"Lack of care and compassion"

I was initially greeted by a friendly and efficient member of staff on reception, but this was to be the only positive in the completely shambolic experience I endured last night.

On the orders of an out of hours doctor, I was told to get to A&E asap due to feeling very unwell and having low oxygen level. I was suffering from chest pain and severe headache radiating down one side of my body.

The out of hours GP kindly assured me they would be emailing RVH. I was extremely unwell in the waiting area and was called after 2 hours for triage. No idea why the delay was so long, considering the out of hours told me I needed urgent bloods and an ECG that couldn’t wait until the next day.

I sat in agony as people who walked in after me were taken, along with people who just seemed to be there for a night out. The triage nurse lacked empathy and really didn’t seem to get the picture. I was told to go back to the waiting room and they couldn’t tell me how long I would be waiting.

Fast forward and I was sitting in agony for nearly 4 hours in total. I really had to lie down so the only option was to tell a member of staff on reception that I was so ill I needed to lie down so had no option but to go home. They said fine, in the most disinterested and uncaring manner I have ever witnessed.

I am now home and waiting for my GP to open and am absolutely disgusted at the experience I had. Despite having MS, which the team were also made aware of, I have worked hard all my life and paid NI contributions to be treated like this.  There was  absolutely no care or compassion.