"This issue is really affecting my life at the moment"

Early one morning I needed to get up to go to the toilet, I took two steps, and I fell over. Luckily, I landed on the bed but I was so dizzy and disoriented. In the morning my wife phoned our GP but by the time we got through there were no appointments, so it was a case of waiting. My wife phoned 999 and they advised it was serious enough for an ambulance, which arrived soon after. They carried out a number of tests on my heart etc and were concerned it could have been a stroke. I am diabetic, I am on medicine for high blood pressure.

They took me to Ninewells where we had to wait for quite some time in a queue in the corridor at A&e. Eventually I got put in a bay and was then transferred to the Acute Care Unit where I was put in a four-bay room, with two other people. The care from thereon went downhill. The first problem was the heating. It was absolutely freezing in there; the draft was terrible and it was like the windows had never been replaced or serviced. It turned out that the heaters were in fact broken. I was only given one blanket to start and had to wait a long time to get a second after asking. It was that cold that from the moment I got in the bed to the moment I left; I was still wearing my outdoor clothes. I felt the staff weren’t very attentive, they would come in, check stats etc but that was it. I felt very unwell and felt very forgotten about.

I was given a CT scan, but they found nothing, so they suggested an MRI. I was meant to get this the same day, but this didn’t happen. The next day they felt it wasn’t a stroke, but they didn’t rule out anything else or give me much more information. I was told to go and get an MRI which was due to be carried out the day previous, but this also showed no signs of a stroke. As far as I was concerned, they lost interest in me. They weren’t going to refer me to anyone else, they hadn’t investigated the cause for my illness. I felt dismissed, with no follow up.

It was then decided that I was to be discharged, having had no further information or reasoning on why I was feeling so unwell. They watched me walk up some stairs and along the corridor and deemed me well enough to go home. I had to wait until the afternoon, laying there with my outside clothes on, and upon asking to go to the toilet, I was given bottles. I did however need to go to the toilet, and a rather snappy nurse told me no. It was either bottle or commode, which was not a pleasant experience, especially when patients are in the shared room. I found this undignified and unpleasant. The other thing was that during this time I was never allowed to get washed. I was anticipating getting out so when my wife came she didn’t bring anything to help me wash. I was unable to clean my teeth, shower etc and I just felt the experience was awful.

Since then, it would appear I have had an episode of vertigo. After ringing because my symptoms had not gotten better, I was told I could get an emergency appointment at the ENT department at Ninewells or wait 1.5 years on a waiting list. When I arrived at the emergency appointment, I got my hearing tested, and then saw a consultant. The consultant made remarks that I walked well enough, but I of course explained that this is because I was holding my body up. I felt as though they spoke down to me, speaking very pompously and demoralizingly, at one point referring to my wife and I as children.

The final thing was that they asked me to walk over and sit on the couch to perform some manoeuvres. I was warned that it could be unpleasant. I have never had a worse experience in my life. They did these very robustly, I felt instantly sick, sore, the room was spinning, and my eyes were moving rapidly. It was only then did they feel as though it was serious. Despite this, they said that this was all they could do and made me sit outside, nothing was getting better, staff were wandering about, doing nothing.

I sat there for a long time, with people walking by. One person stopped and asked if I would like water, but I declined as I felt sick. My wife then suggested Buscopan, which is something I had previously had from a pharmacy, but this was dismissed. 

I also asked to go to the toilet, to which I was told it was down the corridor, but due to how sick I was feeling, my wife had to get a porter to help. Upon returning from the toilet, I was informed there was actually a toilet that I could have used about 6 feet away which I was not told about.

After ¾ of an hour, the nurse came back with the tablet recommended by my wife, with this being what helped me start feeling slowly better. When my wife spoke with the consultant, they were very dismissive, repeatedly stating that there was nothing they could do or the wards could do.

Eventually, my wife had to wheel me to the car, where we went home, and I slept for a long time, only just feeling slightly better when waking up. I believe I am being referred to audiology, with a stroke still not having been ruled out completely. 

This issue is really affecting my life at the moment, and nobody seems to be taking it seriously.