"Hospital Comment"

Anything else?

With the exception of one student nurse, the attitude of the staff towards us was unacceptable. On arrival, we were put into a cubicle by an a member of the ambulance crew and left. I am not sure how long it was until we saw a member of staff, but it was quite a while. When the nurse did arrive she was very unfriendly, she didn't ask how my son was feeling, just that she had to hook him up to a machine. What this would do, why she was doing it or even what would be happening was not explained to us. We were then left for a further 2 and a half hours. By this time, my son was in considable pain, the machine that he was hooked up to had begun beeping constantly and flashing lights, which combined with watching him in pain was very distressing for us. Staff were gathered around the desk and totally ignored the machine. I went to find a nurse who said that he still had 2 people in front of him. When I returned to the cubicle, my son was having problems breathing, so I went back to the nurse again, and listened whilst she spoke to the doctor. The doctor still tried to say that she had another patient to see first. I then stepped in and reinforced the fact that he was in a lot of pain and not breathing properly, and pointed out which areas of the machine had been flashing out warnings and beeping. At this point, approximately 3 hours after entering the department we saw a doctor. Bloods were taken, and again were we left. My husband asked where he could get a cup of tea and was made to feel as though he should not have been there. This is typical of the way we were made to feel: in the way, and not worth treating with courtesy or respect. At a time when stress is high, kindness means a lot and was sadly lacking here. By 5:30am, still no news about blood test results, and we were moved into a side ward because 'I'm just moving you to because you are going to breach if you stay here,'. I thought the reason for this rule was to ensure efficient treatment, not just to dump us somewhere else so we count even less than we did before. By 6:00am I had had enough and asked a nurse to see if my son's blood tests were back, and again, we were met with indifference. I went to find the doctor in A&E, and they tried to tell me to keep waiting, but I was not happy to do this, so a phone call was made and it was discovered that the blood samples had been lost, and new samples needed to be taken. My son was finally discharged just over 7 hours after being admitted. If this were my only negative experience with Yeovil hospital, I would not have written this review. However, the way the staff made us feel, and the lack of care with which we were treated exactly mirrors that which we received when my mother-in-law was on Ward 9. In stressful situations, it is vital that those who care for us, actually do care. They have the power to help, or to make things so much worse. Yeovil hospital adds to the distress because the staff seem to have forgotten we are people.