"Hospital admission felt like a shambles, wish I went private"

I was admitted and ended up staying 5 days. I felt the communication between staff while I was in hospital was appalling. From the moment I was admitted I felt no one had the time or cared to stop and explain to me what was happening to me. I lay in emergency for 5 hours before someone actually told me I'd be staying overnight. Once I was in my room it was as though I wasn't there. Nearly all of my meals were forgotten, I had to call the nurses each day after I heard breakfast/lunch being served and waiting patiently only to learn I had been forgotten again. I was in an isolation room due to illness so felt very much like staff couldn't be bothered gowning up to tend to me when I called.

My obs were taken by a student nurse - who told me it was their last day of placement. The student’s supervising nurse left the room and I basically had to explain to the student how to take my blood pressure and had to remind them to take my temperature and oxygen saturation. Frightening to think this was the student’s last day and no one was monitoring them. I feel that the orthopaedic registrar’s bedside manner was awful and dismissive.

I felt that valuable money is being wasted, an after hours specialist had to come in on the weekend to see me as the messages didn't get appropriately processed on the Friday that I needed an ultrasound. I waited all day Saturday for the investigation only to learn when I finally got called down that the sonographer had been waiting 1.5 hours for me. I could have wheeled myself down or my parent who was present could have helped me down however I was not told the sonographer had arrived. I feel that this was wasted money and time!

My cannula was inserted poorly and I mentioned to every nurse that would listen how much the IV ABs were hurting,  however each staff member kept telling me, hmm that's strange, we'll keep an eye on this, until my arm was in so much pain I couldn't lift it and couldn't feel my fingers, finally the nurse unit manager was called only to tell me the cannula had tissued and I needed a new one, great news after 24 hours of suffering!

Overall I was very disappointed. I felt I had to speak up and loudly to make sure I was receiving appropriate management, which I feel sure lots of people wouldn't do. If I hadn't spoke up originally I feel I would have been discharged prematurely, then following this I probably would have been kept in far too long which again I feel is a waste of valuable resources. I will not visit a public hospital again in a hurry.