"Visit to A&E was a waste of time"

I was advised by NHS111 to go to ESH to see the duty doctor. He gave me a letter for A&E for emergency intravenous antibiotic.

I was kept waiting for more than 1.5 hours in the triage, when finally taken to a cubical in emergency had bloods taken and a young doctor saw me and said she would set up another IV for more antibiotic.

5 hours later and I had not seen anybody. I find they have lost my notes, could not find the doctor and it appeared that there was none of the antibiotic in the hospital. The nurses did everything they could to locate the antibiotic, finally found some, finally found the doctor. Nurses all set up with the IV and doctor says to stay on current medications for another 2 days and if it has not worked by then to come back!

What a complete waste of everybody's time. It was midnight before we got home and I certainly did not want to repeat that experience again in 2 days time.

During my 5 hours of sitting on a bed doing nothing, I was surrounded by noisy old men who were coughing and choking, going to the toilet and doing all sorts of horrible things and I will not be surprised if I have not picked up something from them. It was a horrible experience and has put me off from attending this hospital again.

I finally saw a private consultant the next day.