"Good but with issues"

On 25th October 111 advised me to visit rsh a&e and an appointment was made for 6pm. I arrived on time but the triage nurse was brief to say the least. Due to a pre-existing cancer I was isolated in an area away from the masses. After 3 hours of waiting with no offer of pain relief I was finally examined by a registrar. He was thorough and homed in on the problem. Blood tests indicated pancreas issues and an ecg and ct scan was taken. Oral paracetamol was given which was a huge mistake as I could not take any fluids and I was severly dehydrated, having had no fluids for 15 hrs. At 03.00 hrs I was finally given a saline drip- 18 hrs since I last had fluids. During the daytime and evening of the 26th I was still being offered oral paracetamol which I could not take as I was nil by mouth. The iv saline drip ran out at 9 pm (26th) and I was refused another saline drip - no prescription ( can you beleive it). Finally on the 27th at 06.00 am a new saline iv drip was given. By that time I was in intense pain from dehydration and acute pancreatitis. At 0900 on the 27th I was finally given paracetamol by iv which reduced the pain signifcantly.

Several areas need improvement. The classic primary treatment for acute pancreatitis ( nhs and guts and others) is iv hydration and iv paracetamol, niether of which was given promptly. I saw many doctors in the 3 days I was hospitalised. Sadly no one seemd to take the lead - a case of too many cooks. The dehydration issue took far too long to identify and rectify. No checks on my fluids input and output were made. My output was like orange juice. Solid paracetamol should not be given to someone who is nbm. The other issue was the water. Rsh water in the wards tastes absolutely foul. I could not drink it as the taste was so bad and it was loaded with black particulates, that my wife brought in water for me when I could drink ( Sunday pm).

Overall the experience was good but was let down by the initial choice (or lack) of treatment. The ward staff were all very good as were the registrars in a&e. Had the the proper iv hydration and iv paracetamol been employed in a timely fashion I might have been discharged sooner. I also think that isolated patients in a&e need far more osbservation and should not be left languishing on their own and in pain.

Note the useless ai screening prevents consective capitals hence Rsh, iv, ecg, ct,Nhs