"Medway Maritime - poor care for our son"

my son went into Medway hospital to have his 4th operation on his sinuses. He had the opperation at 4pm, and we went back to the hospital 3 hours later,and were told first that no one knew where he was! The ward was in complete chaos,they were completely swamped with work,with no beds available,and seemed seriously understaffed.

We were then told that he was in recovery but he could not come up as there was nowhere for him to go! Another 1 1/2 hours passed and he still was not on the ward! Knowing that he would be in a lot of pain we were understanderdly concerned and my husband expressed this to them on more than one occasion!

He eventually arrived up on the ward bye which time he was very disstressed as he had apparently been left in the recovery ward unattended for hours,and when he managed to ask for some water to get the dried blood out of his mouth,he was told "in a minute"but it was at least another hour before someone else got him some. He then just had to lay there in pain,unattended with no one even checking on him!

We were told that he would be having the packing taken out of his nose at 8.30am(the packing in the nose is probably the worst part) but when my husband got there at 11.15 it still had not been done.(short staffed!!!)

When he had his previous operations at Darenth Valley we were worried because they didnt have an overnight facility and he was released into our care after just a few hours. We told him this time it would be far better for him as they would look after him overnight. As it turns out it has been far far worse,and has turned a very uncomfortable proceedure for my son into a complete nightmare. He is now home where we can take care of him(without painkillers though as there where none available!)

I have heard of nightmare stories in hospitals but up untill now have never been on the recieving end - the chaos with understaffing and lack of comunication is really appaling,and to watch your child go through such unneccessary distress is disgusting. I hope we never have to return....

i realise compared to some operations this was relatively minor,but for my son its still been something he has been dreading (being the 4th one)

it has just made it that much more of a horrible experience for him.

we also need to give our nurses the help and support and funding they deserve,as they are the ones taking all the flack for things like this,and it is not their fault,they are extremly overworked,it is the fault of the hospital and needs to be addressed.