AIBU For expecting more of a Private Hospital

[charliebear78]

Ok,So I went in for a NHS Procedure yesterday-I was given the option of three local Hospitals to go to,One of these was a Private Hospital-so I thought it would be "better" plus this particular Hospital could do the procedure sooner than the others,so great I thought, and chose that one.
I arrived on time and was quickly ushered through to my own en suite room and given a menu to chose what I wanted to eat afterwards-The Room was quite grotty with really old wooden furniture, The room was quite depressing and I was feeling nervous about the procedure(colonoscopy)
The curtains were drawn so I thought "lets open them and get some light in here,that will cheer me up a bit"
The window was all boarded up.
I then sat in that depressing windowless room for 3.5 hours until I was taken down to theatre!
The actual Colonoscopy took half an hour-afterwards I was given a cheese and ham toastie and a pot of tea-with a napkin!!!!
My Mum had the same thing done a month before at our local NHS Hospital and was in and out in the time I spent just waiting!!!!
I really cannot get over the wait time.Why did I need to go there just to wait for so long?
No one said sorry about the wait.
Just wanted to vent really.
I was already feeling nervous and worried and the time waiting on my own really got to me.
Thankfully all was ok.
Is this the norm for some Hospitals?!! I have NEVER had to wait so long before.
Do people pay for this? or is it because I am an NHS patient using their Hospital?

How weird.

TBH sedation sounds OTT. I was offered a GA, local anaesthetic or nothing. I decided to go with nothing and to have a local if it got bad. Never heard of sedation tbh. It was fine- found a smear is more ouchy when they stick the brush in! I think you had a bad experience with someone who didn't know what to do. It ought to be a 5 min procedure with no pain.

3.5 hrs doesn't seem an unusual wait; it al just depends on where you are on the theatre. Usually everyone comes in at 7.30 or whatever and the list runs from 8.30-1230 with a list that the theatre staff decide according to medical and equipment issues.

I work in NHS and Private hospitals and the status (paying or not) isn't obvious to staff as it's usually buried in the notes somewhere because it's essentially not important.

Nurse endoscopists are very common practice now and evidence shows they do a very good job. The availability of sedation will depend on the set up of the unit rather than the competency of the endoscopist. Some sedatives can no longer be used without the supervision of an anaesthetist.