"Solihull A&E - full moon!"

A couple of weeks ago I woke at 3 am with difficulty breathing & a painful throat.

On looking at my throat in the mirror I couldn't see my air waves. I had a swollen soft palate, swollen uvula & it felt like there was something stuck at the back of my throat. I researched the NHS web site and it suggested it may be my epiglottis swelling & only solution was to get to A&E immediately. My husband checked my throat & feared the worst too.

My husband stayed at home as our child was in bed whilst I drove myself to Solihull. A doctor and two members of staff were at reception talking as I approached, no-one else was in A&E. I couldn't talk so I wrote a note explaining my symptoms - to my dismay one member of staff looked at me, turned to the nurse sitting next to her and said, "is it a full moon Sore throat?" and then laughed.

I was horrified by the professional attitude before I had even been seen & proceeded to keep asking me questions impatiently when I couldn't talk.

Cutting a long story short - the doctor took me straight into a cubicle & immediately gave me injections & I was admitted into AMU where I was then taken by ambulance to Heartlands & kept in!

I'm horrified by the un-professional attitude and approach towards a patient before they have even been diagnosed, and a member of staff did not even utter a word to me when they came into the cubicle to do my obs check.

Actually no communication was given to me in A&E as to what was happening until a porter turned up to take me into AMU where I can then say the care & communication was fantastic along with the ambulance girls and staff in Heartlands Wards 11 & 5 who were fab. All doctors and consultants confirmed I did the right thing going to A&E as my throat was indeed swelling & therefore needed urgent medical attention.

Outrageous that you are disrespected when feeling so vulnerable by those who work in our NHS service to provide care for you when to my mind they just shouldn't be there!