"problems on the ward at Darent Valley"

I called an ambulance for my boyfriend as he was having terrible pains in his head that woke him in the night. crew arrived who done a good job I must say and same with the A&E department. He was told he was being treated for Meningitis and would need a lumbar puncture...women poked her head round the curtain and told him she would be performing the procedure under supervision of a senior consultant ..(panic set in! ) 3 doctors came and stood and watched while it seemed to me the woman had no idea what she was doing! my boyfriend was told all he would feel was some pulling and tugging but no pain. after one attempt of taking what seemed like forever she then had to take out the needle and go higher up he was in so much pain and nearly ended up off the bed and on to my lap! I know people have got to learn but to the expense of someone already feeling very poorly ... In my view the senior consultant should have taken over when he saw that she was having trouble not just let her carry on! ! ! he has been in agony since and still remains on the ward.

To me VISITING TIMES are a joke! If a patient is feeling so unwell that he phones you in the middle off the night asking for you to be there then it should be allowed, you can't swap and change the rules depending what mood the nurse in charge is on at the time. we all know how it feels to be in great pain and to feel alone so change the rules or make sure all the staff are singing from the same hymn sheet! DIGNITY!

Is it right that a gentleman is left in the toilet for two hours with out being checked on? it was only because of visitors that the nurse was made aware ..... she then decided to open the toilet door fully and let the whole ward know that he was opening his bowels .... didn't think to go in and help him and find out what the problem was! no she thought it was very funny and had a good laugh at him! in my line of work that would have been instant out the door and down to the job centre! ! maybe some of your nursing staff need to go back to basics training its not hard would she have liked that done to her? no think not!

All in all just want to get him home where he can rest and be cared for and not left struggling in pain while staff have a chat about their nights out! one last thing please advise your staff that visitors have quiet moment when visiting and can see all what goes on around them and it is not a good idea to be talking rudely about other patients in the bay next door, as it could be my boyfriend some other visitor heard them bad mouthing! walls have ears! may be if you address some of the issues you are getting on here then your reviews would be 100% good!