"This was my third visit to this hospital..."

What I liked

This was my third visit to this hospital with an episode of C Difficile which I originally contracted there. Every time I go back in It's like starting from scratch. Twice they've lost my history, and It is a constant battle to get the drugs I need. Half the nurses want to give me paracetamol, which does nothing, and if I refuse are petty and stroppy. In a room near the nurse's station, I can hear the staff talking about people who have died on the ward, and general gossip I would rather not have to listen to. I'm regularly kept waiting up to two hours for pain relief, My treatment is rarely discussed with me, and I'm treated like a child. During my second visit to the hospital I went in with C Diff and ended up with E Coli. I had to have my wits about me at all times to avoid being given the wrong medication and incorrect procedures (and why can nobody put a line in conrrectly?) I wouldn't wish this hospital on my worst enemy.

What could be improved

Having spent 2 months in the hospital over a period of a year, I only came across two or three nurses who treated me the way I wanted to be treated. To most of the staff I seemed to be an inconvenience (How dare I be ill!). This has to be addressed, I don't understand why the staff can't realise their patients are at the most frightened and vulnerable. There is a total lack of communication between doctors and nurses. One day a nurse tried to give me insulin, the next a doctor told me my scan had revealed a kidney stone (I hadn't had a scan). Drugs are not administered regularly, and heaven forbid you should need something from the pharmacy (good luck).

Even if I were to forgive all the mistakes that were made and almost made, and the inappropriate conversations and shoddy care, the most frightening thing about this hospital is the slow-paced approach to everything. If i was told I would see someone, it would be days before I did. If I was being moved from one ward to another, It could be at any point between an hour and 4 days. No wonder the NHS have to make so many cuts, the amount of money wasted on my care was astounding. On the day I finally got to go home I waited 9 hours, lying in a bed that somebody else could have been using, simply because a doctor needed to sign off on my medication. 9 Hours? How much did that cost? The system is an absolute joke.

Anything else?

Everything I have written above is completely accurate, there was no need for exaggeration despite the anger I feel towards the hospital. They gave me all the material I needed to write this feedback. And if you have just finished reading this, please remember this. The whole thing could have been avoided if they hadn't infected me with a hospital bug in the first place. I went in with a mild case of Glandular Fever, and a year later having had to quit my job because I can't get well, I'm still struggling with inadequate care and non-existent after care.