"Aftercare abysmal"

My husband was brought in for an appendicectomy. Yes, waiting times are long (he waited 36 hours for the operation) however that was not the worst of it. The surgeon and staff who operated on him were wonderful - what had initially seemed like a borderline case of appendicitis turned out to be a very serious one and keyhole surgery had to be abandoned for a full laperotomy. He was in an extreme amount of pain following the operation, and nearly lost part of his large intestine as the gangrenous infection was so severe. Care immediately following the surgery was good. We were told he would be in hospital 3 to 5 days as it had been a major operation and a major infection. However just over 24 hours after surgery, no staff was left that had been there during his operation and it was a completely different story. A registrar did morning rounds and told him he should be discharged. My husband could not walk unaided at this point, and was still on intravenous morphine.

They did not examine his wound. When he later saw the pain management nurse, they told him he should stay 1to 2 more days. He had been prescribed regular doses of oral pain killers also, however the nursing staff were not bringing it to him. No-one would answer his call button at night, he forced himself to shuffle to the nurses station to ask for it. I was afraid to leave him at night, and spent the whole of the visiting times from morning to evening at his side to try and ensure adequate care. I had to fight for the staff to understand that he needed to stay longer in hospital. Eventually the consultant who had performed his operation came and confirmed that he was not ready to be discharged and apologised for the registrar’s mistake. However the same registrar came the following morning and blamed my husband for the fact they had said he should be discharged. My husband was vulnerable, in extreme pain and had been treated poorly by this doctor and yet they continued to mistreat him.

This registrar was unpleasant, brusque and dangerous. And because we questioned them, and complained that the nurses were not administering the prescribed painkillers, we were subjected to a toxic, compassionless environmwnt. I am frankly terrified of ever needing hospital treatment at York and will avoid at all costs.