"Neurology"

Although my operation was a long time ago, having read the reviews of other patients on this site, I felt I had to give an account of my experience at Addenbrooke's. I had a back operation at Addenbrooke's which was supposed to be a one day keyhole surgery which would enable me to go home the same day. The operation turned out to be more serious than they anticipated and took 2 1/2 hours longer than usual but I was still sent home the same day. The next morning, due to intolerable pain, I was 'blue lighted' to Hinchingbrooke hospital as Addenbrookes had no beds. Due to the Paramedics and Hinchingbrooke giving me large amounts of morphine I don't remember anything for the next 5 days after which I was sent, by ambulance, to Addenbrookes as a bed had become available. Due to the fact that it was hospital policy (both hospitals) not to give me morphine as I was being transferred, there was a timescale of about 5 hours when I was drug free and the pain returned with a vengeance. My husband asked Addenbrookes 3 times for pain relief but nothing was done and in the end, due to the pain he could see I was in, he had to almost shout and demand something be done before the staff took notice and gave me the drugs I needed. The next 4 days were a nightmare, as long as my husband was with me (which was all day) and he was able to self administer my morphine, all was well and I only 'came to' when the morphine started to wear off, at which time he would administer the morphine again, and so the cycle would continue. Unfortunately, when he had to go home, on 2 consecutive nights, the button to call the nurses and the button to administer the morphine had slipped down the side of the bed and I couldn't reach them. No matter how loudly I tried to call for a nurse no-one came and although I was drifting in and out of sleep these buttons were never moved even though they were told to check me every hour on the first night. My overall feeling of Addenbrookes was that you had to have a relative/friend to look after you as much as possible as the staff were either too preoccupied or disinterested in giving the care that was needed.