"A lot of improvement required urgently"

I visited a&e for the second time this year with severe abdominal pain (to the point I was being sick and struggling to stand up)

My first time in May was bad but for me the October visit was the worst.

I'll start with the positives - staff are polite and friendly in general and I was seen within the 15 minute review window by the nurse

However it went downhill quickly from there. The waiting room was overcrowded and dirty - crisp packets on the floor as tissues and I didn't see anyone clean while I was there.

I was told wait would be 2-3 hours, it was almost 5 hours until I saw a doctor.

Just before this, I was sat on a corridor in the a&e department with staff chatting around me about their weekends while I was doubled over in pain waiting for intravenous paracetamol.

When I saw the doctor he asked me 'what would you like us to do for your pain?' I said ' considering I've had 3 ultrasounds that haven't shown anything for my pain, can I have a CT scan?' to which he replied 'no, you've got no reason to have a CT scan' I was horrified - what is the point in asking the patient of you are just going to disregard my response?!

I then ended up on a trolley in a&e all night, with no pillow and waited a good while for a blanket too even though I was freezing. I forget to add that throughout this entire ordeal I wasn't once offered a glass of water - surely that should be the first thing offered to anyone feeling ill?

My experience didn't get any better (and at this point I felt very sorry for the staff) as a girl high on drugs came in and was screaming running around the ward and trying to attack staff. Not pleasant for anyone involved, particularly the other people on the ward, it was terrifying.

To cut a long story short ,I saw my private consultant the day after while I was on SAU who ordered an emergency CT scan for me. There they finally found my large ovarian cyst that had twisted my fallopian tube which was causing me the agony.

I have now had it removed (privately) and am on the road to recovery - I dread to think what could've happened had I not seen my consultant by chance that night.

I will be avoiding going to this a&e at all costs.