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Give shops a break
• RECENTLY I fell and was taken to University College Hospital accident and emergency unit by ambulance. Having injured both knees, I found walking difficult.
Details of my other health conditions were taken by ambulance staff and were put on a computer as soon as I entered A and E. Then the problems began.
The first doctor I saw confronted me with “I hear you’re demanding an X-ray.”
I told him politely I wasn’t demanding anything but had been advised it would be sensible to have one. He backed off and I was left in a cubicle with no bell or any means of requesting assistance.
I asked for water and painkillers, but two-and-a-half hours passed before they arrived.
When I needed to go to the loo nobody came to help. I managed to get there by clutching a curtain and rail.
After three hours I was given an X-ray, which showed no broken bones and I was told I could leave.
Somehow I remained polite throughout my ordeal and wondered if there might be a place for volunteers in A and E.
They could fetch water for patients, escort them to the bathroom and might even offer a simple dressing or plaster.
Sensitive volunteers could have been helpful to someone like me, who found herself alone, in pain and unable to get even water.
I am going through the complaints procedure and have received a letter that does not answer my questions.
The experience left me feeling shattered and fearful of how I might be treated in future.
Is the NHS in its present form worth saving?
ANNETTE TRICKETT
Barnsbury Square, N1
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