"Need more staff everywhere!"

My husband called 999 following my collapse at home-i also had been suffering severe lower back pain which i had seen my gp twice that week.We waited 2 & a half hours for the ambulance to arrive-1 hour of that i was laid on my cold kitchen floor. My husband & father had to physically lift me onto my sofa as i couldnt do it alone due to pain.

When ambulance arrived the decision was to take me to a&e-i have no complaints about the paramedics as they were amazing & it isnt their fault. On arrival to a&e there were 3 other patients queuing to get into the department for a bed-waiting for the next person to get moved on. I was waiting there for a good half an hour using gas & air in extreme pain.

When moved onto the first section in a&e the paramedics couldnt hand me over as there was a shortage of trolleys so we had to wait for one to come available. When it did they were finally able to leave. The first nurse i saw was clearly rushed off their feet- they checked my observations-didnt ask me my pain score which as a nurse myself i know this a basic observation. I was then left for an hour or so. A guy in another bed heard me crying in pain & i heard him ask a nurse if i was ok and they said yeah shes fine- they didnt even look in on me!

I was then moved onto the next part of a&e where i stayed all night til the morning. The doctor & nurses were fab but again very busy. Then moved onto aau where i had good care and luckily for me discharged home with a good plan of care-i.e medication, referral for mri.

This trust need to employ more staff before something occurs. You have great hard working staff who are just exhausted and given too much responsibility, not enough time, no breaks etc etc. I was lucky enough to move away from the trust and was the best decision i made,