"Medication"

Prior to being admitted to Wishaw General with pneumonia I had been treated for a number of years for severe back pain. The medication I was prescribed was a type of slow release morphine. I was also prescribed other painkillers and a tablet to regulate my heart beat. On admission the staff removed all my medication and prescribed their own. In place of the slow release morphine I had been on they gave me a different type which acts imediately and left me completely incapacitated. While I was under the influence of this drug I apparently said to a nurse that I didn't want to take this different type of medication any more. The nurse took me at my word and removed the drug from my prescription.

After two or three days without sleep and wandering up and down the ward it came to me that I was suffering from morphine withdrawal. I asked a doctor in the morning if I could get my original slow release morphine reinstated they agreed and advised the nurse. Despite me asking the nurse countless times It was six hours later and I was about to phone for a taxi home before I was finally administered my medication.

This experience was a complete nightmare. I think that there is no reason why patients who are competent cannot administer their own medication.