Share review of Warwick Hospital

Warwick Hospital 2023-04-01 Person 4 5 0

I had two visits to A&E within a couple of days and one to out of hours practice at Warwick Hospital. As I don’t know to which this refers, I will comment on all. First time I was treated in a perfunctory manner and basically told to go away and take painkillers - despite mentioning pain in my back, I was not examined there at all, only my tummy. The doctor was scribbling with a pencil on a scrap of paper, and seemed disinterested. I didn’t see him again and was finally visited by another, possibly more senior doctor, who lectured me about what wasn’t wrong with me and told me to take cocodamol. The second time the examinations were much more thorough but I was left to feel like I was making it up - at one point I explained to the doctor that I ‘just wasn’t feeling well’. He responded, ‘well you look well to me.’ Three hours after returning from A&E I developed an extensive shingles rash at the site of the extreme pain I was experiencing. Presumably my ‘not feeling well’ was a valid comment after all! My final visit to the OOH doc could not have been better. He really listened to me, understood my symptoms, prescribed antivirals and made me feel like he was interested. On all occasions by the way, the nursing staff were lovely, kind, friendly and helpful.

I appreciate that shingles is a difficult diagnosis to make when there’s no rash. And I also appreciate that A&E is not the place for diagnosis of conditions but for emergency treatment. I also understand why I was told that ‘I do t need to come back to A&E again’ . However I was clearly in sufficient pain that the Oramorph didn’t settle - and I was clearly scared, and feeling very unwell. Sadly I was made to feel like I was wasting the doctor’s time. A real shame - my husband was luckily with me but that experience would have been a very scary one for somebody on their own. My experience with the OOH doc was like chalk and cheese - he was empathic and actually listened. He was patient, answered my questions and made me feel reassured. I cannot thank or recommend him enough, but I’m afraid I can’t remember his name - I saw him at 7.30 pm on Sunday 26 March.