"Overall, a terrible experience."

On arrival at A&E, patients are screened at the entrance - meaning that sensitive information is discussed in front of a queue of people.

Having been told that I needed to stay, I was sent round to an observation area in A&E. There are about 7 reclining chairs in this area, along with many ordinary chairs. Anyone can sit on the reclining chairs - not just patients. I was in pain but only ordinary chairs were available. Staff do not get involved in allocating seating. It was left to my other half to grab a chair for me when one became available. There is a disabled toilet in this area - but no sink so hands cannot be washed. The toilet did not seem to be cleaned very often - and was in a disgusting state.

I spent nearly 24 hours sitting in a chair in the observation area. I needed intravenous fluids, having one bag that night but needing further fluids the next day. The next day, these were delivered via an infusion pump. During the afternoon, the pump was beeping constantly. No member of staff came. Eventually, one of the visitors got up and went to get a nurse. When the nurse eventually arrived, they ignored me, looked at the pump, went away, came back with a syringe of fluid which they proceeded to administer via the cannula in my elbow (awful place to put a cannula). They restarted the pump before walking away. They did not say one word to me during the whole of this process.

That evening I was moved to A&E Majors. I was taken round there just as the evening food/drink trolley was being wheeled towards the observation area. However, food and drinks had already been provided in A&E Majors so I missed out. I got nothing until about 10pm - when I was given 2 pieces of cake and a hot chocolate. In A&E Majors, I was placed in a room behind the nurse's station. There was a cupboard and a sink in this room - and staff just wandered in and out, taking things from the cupboard and washing their hands in the sink, even though I was trying to sleep. I required the toilet several times - but needed to be disconnected from the IV fluids and a cardiac monitor. On one occasion, the nurse dropped the end of the IV giving set on the floor as she disconnected me. When I got back from the toilet, she reconnected the same giving set to the cannula in my arm. 

Eventually, I fell asleep. Near midnight, I was woken by my full name being shouted. At the door to the room were two staff members in green tops. I was confused and felt very vulnerable. They told me that I was going to the ward (none of the nursing staff had mentioned this) and they started to pick up my belongings and put them on the bed. It was left to me to work out that they were porters.

On arrival at MAU, my belongings were dumped in a bed space. The porters walked off, leaving the bed raised and the cot sides up. I had to lean over the top of the cot sides to find the release to let them down myself. A nurse eventually came over and told me that they would replace the bag of fluids that had been left lying on the bed. Three hours later, I went to the nurse's station and asked about the IV fluids that I was supposed to be having.

The next morning, my IV no longer worked as I had phlebitis (no surprise there). The staff nurse said that she would flush it - but I asked the student to remove it. I have no complaint about the staff nurse and student allocated to that bay on that morning; they were good - the student nurse especially. However, for some reason, my call bell stopped working that evening. I was still having IV fluids and these were connected to a drip stand that was fixed to the wall. I told the staff and they said that they would get it replaced. This did not happen (they were busy) - and when I told the night staff that the call bell wasn't working they didn't seem bothered. This meant that every time I needed the toilet, I had to stop the infusion pump, disconnect my own IV fluids - and then reconnect them and restart my own pump when I got back to my bed. Also, sleep was elusive that night as I heard talking until the early hours, despite being asked not to do this.

In the morning, I was woken by a Health Care Assistant opening the curtains round my bed. I politely asked that they remain closed - and they loudly and officiously told me that they had to be open because it's daytime. When I politely highlighted that having the curtains closed hadn't been a problem the day before, they went to see the nurse-in-charge. They returned and officiously reiterated that the curtains had to remain open because it was daytime. That was the last straw. Sleep-deprived and feeling vulnerable and unwell, I got up, got dressed, packed my stuff, removed my own cannula and left. Not one member of staff tried to defuse the situation - although the staff nurse did shout at me because I was bleeding (I wasn't - I know how to take a cannula out). Funnily enough, I had a massive rant on the way out.

I still feel really angry about this experience. It felt as if many of the staff just couldn't care less - and adherence to the values and standards inherent in the NMC Code was largely lacking, some day staff aside. I'd rather die than ever go back there again.