"Disappointed"

I was taken to Cramlington Hospital by ambulance at my GPsrequest after a home visit following a diagnosis of severe gastroenteritis & needing urgent rehydrating with IV fluids. My GP requested the IV be put up in the ambulance enroute to the hospital but on being told that would require a paramedic which would take two hours longer she requested an ordinary ambulance. That arrived over 4hrs later & to be fair I was informed by the ambulance staff & a nurse from the hospital about the delay. On arrival at the hospital I joined the queue in the triage area which was unbelievably public & open for everyone to both see & hear patients dealt with in what I considered vulnerable situations. The ambulance staff were wonderful & caring but after that not one member of staff came to introduce themselves to me, ask how I was, or give any indication about what to expect. Eventually one nurse came to ask if i had a cannula in & took bloods after inserting one. I had obs done by the same nurse who never referred to me by name. The first I heard my name was when the porter came over two hours later to take me to another area to see the doctor. I had my obs taken by a nurse who did introduce himself & granted he came to repeat a blood sugar at some point. Two & a half hours later I had not been seen & after over four & a half hours of no communication I decided I would be better at home. I was desperately uncomfortable & tired & had to go & find the nurse to tell him this. He gave no reason for any delay (which I would have willingly understood) but indicated I would need to sign a form, A few minutes later he came into the cubicle with the form (whistling & humming a song) & asked me to sign it .... I signed the first part which said I was discharging myself against medical advice (although this was not true because no one did advise me against it) ... & did not tick the box which said I had been given the opportunity to discuss the reasons etc .... because quite frankly this nurse seemed quite happy to let me go without concern .... my friend who was with me was horrified at his inconsiderate uncaring attitude .... her words were “he seems happy to just clear another cubicle & get the next one in” .....

I am a retired nhs nurse so I know how desperately busy staff are & the enormous pressures they are under .... my problem is not with the system which is grossly underfunded in my opinion .... my criticism lies with the lack of communication which leaves vulnerable patients feeling isolated, more vulnerable & a sense of lack of control & involvement in their care. I was made to feel unimportant & left to make a decision with regards to my well being which was probably unwise but at a time when I was most vulnerable & least able to make that decision. A little bit of communication about what would happen & a bit more caring & compassion would have gone a long way to prevent this happening. As it is I hope I never need to attend Cramlington Hospital again!