"Why could I not be scanned on Sunday?"

After being in severe abdominal pain for 15 hours I thought I best have it checked out. Arriving at A & E everything was as expected in terms of the meet and greet from the receptionist and information given over. The downside to the actual room is that there were two broken chairs in the waiting room and the TV was extremely small and not working well, not a big issue but I imagine if you were there for a long time these little things add up. I saw the nurse for the initial assessment very quickly and then was told to wait. It was 1. 15hrs until I was then seen by a Doctor. I thought this waiting time, although I was in pain, was acceptable.

I was taken through to a bay where the Doctor was extremely friendly and explained what was going to happen thoroughly. Once being assessed I was then fitted with a cannula. Again, whilst waiting for blood results I was kept up to date and the nurses were very friendly. Once receiving the results I was told I would be taken to the Surgical ward as I needed to go for an Ultrasound scan to definitely decide whether I needed surgery and whether it was my appendix. The nurse came along to unattach the drip to my arm to which they got blood all over the floor and dripped it through, slightly unprofessional.

I was then taken to the ward by wheelchair to which I was given a bed. Unfortunately, this bed was dirty and had blood on it. I was then asked to give a urine sample to which when I went to the toilet there was still a dirty bed pan in there from a previous patient. Both these factors I was very disappointed with. When the Doctor came round to assess me, which they were lovely and again very thorough, they said I definitely needed a scan to determine the cause for the pain. However, they informed me they don't scan on Sundays. This to me, as a 24/7 hospital, seemed a ridiculous concept. Therefore I had to wait until the next day for a scan. In this time I went home as I could do the same pain management from there as in hospital and the Doctor said I would probably be more comfortable at home. I was called in the morning at 8. 55am to which I was told my scan was at 9. 20am so did a bit of a mad rush however I was grateful that I had an appointment early on as I was still in pain and none the wiser.

The Ultrasound scan was fine, although the sonographer a little dismissive and rude however we all have bad days, eventually the Doctor found the route of the problem, a burst ovarian cyst. As there is no treatment for this other than pain relief I was discharged. Overall I would say all Doctors, Nurses and Porters were very friendly, good and approachable. The downside is that the answer to what was wrong was delayed by 20 hours because they wouldn't scan on a Sunday which left me worried, in pain and scared about what was happening.