"Night time in hospital"

Just over 2 years ago, after being in ICU for over three weeks, I was transferred to a single room attached to a  general ward. I could move very little, even in my bed, as I had a life-threatening neurological condition.

During one of the first nights I was there, I woke about 2am to find both my catheters had leaked and I was lying in a pool of faeces & urine. I could not reach the button to call the nurses. I tried banging and calling out for half an hour but nobody came.  Luckily I had my mobile phone. 

Eventually, after half an hour I decided I only had two options - I was desperate! I could either 

a) to call my elderly husband who would be asleep or b) to phone 999, which I did. The police were very helpful and understanding, giving me the ward phone number. I rang but nobody answered. So I had to ring my husband. After several tries, he rang the hospital switchboard, who put his call through to the ward. Within minutes a nurse was with me and cleaned me up.

If only someone had made sure that I had the call button, this would have been resolved quickly.