"A&E Ignorance"

My urine had been dark brown for 3 days despite drinking lots of water. I believed the brown colour was blood and that I had a water infection therefore I sent a specimen to my GP. She made me an appointment and told me the brown colour was bile. I was feeling so ill by this point that she sent me, with a letter to A&E at St James, she told me that I would be admitted and told me to pack a bag.

After waiting 3 hours in A&E, sitting on a plastic chair in a corner, I was shown in to a cubicle and seen by a doctor, He asked my symptoms and told me to lie on the couch. As I undid my clothing he asked what previous scars were for, these were for genuine surgical problems (peritonitis, hysterectomy and bowel surgery) yet as soon as he saw them he ended the interview, didn't examine me and told me to go home and wait for an appointment for a scan, he treated me as a malingerer.

The following day I called my GP to tell her what had happened, she made an appointment for the following day with another consultant. He diagnosed a severe liver infection and advised bed rest.

A month later I am finally feeling a bit better but still no sign of the appointment for a scan. The last time I attended St James A&E I Had had an accident and hurt my hip. They refused to XRay and told me to get plenty of exercise as it was just bruising. They even refused a request from my GP to Xray to exclude back injury. 6 Months later I was finally Xrayed and had walked around for 6 months with 4 pelvic fractures and seperated sacro-iliac joints. Major surgery and a long stay in hospital followed.

St James' does not learn from it's mistakes.