"My complaint"

I attended a blood test and Xray appointment today (24.06.2016) at Brentwood Community Hospital. My blood test appointment was set for 8.25am. On arrival the reception desk staff were polite and helpful and pointed me in the direction of the waiting area for my appointment. I immediately noticed a build up of patients waiting to be seen and after 20 minutes realised that the nurse attending was alone and under pressure because a colleague had not turned up. Some short time later another nurse did arrive and things seemed to begin to look better for everyone waiting. The delay was not too bad (45 minutes) and on calling my name I went directly into the room with the original nurse on duty. They made no attempt to apologise for the delay and I did not mention it. Whilst I had been waiting to be seen I had noticed that the waiting patients were looking directly into this room and watching people have blood taken. To a certain extent they were discussing each persons visit and reaction between themselves in a social manner. I do not believe they meant any harm by this, they simply could not avoid seeing what was going on. As I was taking off my jacket I asked the nurse if they could close the door for privacy. I explained that I did not enjoy having bloods taken and did not want to be on show. They said they could not, offered just a curtain, which afforded little privacy considering the audience position outside the door and said that they did not want to be in a room with me on my own!!!

I accepted that this may be a policy issue and suggested that perhaps they could ask a colleague to come in so that they was not alone. They immediately became aggressive and stated that I was being difficult and said that they was refusing to take my bloods because I was being rude. I again explained to her that I was simply trying to avoid being watched by patients and felt uncomfortable with the situation. I asked her to consider this and confirmed that I was not being rude on any level. Again they confirmed that they was refusing to take my bloods and asked me to leave or they would call security??? I asked her why they was being so difficult and they then marched out of the room returned with a Manager. They seemed very surprised at what was happening. The nurse mentioned that they was an ex paramedic and didn't want to be treated like this. Again, I stated that I was simply asking for privacy. The nurse burst into tears and left the room followed by her Manager who instructed me to sit in another waiting area whilst they tried to resolve matters. The nurse returned a short time later, ignored me completely and went on to make a 'speech' to the other waiting patients about how they was sorry but they are apparently unprofessional. They then returned to her treatment room. I have never experienced anything like this before and found the situation very stressful considering I was attending due to symptoms of chest pain I think this was completely wrong! What a nightmare!!!!