"I felt that the care from one nurse put my life at risk"

I went to the walk in centre for an emergency prescription as it was a bank holiday. The nurse there said I didn’t look well at all and took my pulse and blood pressure. Both were dangerously low so they called an ambulance for me and I was taken to hospital.

I was on the high dependency unit and received great care.

I was then transferred to ward 30 area 4. The care I received there was not to the same standard. A nurse was dispensing the medication. When I didn’t receive my heart medication I asked where it was. I was told it hadn’t gone through the system yet. Each time the nurse was dispensing, my medication was not there. The next day another nurse was dispensing, I asked again for my heart medication. This nurse said that the nurse from the day before had said I would be fine without it.

When I was finally seen by a doctor he said that he thought that I would have recovered by then and that he thought it was because I was stressed from being rushed into hospital. I said that I was fine about being in hospital as I had been in many times before. I felt that the reason why I hadn’t recovered as quickly was because I hadn’t been getting my heart medication. The following day a different nurse gave me all my heart medication at the correct times. From then on I continued to get my medication. I was feeling better when the doctor next came to see me. He prescribed me some antibiotics and said I could go home. Three hours later I was still waiting for my medication to be dispensed. It turns out that the pharmacy had never received my form and it was still in the nurse's folder. They said it wasn’t their fault as it wasn’t their responsibility to pass it on.

I felt that the care from this nurse put my life at risk. I felt it was a nightmare experience.