Stoke Mandeville Hospital 2020-03-07 Person 1 5 0

You hear all the time how the nhs is under staffed and under funded but until now I never realised free how bad it was. I was referred to A&E at Stoke in the early hours of Tuesday 3rd March. With severe tummy pains. I’d already spent 2 hours in minor injuries in wycombe before I was diagnosed with suspected appendicitis and sent to stoke A&E with a letter to hand straight to staff on arrival. I handed over the letter on arrival and was told to take a seat. A nurse called me in reasonably promptly who took bloods. At this point I asked for pain relief as I was in severe pain. The nurse said she would arrange this. I’m not sure on time scales but it was well over 2 hours and numerous requests to the receptionist (who didn’t really seem to care) as to whether I could please have pain relief. It was pretty obvious for anyone to see that I was in severe pain. Eventually a nurse came out with a paracetamol drip and buscopan drip. By this time I was freezing cold and shaking. She connecting the first paracetamol drip bag and said she’d be back in 10 mins to swap the drips bags and give me a blanket. Well over an hour n half had passed before she finally came back with a blanket and apologied that she had forgot and swapped the drip over! I saw more nurses and specialists through out the night who poked and prodded through out that morning but I spent a total of over 10 hours in A&E on plastic chairs bent over in pain. During this period one of the doctor said they thought it was appendicitis and to confirm they would need to do a ct or ultra sound scan before they could proceed with surgery. He then informed me that all scanning machines were fully booked and they were considering sending me home then booking an appointment for the following day. I was flabbergasted by this and said I wasn’t happy with this. Eventually they relented and managed to free up a ct scan machine. I was taken into surgery shortly after the scan. After surgery I was informed that my appendix was abscessed and wasn’t far from bursting which complicated the surgery as the area had to be flushed to prevent infection. If I hadn’t dug my heals in when the doctor wanted to send me home there’s a good chance my appendix could have burst which is very serious and potentially life threatening. The guys in intensive care were amazing when I came out of surgery. Eventually I was moved to ward 18b. On arrival I informed the nurses I was having issues and was unable to pass water. I asked several nurses over a period of well over an hour n half for help but staff members would say they could help but then just wouldn’t come back. I was in allot of distress at this point and closed to tears! I’m a 40year 15 stone guy so this isn’t normal for me! Eventually after continued badgering and my wife getting quite animated I was eventually fitted with a catheter. Although short staffed all the staff were friendly and cheerful but clearly rushed off their feet. There was 1 staff member that really stood out as horrible. She was the nurse in charge over night weds into thurs on ward 18b. Her bed side manor was awful and she clearly wasn’t a people person. I’ve always endeavoured to be polite and always said please and thankyou. But all I ever got was a mumbled barely inaudible your welcome compared to any other member of staff who were always friendly polite and chatty. On the weds evening my bag connected to the drain tube in the wound in my belly was nearly full and I asked if I could please get it emptied. She said she would be back. An hour passed and I asked again as I was tired and wanted to sleep. There was no way to hang this bag off the bed as it didn’t have a hook so I’d been sleeping with it laid on the bed next to me. I asked for a third time but eventually gave up. I woke in the morning to find I’d rolled on the bag in the night and the tube had come apart soaking my bed in blood and pus where some of the fluid had leaked. I informed the nurse who scolded me for why it was on bed and not on the side of bed. I retorted back annoyed that I’d asked her 3 times to empty and that the bag didn’t have a hook to hang any where else. She returned to reconnect the tube and tape it up but still didn’t empty the contents!! It was finally a nurse on the morning shift who emptied the bag for me. No attempt was made by the horrible nurse to change my bed after it was soaked in fluid from the bag so I was left laying on a soaking wet bed till morning staff took over. I wasn’t well in the morning when the horrible nurse was taking my blood pressure. I informed her that I felt sick but She carried on regardless. I informed her again but there was no urgency. On the 3rd time I was maybe a bit rude and asked her to get me a sick bowl now! She was just in time getting me a bowl or I’d have puked everywhere! After being sick I was in agony. Wretching and being sick 1 day after stomach surgery felt like I was gonna pop my stitches. I was doubled over and asked if she could take the bowl please and get me another as I was still wretching but she barked back just put it on the side!! Again I was flabbergasted!! Not long had surgery ,just been violently sick and I’m in allot of pain and you expect me to get up, walk over to the corner past you to put the bowl on the side when your right next to me?? She took the bowl from me and put it on the side but sucked her teeth in disapproval whilst doing so! Luckily this was the last I had to deal with this woman thank god as the morning team took over. All the other nurses were lovely! Rushed off their feet and not a moments peace but always smiley and cheery. On leaving ward 18b I had to give 2 of the nurses a hug to say thankyou! I certainly won’t be hugging the horrible nurse! I imagined that anyone choosing a career in the health care profession would have a passion for helping and looking after people. Why this particular person chose her career path is way beyond me!!