"Disappointing care after a fall "

Five months ago I fell and landed face first on the pavement. On coming to I was aware that my shoulder felt particularly uncomfortable and I immediately went to A and E.

As a right arm amputee and prosthesis wearer I was concerned about the injury and the overall impact a broken shoulder was going to have on my life.

I arrived at A and E and was quickly shown into a cubicle where my general obs were taken by a staff nurse (blood pressure etc) but then she handed me a black plastic bag and a hospital gown, told to get undressed and left. I couldn't believe it,I struggled to remove my clothes and my prosthesis with my shoulder immovable and my remaining hand injured. No one offered to help me I felt sore, anxious and concerned.

I could hear noise and it sounded as if there was a loud, intoxicated individual in the Department so I tried to be understanding but I felt miserable. I struggled to remove my clothes and my prosthesis and eventually put them in the black plastic bag and put the gown I had been given on. As it tied at the back I could not fasten it.

The Doctor who eventually saw me was kind and offered to tie it for me, after an X Ray the break was confirmed and I was given painkillers but the nurses that I saw that night showed little care or consideration for me and offered me no practical help whilst I was there.

I thought my feelings about it would pass but I still find it upsetting particularly the embarrasment of struggling to undress then sitting in a busy department with a gown that I couldn't fasten. Are nurses forgetting what the job is about and how to offer care and support to people who attend A and E?

I don't know if my story is an exception and if patient's usually have a better experience at this hospital. I do hope so as I found it a miserable experience.