"Disinterested and Careless"

I attended Sandwell hospital at 8:30am on a Sunday morning, taking in my elderly mother-in-law who was passing a considerable amount of blood and was in some discomfort. Expecting the detritus from the night before, I was pleasantly surprised to find only five other patients in A and E, including the obligatory drunk of course.

The experience at reception was painless and swift, as was our time in triage.

We had made it to the A and E proper in quick-time and were met with a nurses station which contained around eight nurses and doctors.

This, sadly, is where it all soon went down hill.

Our dedicated nurse introduced them self in an awkward, falsely friendly manner, telling us they would be taking my mother-in-law's blood pressure in two minutes.

Well, I left after three hours, but I don't recall the nurse taking this reading - or doing anything positive, come to think of it.

All I do recall is them; 1. Losing the patient's notes within half an hour and 2. Losing a urine sample my mother-in-law had provided within a similar length of time. Incredible!

We had a clear view of the nurse's station and found that they were more interested in nattering about the latest TV shows, discussing holiday destinations and tracking down the Sunday morning papers (which had also been misplaced) than they were in tending to the few patients they had.

Our three hour wait in a cubicle could have been reduced considerably if staff had given a little more of their time to the job in hand, namely nursing! That said, it did give me a little time to consider my surroundings and I was quite astonished to see considerable amounts of cobwebs around the examination lamp struts directly above the bed on which my mother-in-law lay.

Thankfully, after a while we were seen by a doctor who did seem attentive and genuinely interested in their patient's welfare. I wish I could recall their name and give them my thanks for their kindness and professionalism.

Eventually (thankfully) following a series of X-Rays and scans, my mother-in-law was transferred to the nearby, City Hospital to continue her treatment and I for one was grateful to leave Sandwell Hospital behind.