"There's bad and good. Mostly bad."

I had a mixed experience in my recent A+E trip. One doctors performance was poor enough that I have had to lodge a formal complaint. However, the nurses in A+E were, on average, exceptional. I wish I knew their names to commend them personally. Without the nurses, I would've been discharged despite being unable to breathe or stand.

The ward, however, left much to be desired. Due to previous awful experience in this hospital, the (different) doctor was led to suspect PTSD. I had minimal requirements to allow me to stay in hospital - blankets to cover the curtains and a pillow. If possible, my partner to remain with me. The single sex nature of the ward made the latter impossible (although I wonder where I would've been put had I been non-binary. Left in a corridor somewhere is all I can assume). The blankets and pillow never materialised, causing my panic to get triggered and me to discharge myself despite medical advice and my own fight to be admitted in the first place.

My A+E nurses and my ward doctor were both incredible. But my A+E doctor and ward nurses were so poor that I had to fight to be taken seriously, and then had to leave anyway because they made me even worse.

I hope that if I ever need to go to A+E or be hospitalised again in future, that I have enough time to go to the next nearest hospital. But failing that, I hope I manage to get the good staff here.