"Being admitted to A&E mid week"

I was brought into A&E via ambulance one evening with severe head pains. Although I suffer with severe migraines, I had recently been discharged from hospital following surgery, therefore causing my husband lots of concern and so he took full precautions to have me checked out. I was checked by the ambulance staff, passed to hospital staff on arrival at approx 7. 15pm where I was asked a couple of questions. A nurse came to my side and started to take blood, so I thought, but it was rather painful & so I asked how long she would take. She said that she was in fact putting in a needle to prepare for a drip (no explanation). Five minutes later, I was moved out of the initial room I had been in and into the middle of A&E where other trolleys were 'stacking' up. I was then left there and I might add in awful pain, for about 2hrs before a nurse brought me some ibuprofen.

About an hour and half later, a doctor asked if I could get off the trolley and walk to a side room. He checked me over and suggested that I was put on a drip to rehydrate me and given another stronger pain killer as he said it was indeed a migraine. I was put back onto 'the trolley' surrounded by at least another dozen and waited for this treatment to take place. (I thought this would at least be in the privacy of a side room). It was another hour and a half before a nurse came to treat me (after I might add, the original doctor had been twice to check if this treatment had taken place).

Once the fluid had been administered (about an hour), my husband fetched a nurse and asked if I could go home. She fetched the doctor who said this was ok and 6. 5hrs after arriving at A&E, I was outside waiting for a taxi to take me home. The experience was awful, I was in my nightwear, with no privacy and for most of the time, was left next to a waiting room full of people all just sitting watching me.

I would also like to add that my husband was astonished at the unprofessionalism of some of the nursing staff. For the entire time we were in A&E one of the nurses was chewing gum and there seemed there was a general lack of care, a feeling of 'we were just in the way.' I appreciate that staff are very busy and resources are stretched but on a scale of 1-10 this would be rated a 3...awful.