"Outrageously poor care which puts people in..."

What I liked

Nothing

What could be improved

Had my first child there in 2011 and now pregnant with second baby.The building is a dirty dump,staff are rude and careless. I also had an open appendectomy there in 2011 and had to go without pain relief for hours after the operation,yet I was expected to get out of the bed within 2 hours of the operation by two nurses screaming at me to go to the toilet if I need to and they aren't going to lift me or help me, yet and all was given is 2 paracetamol tablets. In an effort of pushing myself up from the bed, the cannula broke in my vein and the fluids went into the tissue causing my hand to swell up and bruise.I was in horrible pain and I was begging for proper pain relief but haven't been given anything until next morning when I was about to self-discharge.As of the birth,I had a C-section and again I had to ask several times for pain relief and wait hours.I was left on the open ward after the operation and my family was sent home as the visiting time was over, I was forced to look after the baby alone despite the major operation I had and despite the insufficient pain relief (once the catheter was removed,so was the drip and I had some pills instead which didn't work but it was just ignored). I tried asking for help but the nurse was always busy and my baby was screaming in his dirty nappy and I have ended up doing everything myself.I also received no help with breastfeeding. It was not possible to have any rest because when my baby was sleeping and could have had some rest until the next feed, someone else's baby was screaming.

Anything else?

Additionally, the windows on any of the wards couldn't be open more than 5 cm due to security reasons, there was no air and the whole ward was boiling.By the end of the 3rd day after my C-section, I have requested to be discharged despite my still high blood pressure because I just couldn't take more.I suggest that anyone who can avoid this hospital, do so.With my recent pregnancy,I have transferred my care at 31 weeks to another hospital despite it's 20 miles away.

The average waiting time for antenatal appointments is 1 hour or more. I have hardly ever seen the same consultant. Also, I have not been diagnosed on time with a major condition because as per the midwife and the consultant, they can't afford to test women based on the risks listed in the NICE guidelines. In this particular case it means that instead of screening women with the BMI of above 30, they only screen women who have a BMI of 35 or above. Screening of women with BMI of 30 is too expensive even though this particular screening has the cost of 2 simple blood tests (checking blood sugar only) and 1 bottle of Lucozade. As a result of late diagnosis, my baby is bigger than should be and has increased risk of complications. I am wondering what other basics are they saving on which puts people at risk.

I have been impatient in the following wards in the last 2 years: Fleming, Marina, Katherine, Labour ward, Postnatal ward. The nursing care was the same bad standard everywhere, pain relief was not provided properly, if I ever happened to press the buzzer, I was given dirty look, most of the nurses were rude or simply too busy to care. I can count on one hand how many nice and helpful midwives and nurses I have met even if I add up all admissions I had.