"I have never experienced such a lack of care"

I am a cancer patient who has gone through a series of different cancers throughout the 20 years since my initial breast cancer diagnosis. I currently have cancer at C3 in my neck as well as a tumour in my brain and a variety of other health issues, many stemming from previous cancers and treatments. I have extremely limited mobility, am not supposed to move without a walker or assistance, and wear a neck brace at all times.

While normally treated at the cancer unit at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, I was admitted to the Royal Infirmary after a blood test picked up low kidney function due to a buildup of unprocessed pain medication. I was admitted via A&E in the early hours of the morning, and was told I could not be transferred to the Western where the staff are familiar with my medical records and underlying conditions because I am there regularly.

Over the course of the next day I was moved multiple times, eventually ending up in ward 207 where I was put on a fluid drip. During the night I was desperate for the toilet, and pressed my buzzer repeatedly for half an hour without any sign of a nurse. I could not wait any longer and removed the drip from my arm, but was too late to reach the toilet in time. I found this extremely embarrassing, and have never had this happen in all the years I have been in and out of hospital. I discovered afterwards that there had been a staff member in the kitchen beside our room door the whole time. Upon seeing me coming out of my room looking for help they shouted at me aggressively, telling me I shouldn't be walking around the ward like that. 

Once this had been resolved and I was back in bed a nurse came to reconnect me to the drip and could not find a vein in my left arm. This is a common problem as a result of my medical history. They asked a more senior nurse to come, who said to use my right arm instead. I have had the lymph nodes removed from my right shoulder, which means I am no longer allowed to have needles in the right arm as this could be extremely dangerous to me. I explained this multiple times and the senior nurse was dismissive and rude to me, and eventually insisted on inserting the cannula into my right arm despite my protests. This is absolutely never supposed to happen - doctors will always use my foot if the left arm is unsuccessful.

In 20 years of regularly being in hospital for both short stays and sometimes months at a time I have never experienced the lack of care that was evident in ward 207 at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. The attitude of the nurses that were working starting on the Monday was greatly improved and changed the atmosphere on the ward, but cannot excuse the experience I had over the weekend.