"I felt vulnerable and defenceless"

My GP referred me to A&E for reasons of a very low, and potentially dangerous, sodium count.

I understand they called both Cheltenham and Gloucester to ensure that there would be a bed for me and subsequently sent me to Gloucester hospital.

As I was advised not to drive and a return taxi Stroud/Gloucester costs £60 I took two buses to reach the hospital on my own. My wife is a stroke survivor and doesn’t drive. She would have been unable to get back to Stroud as there are no buses at night.

I believe I arrived at A&E about 4pm and I was seen by a triage nurse very promptly. I subsequently was placed in a chair, as there were no trolleys and no cubicles available.

Finally, at 2am, a bed was found. During ten hours I had been forced to sit in a plastic chair, in the middle of the medical staff’s ‘operations’ room, with banks of computers, doctors and nurses rushing in and out. Just like Paddington station in the rush hour!

At 1pm I was so exhausted I tried to speak to one of the staff to explain that I felt that I was ‘at the end‘, totally exhausted and ready to collapse.

As I’ve kidney disease with a kidney function of only 20% I feel run-down at the best of times. On that day I felt totally vulnerable and defenceless.

The nurse patted me on the should, called me ‘love’, or was it ‘darling’, and explained that I was in the queue for a bed. They wouldn’t tell me whether I was at the end (how long was the queue?) or at the beginning. At that point I voiced my concern that NHS Gloucestershire was failing to provide me with ‘care’.

At that point I had no empathy any longer nor the strength to be friendly. This shook the nurse into action, and hey presto, they found I was the next in queue for a bed.

My single room was excellent, so was the staff, and I believe I received the appropriate treatment.

Worryingly though I picked up a vicious virulent virus at your hospital, not helped by my total exhaustion and low immune system, and found myself subsequently four weeks flat out and down. I lost 10kgs and it’s only now I am gradually crawling out of this dark hole.

Somewhere I saw a note whether one would recommend Gloucester hospital. Would I, ever?    

p.s. almost forgot to mention that someone found me a dry and tasteless sandwich [on white bread]. thanks.