my appointment and that it was very dangerous for me to do so, yet they gave me a new appointment over a month after my original one. If it is so vital that I have a scan why was there not an earlier appointment?

I also suffer from incontinence due to a stroke and last year I had an appointment at Bolton Royal in January, this was cancelled and I was given a new one a month later. This was also cancelled and in six months I had this appointment rescheduled 6 times. Each one cancelled and this was “apparently beyond their control”.

I subsequently lost my job because it took so long for me to be seen. I do not like to complain but I feel have been treated in an unacceptable way by both hospitals.