"Bad experience at Scarborough"

After being diagnosed with rectal cancer I had to have radio and chemo therapy. I had both these treatments at Hull and have no complaints whatsoever about the fantastic staff and care received there. However, Scarborough hospital is where I had to follow up this treatment with major surgery and this is where my story begins.

I have never been a big person but after surgery I awoke to find my stomach swollen massively and was concerned but the nurses said to me it was ok. As I was supposed to be having keyhole surgery this alarmed me somewhat. The scar was from my naval all the way down to my privates.

I thought the night shift nurses were incredibly noisy apart from the 4 hours between 1am and 5am when they all disappeared. After being ill all the second day and vomiting green bile up, bowl after bowl, I slowly began to feel worse and my stomach swelled to bursting point. I asked to see a doctor about 6pm and eventually one came to see me about midnight. He said I did look very swollen and that he would send me for an x-ray. Hours later I was taken down to x-ray where I had to get onto the machine, catheter in hand, and get off again. I found this quite difficult after major surgery.

I was then returned to the ward where I started to feel even worse. I complained but I feel like I was more or less ignored. I must have passed out as I awoke to find 2 nurses franticly trying to remove a body stocking that was on me and cooling me down. They gave me some painkillers of some kind and as I lay there semi conscious, I heard them sorting the paperwork out which seemed to me like they were pretending they had been observing me correctly.

Eventually a few days later I was taken down to another ward for dispatch the next day. (I was moved about half ten at night)

Unfortunately, no one had told the consultant where I was, so I was left in this ward all day until one of the nurses told the consultant and who came to see me to discharge me. I was told that I needed an extra little operation to remove a couple of polyps they couldn't get during my surgery. This was done a while later at Bridlington, where the staff and doctors were fantastic and very professional.

I must also mention I found the food appalling at Scarborough, it was inedible and everything tasted of bleach to me. I saw the night shift nurses ordering pizzas and such in for themselves and that does wind you up when you are hungry.