"Some departments great others terrible, how can..."

Having been a patient at the QEH for many years due to multiple disorders I have had fantastic experiences with many departments and doctors such as the pain clinic, rheumatology, physiotherapy and orthopaedics to name a few. However I have also had some terrible experiences that have really made me question patient care.

In Nov 2014 I was diagnosed with a sinus of valsalva aneurysm, at the ripe old age of 33. It was a serious shock as I only went in for a routine scan. I wasn't given much information just to dial 999 if any serious pain occurs and I would be seen in clinic. Needless to say that night and the next few days were a blurr and I was terrified. My GP couldn't help as it was too specialist and so I spent the next week worrying. I then went to clinic and underwent a transesophageal echocardiogram. This was a very traumatic experience as the anaesthetic wore off very quickly (due to having EDS) this is quite common. The aneurysm was confirmed. I was referred to a specialist in London and advised I would need surgery but essentially I had a ticking time bomb In my chest. after several months I saw the specialist only to be told it was a mistake and that I actually had a closed VSD but as the other condition was rare they probably didn't know what they were looking at. We had no information on what that meant and had to wait several months for a cardiologist to confirm the new diagnosis. We asked for a second opinion as we now had 2 different diagnosis's and still no explanation as to what either meant . months later and a second specialist later we had a final clear diagnosis. For almost a year we put our lives on hold having no clue what was happening and no real explanation.

It taken 2 more years of tests, scans and different hospitals to fully understand the implications of my conditions which was less than satisfactory. I now have a different cardiologist but would not wish this experience.

I then was admitted with appendicitis in September 2016 and after having it removed suffered sudden Tachycardia and became very unwell. The first episode was treated well over several hours by the critical care team being called to the ward, the second episode a few hours later was ignored by the staff nurse on duty and I was left for hours with no treatment, wasn't seen by a doctor or a nurse. My curtains were pulled round and once my family came to visit they complained and asked to know what was happening. The night nurses apologised for the afternoon staff, got a doctor and monitored me throughout the night. The next day the nurses again were fantastic. I understand that surgical wards are not equipped for medical cases but surely someone should follow the protocol not just leave patients to suffer. There were numerous complaint from other patients on the ward so this was clearly not an isolated issue. I just hope if I ever have to go back in to that ward the ward is better managed and staff better trained or informed of the correct procedure