"I was seen promptly and checked ..."

What I liked

I was seen promptly and checked over after being diagnosed with a very rapid and irregular heartbeat. I was moved to the ward very quickly and hooked up to a heart monitoring machine.

What could be improved

There were 4 people in the ward I was sent to. One of them had pneumonia and was coughing a lot, and in one of the other beds was a lady with dementia who also had a very bad cough and did not cover her mouth. I feel that both these ladies should have been isolated. Even though I am asthmatic I was given beta blockers, which are not good for asthma sufferers. There was also a lot of dithering about whether I should be given a heart scan while I was in hospital or whether it should be done in Out Patients. In the end I was told I would be given an appointment in Out Patients. I am still waiting and my heart problem has not changed My GP is at her wits' end. I took the beta blockers as instructed and developed a terrible cough, which I thought I had caught from the two ladies on the ward - I was so ill I could not lie down and had to sit up all night. My GP put me on a course of antibiotics, which did nothing. In the end, (after 2 weeks) we decided it must be a reaction to the beta blockers. As soon as I stopped taking them my cough got better. I then started on Amiodarone, which gave me blurred vision, so after 10 days on that my GP rang up the cardiac unit and the doctor that spoke to put me on Digoxin and commented that they didn't know why they hadn't put me on that one in the first place! the only side effect is that it makes me very dozy! My Christmas was completely ruined by being put on the Beta Blockers as my cough was very debilitating. In addition I now have a prolapse caused by the coughing. I was given a follow-up appointment for Jan 21st, which my GP managed to get brought forward to the 7th Jan as my condition is causing so many problems and I really need to be sorted out. Of course, on that date, all appointments were cancelled due to the snow - although we were quite prepared to make the journey from Kidlington due to the urgency of my situation. I have now been sent a new appointment for the 28th Jan, which is a week later than my initial appointment!

Anything else?

I have been trying to get my appointment moved forward as I feel much worse now than when I was admitted to hospital, and my heart rate has not changed, but in spite of talking to the PALS officer, I have not managed to achieve anything!