"Some of the sisters were wonderful ..."

What I liked

Some of the sisters were wonderful and although you had and ask for them. When they came they took the time to sort out your concerns...that is however, till the next shift change when the whole thing would start again.

What could be improved

I visited A&E 3 times including AEU, before finally being admitted for 9 days for cholecystitis & gallstones. I was told i had a wide range of things from Gastroenteritis, excessive stomach acid, etc. I kept saying gallstones but was told no everytime(i had extreme pain and raised liver enzymes, sickness ) i felt the A&E doctors were very hard working and did try.

1 consultant who visted me during my first stay was horrendous. I was very tearful and he was shouting at me so much.I did not want him to examine me. At this point my undiagnosed condition ment i'd not eaten properly for weeks and had lost many kgs, i was vomiting and in terrible pain. He got really cross and was saying i needed a pysch assessment and that i just had gastroenteritis and should go home. He marched out of the room shouting with the student doctors following terrified in his wake. My mother left work immediately when i called and came to the hospital to complain. a sister was had been present came to do some damage limitation. She said he can seem abrupt and shouty with staff and patients but that he was an excellent doctor. Due to her excellent people skills calmed everything and i was discharged home with his incorrect diagnosis.

Some Health Care Assistants, really should hang their heads in shame, on the womens ward. As i was unlucky enough to enjoy a long stay, i witnessed 2 in particular who were just hard faced, mean bullies especially to the old or vunerable patients and spoke to them terribly when there family or other staff weren't there. If i'd had the guts, i'd have complained on the way out, but i was frightened about being under their care on readmissions.

In my room we would often be left waiting over 30 mins when we' pressed our buzzer till someone came. We were told it was as our room had an old style buzzer, but when you need pain meds or have been sick its very little comfort.

Anything else?

There was often 3 or 4 uncollected urine sample in the tiny shared loo. Firstly this was not nice to see, but i was more worried about how they could be matched up correctly against patients for accurate diagnosis.

Finally getting paid meds out of the staff was often quiet humilating as you had to beg. Even though i was scripted up for morphine,tramadoll and codine, i rarely managed to get more than paracetamol from the nurse. When after 4 nights of no sleep, i asked for a sleeping tablet i was treated with suspicion and made to feel like a potential junkie( i have never taken anything stronger than paracetamol in my life) 3 of the four women in my room all required pain meds and all said it was ridiculous. We were ill and doctors had perscribed us pain killers. We should be allowed them, in fact i'd say i was better off that one poor women in my room who sobbed into her pillow for 3 nights solid.

save for A&E staff ,the sisters and a few nurses, this was a horrid experience and i am dreading my operation next month because of it.