hope everyone had a good xmas, and before i start i want to make it clear i am not having an attack or anything like that!!
after struggiling with me stupid lungs over xmas mum decided well i suppose i did as well that enough was enough and she took me to hosp (not my local as i am away from home, at my hols home in somerset), i have not been to this hosp before but my g'dad recently came out after reciving excellent treatment after needing BIPAP. anyway went in and they saw me quickly and soon made space for me in recus, and they were great in there bit slow with treatment but i want at my local and i couldnt quiet explain what i usually have so i wasnt to worried but they kinda got the drift. i was seen by itu doc who tried numerous times to get an ABG cant quiet rember if he was sucessful or not !! anyway i was moved to MAU where there were great i got a front row seat infront of the nurses station where they were lovely!!
To cut a long story short i was moved to a resp ward where i was told thta i would be kept a very close eye on and the sister was lovely... BUT the problem began... i was taken up put in a seat becasue the bed wasnt ready (all i wanted to do was sleep!!), anyway after the HCA made bed i got in where i was left. I wasnt introuduced to my nurse told where anything was what to do if i had a problem etc etc but past the point of carying i got on with it. after sitting for some time with nothing been said to me basically forgoitten i got the nurses attention to say i needed a neb as chest was very tight, she said oh ok, ill have look ... oh yoiur drugs chart isnt here have you tried you inhaler?? well ... i had but normally i thought if you were on nebs you wernt supposed to take you inhaler on top ??!! (maybe i am wrong there but !) so about 1/2 later a student nurse has come back and sets it up for me and says its there when your ready!! after that i didnt see the nurse again ... until she was dealing with sum one else who haD been pusing the buzzer for wll over 10mins, i asked yet again for pain killers for my knee, and she said ill find you chart and never saw her again. So i just couldnt be bothered at all and went back to sleep. My mum finally got to the hosp and i told her what had gone on and she spoke to the nurse who sai 'would you like me to come and spewak to her then?' bit late!!! my mum confronted her and the nurse said she was sorry that she had ben busy with other patients and that she had only been 2 mins in getting my neb .. HMM lies!!! so i said i wanted to go home and the doc came over and said she wasnt happy and so did the sister but still i dischagred mysefl ... not clever i no but i dont see why i should be forgotten and left to deal with it myself becasue she had other patients!! on my way out the sister said to me you know that if you get anyworse that iut/hdu want you there ... well if i was that ill why was i left with no drugs chart? not asked if i was ok? even given 2 mins of her time? i dont really get it? i am at hoe now i know i should probably be in hosp but i couldnt stay there and would rather be at home they didnt give me meds and dint care!!??
the only thing is was i being unreasonable ?? do i complain? i dont quiet know what to think or do i have never been made to feel so out of place and worthless !
sorry for the rant i just not sure what to do and i you uys are teh only people who will understand!!
Hi Katielou, it sounds as though you had a dreadful time. Having an asthma attack can be very frightening, especially when you're away from home, away from your usual team who know what to do for you, and you're left to pretty much fend for yourself. I'm so sorry that you had this experience. It has obviously, and understandably, upset you, and given this I'd be inclined to make a complaint. You shouldn't have been left like that when you were so unwell, and you most certainly shouldn't have been made to feel like a burden or ignored. You have nothing to lose from making a complaint, and it may well help them 'review' their attitudes. These things can take time, and they can take energy too, but you can always get the help of PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service), who've I've always found very helpful in various situations.
I do hope that you're okay. When you say that you're home now, do you mean that you're back at your holiday home or back at your actual home? If you're back at your actual home then it could be a good idea to get either your GP or your usual resp team to take a look at you. At least if you need to go back in then you know that you're in the hands of people you trust and people who know how to care for you.
Look after yourself,
Becky.
Blimey, sorry to hear what you have been through. Was it Yeovil by any chance?
I hope you are soon feeling better, nobody should be treated like that in hospital but I am afraid it is commonplace around here. My mum had 26 weeks in in total, 7 different visits, after her stroke and the onset of the epilepsy and we saw some abysmal things during that time. Buzzers turned off without anybody attending the patient, a nurse manhandling and swearing at a senile patient, stroke patients frequently left desperate for the loo but unable to move from their beds..... horrendous.
Definitely contact PALS and see if they can help.
