"21 Days of Disasters - and counting!"

My elderly relative was brought in 3 weeks ago, by patient transport, in terrible pain.

They took blood on arrival, then lost the results.

She waited 6 hours for an xray even though the hospital was expecting her and had planned the xray - which they eventually gave this elderly lady at 2am.

They finally got her pain under control, then the next day forgot to give the pain meds to her.

There has been a different disaster every single day - she was seriously dehydrated on admission, and they said she must drink, but the ward staff kept leaving her table out of reach (she is disabled).

She went for an xray and they xrayed the wrong part of her body.

They keep forgetting to give her her regular medication (which almost had life threatening consequences).

There is not enough room here to list all the problems there have been, but it has got so bad that we have as a family felt it necessary to organise a rota to be there all day and make sure we know what is going on, chase up things that aren't getting done and ensure she isn't subjected to anything that hasn't been explained to her, discussed with us or ordered by a doctor.

Despite all our efforts and vigilance, (and you all should pay attention here), we discovered quite by accident that the hospital had taken it upon themselves to issue a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order on my relative!

It had not been discussed with her, or with any of the family who as I just said have been practically camped at her bedside for 3 weeks.

To say we were angry is an understatement, and although we have now been assured by the doctor that it has been removed, we don't feel very reassured.

It is incredibly alarming that the hospital feels there is any justification for making this decision without any consultation, especially when the family is so involved in the care and the patient herself is undeniably compus mentus.

It is nothing short of disgusting.

What is more, in the course of relating our tales of woe to everyone we know, we have yet to find anyone who has a single positive thing to say about the Lister.

Even their fancy new multi-storey carpark isn't fit for purpose!

This is a hospital that has been investing millions in recent years and continues to do so, with the aim of becoming a regional centre of excellence.

The truth is, if they were in home repairs instead of people repairs, they couldn't fix a shelf without bringing the whole wall down!

I wouldn't trust them to treat a gerbil!

If you can possibly avoid being seriously ill in North Herts, do it!

Otherwise, move to somewhere that is outside of the Lister's catchment area!

Even the doctor today admitted that the longer my relative stays in their hospital, the more chance there is of her getting something else wrong with her.

A damning indictment from someone who knows a helluva lot more than we will ever see about what is wrong with this hospital!

We have written a letter of complaint.