"T&O Ward - Medieval"

I was unlucky enough to have broken my wrist and in need of surgery. I was admitted to Ward 234. I asked if it was a day case before I went and they said 'probably' - I stayed overnight. The staff were horrendous. They made you feel like you were a nuisance and not a patient! There was a lack of information (I still don't know what type of metal plate they've put in... no one seemed to know).

If you rang for assistance, they took their merry old time getting to you. I asked 7 times for pain killers once the anaesthetic started wearing off - no rush. The poor lady next to me waited 2 hours for her pain killers.

The elderly lady opposite me was being transferred to another hospital and she was crying because she was unsure of why - no one comforted her. She didn't want to go and she couldn't understand what was happening. It was heartbreaking.

Another lady was moved on her side because of pressure sores and when her family visited, they realised they had moved her on the wrong side - she was in agony! The family were not happy.

I was discharged at 8.30 am and sat on the bed waiting for my meds to take home. I kept asking when I could go and I heard the discharge coordinator say 'she can go when I'm ready'. It was around 2pm they said the meds were ready, but I would have to wait another 4 hours for the morphine. I said I would have the other meds as I had a lift waiting for me. Went to the nurses station to get them and the nurse disappeared into a meeting room. I asked if anyone else could dispense them and I got a curt 'no' from one of the other nurses (or whatever she was - I don't know from the different coloured tunics what post they hold) - I left without my meds and went to Boots to get codeine and ibuprofen.

Awful, awful, awful - if you're ever in this position and in this ward - make sure you have plenty of visitors around you and you're not alone.