Ali
Think yourself lucky it was not Derriford. wonderful ITU, great HDU but resp ward well what a nightmare got moved into a side room with raging D&V and left for 30 minutes with buzzer going in a sealed room with no-one checking in on me. Good thing I had some of my own nebs in my case. Room did not cleaned in 3 days, commode not emptied for half a day. Prescribed drugs that interact with amino, when I refused to take them was accused of being awkward, refused to have bloods done for theo level after it had been down for 4 hours as the result would be wrong and they should not base the next dose on it as it would be way to much amino even for me. Once again accused of being awkward. Given antibs I did not need need ""for cover"" CRP and all counts were fine I had no clinical signs of infection at all but they insisted I had them they made me puke constantly, so they had to give cyclizine to counter the sickness and have all drugs changed to IV, which took the nurses over 30 minutes 3 times a day to give all of which could have been avoided if I had not been given antibs in the 1st place. I have never been so glad to be transfered in my life!
Bex
no, it wasnt Yeovil but Taunton - Musgrove Park Hosp. (shudders!)
I am back in my holiday home at the moment and doing ok i guess, just glad i brought lots of inhalers and my spacer - i am just about manging with that, i am ff to RBH in jan so i hope ill hold out till then - or at least till i am back on home ground!
Sorry for the other bad experiences that you have all had, it has certainly given my an insight into things and cant belive SOME , as i have met pleantky of excellent nurses, nurses can trat people like that its supposed to be a health CARE profession can treat patients like that!!
katie xx
But i must add they were very clean, after 2 patients were moved due to
MRSA and D&V they did steam clean each area were the patient was and there was a whole team of cleaners 5 to be exat - so give them thier due in that respect !
Katie, the hospitals in this area do not have a good reputation unfortunately. They might get all the ruddy stars under the sun but anybody who has had the pleasure of their services will tell you what a farce that system is lol!
I hope you are able to keep afloat until you can see your own GP, it is must be scary being away from home and not getting the treatment you need.
Ali
Have been considering moving house to Devon, but after reading all these stories. Im abit concerned about what the hospitals are like. Is there a decent hospital in the SW, with a good resp ward? Was also considering south wales some where along the coast. Does any know what the hospitals are like there? I have spent alot of time costified so finding a good hospital will be just as important as a good school!
Word of warning dont be ill in Worcester!!
All best
Sarah
Well I hear the Nuffield hospitals are good............. otherwise forget it! If you are thinking of moving then get people's actual experiences and don't go on the star gradings because they do not reflect the true service, merely the Government targets and figures IMHO. Dorchester is much sought after, under this Patient Choice larky it is often listed as an option and ALWAYS has the longest waiting lists because people clamour to go there. Yeovil doesn't even have televisions any more, not individual screens nor one in each ward so you have to examine the dirty walls, day in day out, if you want to amuse yourself.
Ali
I can not get the local nuffield to accept me even when stable, not lack of cash Daddy is rolling in it but they say I am too unstable for them
Bex
Blimey Bex that's a bit rough! Surprised they are turning away money.
Ali
Not really they have no ITU/HDU and no gasman on 24/7 duty.
Bex
Living in Newcastle I don't have a lot of experience of hospitals in the SW, but I was admitted into Treliske Hospital, Truro (Cornwall) when I was on holiday last year on my own. They were great throughout - A&E, HDU/ITU and the resp ward - so my guess is that you'd be safe there, Sarah Seahorse.
HTH.
Becky.
Think might start looking in S Wales! Have spent the night in Truro Hospital after allergic reaction on holiday. Though didnt really get to see what the hospital was like. After spending years being treated in a hospital that isnt great, thought that since we are looking to move to a bungalow Then might as well move to an area with a decent hospital! Thanks for the info will def avoid Taunton and Yeovil.
Don't try Haverford Hospital in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Not very good.
Also back in the 1990's I had a bad time at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor when at University there. They didn't like my s/c and told me even their worse asthmatics didn't use s/c??!!!
Anyway.
Mid - Essex is good, Shrewsbury is good.
Katielou, sorry we have hijacked your thread. I have to admit doing the same on the odd occasion when not at home many years ago. Please do complain but make it constructive critisism - you are more likely to get a responce from my experience & Take care please xxx
Kate
Resp team at Royal Devon and Exeter have been excelent to me. Have had a few problems on MAU but then thats normal but cons and resp ward have been brilliant. The housekeeper has always been good with my food allergies to.
Katie I hope you can get through tilll you get home.
royal devon exeter
exeter is really good i would much prefer to go there then torbay they need a good kicking speedy is it still dawn who is the house keeeper she was great as tim could not always come in. diff now that he works in exeter she even made sure all my laundry was done . so i had clean pjs and even went extra and if i needed anything from town was fasntastic and would get it for me .spent nearly a month up threre so bex if you get given choice go exeter . still trying to get tim to move but born in brixham so stuck here for a while hope everyone ok and have a healthy 2008,
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Respiratory Consultant wants me to come off asthma meds!
Fostair excessive use maybe? 
Pulmonary Rehabilitation Course
Clenil - what is a high dose?
What would you do next?
