"Removal of breast lump"

I had an operation on 28 Jan to have a benign breast lump removed. The care I received ahead of this operation was fantastic. The nurses and consultants in the breast clinic were really great. They were very organised and treated me with a great deal of respect. I also had a very good experience with the pre-op assessment nurse who was extremely nice and I felt well informed about what was going to happen.

I was very unhappy with the care from the nurses in recovery. I woke up and the tube was still down my throat, which was a rather unpleasant way to wake up. I didn’t get any reassurance from them that everything was okay. I had some comfort from the anesthetist but after she had left I was essentially ignored. They were discussing which nurses had been put forward for promotion and were using their names, which I felt was quite inappropriate in front of a patient.

Once I was back on the ward there was no real handover between the staff so the ward nurses were unable to tell me anything. At no point was I told a simple ‘everything went well’. I assumed it had or I would have been told otherwise but this reassurance wasn't given to me.

It was a real shame to have this experience as everything else had been managed so well up to this point.