"A truly awful out-of-hours experience"

I'm a patient at the Beatson Oncology Centre and attend for treatment every 4 weeks. I began an new treatment, haemoglobulin therapy, and reacted badly during the treatment. I was given advice about further potential side-effects. Unfortunately I didn't feel good over the next 2 days and by the evening, I was being violently sick and had unbearable pain in my head (similar to a meningitis type headache). My husband called the Beatson and was advised to take me to our local hospital ASAP.

We arrived at the Vale of Leven hospital at approx 1am after arranging for a relative to babysit our 3 young children. I was given morphine for the pain and, after some time, I stopped being sick. At approx. 2am, my husband left as he was told I was being admitted to a ward and that if anything changed, they would call him. Blood tests were taken which I guessed would come back negative for any infections as I'd been warned that a side-affect of haemoglobulin therapy could be a meningitis-type headache.

I was woken by the doctor on duty at around 4am and told that I was being sent home as the test results had not highlighted anything. I told her that I had no means of getting home as my husband had left and our baby-sitter had gone home. They didn't show any concern about this and said I'd need to get a taxi for the 20 min journey. So, at 5am, I was assisted into a taxi, dressed only in pyjamas and a dressing gown, holding a sick-bowl as I still felt sick and the headache was gradually returning (I told the staff this). No-one called my husband to advise him I was leaving the hospital and I couldn't get hold of him on the phone. The journey home was awful. Twice I had to ask the taxi driver to stop as I thought I was going to be sick.

When we arrived at my home, I had no key and couldn't get an answer at the door or on the phone (my husband is a very heavy sleeper and obviously wasn't expecting me to arrive home, given how ill I'd been. The taxi driver stayed with me a he was clearly concerned. The outside temperature that night was -5 degrees. After 10 mins of banging on the doors and windows, my entire family was wakened and my husband was furious that, given how unwell I was, I'd been sent home in a taxi.

We intended making a formal complaint but soon after, our son became seriously ill and ended up in hospital so our focus was taken away from this situation. I sincerely hope no-one else ever experiences a situation like this. It was just terrible. The lack of care and concern displayed was not like anything I've ever experienced in the NHS before.