"The senior doctors were very kind and caring"

I was referred to ward 205 from a visit to my GP with severe low back pain and signs of infection and possible discitis.  As we left straight from the surgery I had no painkillers nor money with me.  

On arrival at the ward we were greeted by the receptionist (sorry I didn't get your name!!) and shown to the waiting area.  I was seen by a junior Dr quite quickly with a full examination done and bloods taken, then returned to the waiting area.  The receptionist kept checking on me as I was in a lot of pain; after over an hour they checked on my blood results with the dr.  I sat in the waiting area for around 3 hours at which point the receptionist went to get me a pillow and found a consultant who was really very kind and could recognise the pain I was in.  The consultant then found me a bed to lay in which hugely helped the level of pain I was in; I was then given some pain relief.  I went to radiology for an MRI scan, the porter that took me down was really friendly and did everything he could to make the journey as comfortable as possible.  The radiographers made what was an uncomfortable examination as easy as they could.  

Almost as soon as I returned to the ward a senior Dr and the junior from earlier in the day came to tell me my scan was clear as were my bloods.  I faced a 40 minute drive home and asked for pain relief for the journey.  The junior Dr returned with my discharge letter and on asking about pain relief, I was told that the pharmacy was closed, I could get paracetamol at the supermarket up the road, and that I could also buy dihydrocodeine 30mg over the counter without a prescription (my discharge letter stated that I was send home with both).  Firstly, we had no money so purchasing anything wasn't possible and secondly you cannot get dihydrocodeine over the counter.

The car journey home was awful and painful.

The following morning I was called by a very friendly registrar explaining that both he and the neurosurgeon had reviewed my bloods and scan and needed me to reattend for a further MRI with contrast. I managed to get a scan done that day which was thankfully clear.  

I feel that there was a noticeable lack of care and compassion on the part of the junior doctors on the ward.  The consultant that I met was very kind and caring and the person on reception was just great; they were doing their job and always checking in on me and really seemed to care about her job a great deal.