"It's all about patient flow not patient care!"

I arrived at A and E by ambulance at 4am in so much pain I could hardly move. I have never had to call an ambulance before in my life, I had severe abdominal pain that was radiating up to my chest and back. I am a nurse and only called an ambulance as a very last resort. I was in A and E over an hour before any pain relief was given. The ambulance crew were so concerned they they stayed with me so I could keep using the gas and air. Finally blood was taken. Eventually a doctor came to see me, they did an emergency x-Ray to rule out an perforation, this was negative. At this point I was still in a lot of pain. The doctor told me the chest x-Ray was negative. I suffer from endometriosis (which is normally very well controlled) they said its properly 'just' your endometriosis, we will give you some pain killers to go home. Anyone who suffers from this awful condition will know it's not 'just' endometriosis, it takes over your life at times. Anyway I said I didn't agree, and said I was known to gyne and should probably see them. Although similar kind of abdominal pain to my my endometriosis it was a lot more severe. The Gyne assessment unit had seen me less than 48 hours before and said for me to come back if anything got worse, they booked in a scan for a weeks time. The doctor didn't agree to a gyne referral and walked off stating gyne didn't want to see me and had no scans today. I was unhappy so I rang GAU myself, who said no doctor from A and E had spoke to them and to get the doctor to call and then come up. The doctor eventually did the referral. On the day of admission I had a scan which highlighted a cyst to my right ovary, I am awaiting emergency surgery for this to be removed. As a nurse I question everything but what if it had been someone else? Next time I want to be treated like a patient, not like a number that you want out asap. I understand the department needs flow but it care is rushed things are missed, you are desling with people no numbers. I do have to say that the healthcare assistants in A and E were fantastic, they kept reminding the nurses of the need for painkillers. They kept me informed of what they were doing, they were great! Their care and compassion is spot on!

You could definitely teach the doctors a few things!