"The friendly and respectful attitude ..."

What I liked

The friendly and respectful attitude of the triage nurse

What could be improved

The treatment and attitude of the doctor

Anything else?

I presented at Kingston A&E on a Saturday evening with heavy bleeding a week after a positive pregnancy test. I had previously called NHS Direct for advice and had been told to go to A&E as I was in a high risk category for having an ectopic pregnancy.

The triage nurse was sympathetic and respectful; indeed went out of his way to obtain information for me when he was obviously extremely overworked. However the doctor who treated me was not. I was left for about an hour (overall time spent at the hospital was just over 4 hours) on an examining table with only a flimsy cover in an extremely cold room. My partner asked nearby nurses for a blanket but his requests were ignored. The final diagnosis, after the doctor had examined by abdominal area (but no internal exam; no ultrasound and no beta HCG test result - which the doctor said was irrelevant) was that I was having a miscarriage. He finally said this in an impatient manner after I had suggested that perhaps I had an ectopic pregnancy; he said that I looked too well to be having an ectopic pregnancy.

So I was sent home, with an appointment for an ultrasound at the Jasmine unit two days later. The doctor at the Jasmine unit also diagnosed a miscarriage.

Two weeks after my appointment at the Jasmine unit I saw a gynaecologist privately for another matter. As I was still bleeding further investigations were done and an ectopic pregnancy was diagnosed. I had an operation shortly afterwards and my fallopian tube had to be removed.