"Recent admission to Rochdale Infirmary Day Surgical Unit"

I had the misfortune of having to attend the above hospital day surgery department for facet joint injections to my spine. I have had this procedure done for the last eight years at Faifield Hospital in Bury and never received anything less than excellent service, but as these services have now been relocated to Rochdale,

I had to endure a disgusting experience from start to finish. The waiting room resembled a cattle market, five different specialties of surgical patients, some undergoing general anesthetic, others having local anaesthetic, all huddled together, not enough seating.

After an hour of sitting waiting, my name was shouted out by a nurse who greeted me by saying ' I was expecting an eighty year old with the size of these notes, are you diabetic or something '. I am forty five years old with a longstanding back problem! . The nurse then preceded to say' if we look like we are going about our business, that's cos we are, we are very busy'. The nurse then did some basic pre-op checks then ushered me back in the waiting room to sit for a further 30 minutes before being shouted again to see the Dr to sign my consent form.

After a further 30 minutes, I was shown into a cubicle, reminiscent of a swimming baths changing room to get changed into a theater gown and was then left to sit in the cubicle until a nurse looked at me and shouted ' do you want to put your belongings in this box, 'there was myself and someone else in the changing area, neither which of us was named what the nurse shouted.. which is a little disconcerting when you are about to go to theater. A theater porter then arrived to walk me down to theater and the nurse stated ' I would get a trolley for these notes or else you will end up with a bad back', which the nurse thought was amusing.

When I arrived in the anesthetic room I was greeted by an ODP, and shown a chair to sit on while we waited to go in. The ODP looked at my notes and stated ' Do you not work then, ? to which I replied Yes I do! , then asked me what I did for a living, to which I replied I am an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, suddenly his whole attitude towards me changed, to actually treating me like a human being.

I was then taken into the theater which was full of various people, chatting among themselves, I stood alongside the operating table being completely ignored by everybody, I eventually asked if they would like me to get on the table and somebody replied, oh yes I will get you a pillow.

The Dr then began preparing me for the procedure, when a radiographer came in with the X-ray machine, the first words out of their mouth to me were ' Your menopausal, ! you are a bit young for that arent you, are you sure you are not pregnant? . which I felt completely insulted at.

During the procedure the Dr happened to hit a particularly painful spot in my spine with the needle, which caused me to jump slightly as a reflex action, to be then screamed at by the radiographer to ' KEEP STILL'. I would like to know if this person has ever had a five inch needle inserted into her spine? ? .

Following the procedure I was taken to a ward on a trolley and instructed to 'Uncross your legs ' by another nurse like I was a five year old. I was then offered a drink which I didn't even get time to drink before a nurse, instructed me that I could get up and get changed and go home, literally five minutes following the procedure.. I have never been so relieved to get out of a place as much.

I have worked as a nurse within the NHS for 25 years and I have never come across so many miserable rude so called health professionals in all my years. If I felt I had ever made a patient feel the way I felt, it, I would be totally disgusted with myself and think it would be time to look for a different profession. I am sharing this experience in a hope that no other patient has to endure a similar experience.