No where To Run!

If we can not trust carers, nurses or doctors then surely a hospital that combines them all is likely to be the worst nightmare that any individual can experience. It would be fair to say that I am talking about certain group of individuals, such as the elderly, weak and disabled or people who do not speak perfect English who

would often go alone, making them a dismissive figures in the eye of health professions. I am sure few people will like to argue against my point but before you do, ask yourself do you go to your hospital appointments alone? are you impaired in anyway? what is your gender, nationality and occupation. I have observed this with my own eyes how people get treated differently in hospitals, even I have suffered from this but I found the best way to deal with this behaviour is to make it known that I am highly educated, I speak English and sadly I try not to be too nice, because when you are nice professionals do not take you seriously. 

I am not going to share my experience in this post and save it for future ones but I will narrate a recent incident that happened to a friend of mine who got admitted into hospital in the hope of curing a recurrent problem, what she did not expect that she was put in a private room, it is great  in a way as it guarantees peace and quiet but it also means that she will be left alone all day as nurses do not come to check on her, even when they are buzzed the nurses do not come instantly like  they are required to do, they either do not bother or go after an hour or less, by then my friend would either have given up or made to feel guilty for  they are busy and she buzzed them! 

The hospital stay lasted 5 days, seemed like 500 days, being neglected by nurses is one thing, but get given double the prescribed IV antibiotic is just sheer irresponsibility and negligence, when my friend noticed that she is being given two bags of IV she questioned the nurse, who assured her it is the correct dose that the doctor had prescribed and when the registrar doctor came my friend again voiced her concern but as usual was dismissed as CLEARLY DOCTORS know best! It was only when another doctor saw her on the last day of her stay that he confirmed the antibiotic was double the dose and wrong type!! By that stage my friend just wanted to escape home, the only place where she feels safe, and did not want to make an issue of the antibiotic incident, knowing that no one would take her seriously and health profession 'stick together' leaving her more vulnerable than ever as she will have to see them every week. But the most important thing is that she is escaping this...not sure what would be a right title, prison you would be watched, here she was not, confinement, basic care would have been given, it is almost a place that you expose yourself to shooters and attackers where you can't trust or rely on anyone. 

It always amazes me why it takes 4 hours for the hospital pharmacy to prepare the medication, considering as in inpatient they should have enough prepared but let us not be too critical the most important thing is getting the medicine and going home. leaving the hospital in a worse state than when she came in and being told by doctors that they lack the specified knowledge to treat her condition, my friend was still upbeat, if that is possible but the thought of getting home made everything else just seem trivial. Finally took the medicine that was put in a bag and off she went home, only to discover on arrival that she was given the wrong medicine!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank god my friend is educated, aware and does not live alone, can you imagine if an elderly had been given the wrong medicine they would have carried on taking it without realising the mistake!! After phoning the hospital my friend gets told to bring it back and take the correct one, already tired and frail my friend heads back to hospital where she is advised to come back tomorrow as her medicine won't be ready until then!!!

Hospitals are meant to cure people and if there is no cure then at least make them comfortable, help them to live with their condition and provide the care and attention that no other place would offer, not ignore, belittle dismiss and generally make your health and emotion in a worse condition than it was.

I want to complain and take this further but it is my friend's choice and as she pointed out to me, she is  a long term patient at that hospital, the minute she complains the worse the treatment she will receive, and ultimately it is her word against a handful of professions. I hope that reading this blog will make people more aware of what being admitted into hospitals entails, handing over your body to careless professions.