"Slow to diagnose at Darlington Memorial Hospital"

After arriving via a bumpy ride in the ambulance I thought I had arrived in a 3rd world country when reaching the hospital.

Never have I seen such a dirty unkempt place, desperate for a paint job, dirty tissues lying on the floor, the doctors all looked under 25yrs old and it was difficult to understand their English apart from the one that treated me who was understanding.

I was admitted twice to this hospital in one week as an emergency for kidney stones even though I told them that I thought it was Shingles as it was in the same painful area of the kidney that I had 8yrs ago.

But I was told it could not be shingles due to no rash (even though it is a well known fact that a rash may not appear after the first attack). They treated me with morphine and sent me home. The second time I arrived they told me that my kidneys were fine even though I was in excruciating pain and thought my whole insides were going to burst, the final report befor they discharged me: "we think you have shingles."

This attack of shingles and pain could have been prevented if they had listened to me and given me the tablets within 3 days of contracting shingles to prevent the excruciating pain i am now suffering and may well go on 24/7 for 5 weeks.