"Treated withou dignity"

I was admitted following severe hallucinations causing a major panic attack/dissociative episode and collapse in a supermarket. On admittance I was put in a cubicle a long way from the nurses station. The cubicle was freezing cold yet I was not offered any blankets for a long time. I was highly distressed and hyperventilating, not one person spent any time with me trying to reassure me and calm my breathing and instead treated as if I was a nuisance/a waste of people's time.

I also have chronic pelvic/abdominal/back pain and associated incontinence. I asked on a few occasions where the toilets were and was told that I was wearing an incontinence pad I should just use that. I spent 13 hours in the department in total, during this time I was not once offered a drink or anything to eat. As I was on my own and could not contact anyone due to my phone battery being dead I was unable to get anyone else to get me any supplies.

Despite stating that I was suffering from severe visual and Auditory hallucinations I was not referred to DPM but had to request this after being in the department for 6 hours. It then took 7 more hours to be seen by them who offered no help or reassurance but instead discharged me home despite my severe suicidal thoughts. Throughout my stay in the department I felt very isolated and ignored by staff with a noticeable difference in staff's response to myself and other patients in the department.

I requested pain relief as due to my prolonged time spent on the trolley it aggravated my underlying physical condition. I was given 1g paracetamol 2 hours later!  One staff member on the night shift was the only person to speak to me with any dignity or respect. Overall my experience in the department was appalling. I would never speak/abandon patients the way the staff did on this visit. I felt unsupported, unsafe, very vulnerable and what happened to patient dignity?

I was a very distressed and upset patient, on my own, and should have been treated fairly and politely. Instead I was faced with disdain and annoyance. Whilst undertaking my observations 2 healthcare assistants discussed how rubbish they were feeling, talking over me as if I was not there and suffering. At one point, whilst very distressed after being in the department for so long without knowing what was happening one nurse came in and told me to be quiet and calm down before leaving, I wasn't given an opportunity to explain why I was so distressed.

Just because I have mental health issues does not mean that I am any less of a person. A&e is a very distressing place to be, let alone when you are already distressed and hallucinating an abuser. A and E staff made me feel truly awful, like a time waster and an inconvenience!