To discharge myself from hospital?

[toldyouiwasill]

I’m desperate.

Admitted on Monday with ?appedicitis. Then told I had a UTI; possibly kidney infection. Then ended up catheterised. Then told my sats are too low (92-95) and that I’ve got a chest infection. Told I need a CT scan and a chest x Ray. A doctor came round at 4pm and told me I’d be given a nebuliser tonight and possibly oxygen. I can’t lie flat as I can’t breathe without wheezing, coughing to the point of vomiting.

Come night shift - nurses said they have zero record of that conversation and there’s nothing they can do. I haven’t slept more than four hours since Sunday. I haven’t got any water, I’m being left with a full catheter bag for 12-14 hours at a time. I’ve no idea what’s wrong and if I have got an infection it isn’t being treated. I’m so tired I’m hallucinating.

I’ve just asked the band 2 nurses for help and got snapped at. They’re sitting discussing Chinese takeaways.

I don’t know what to do. I live only a mile away. I keep thinking of packing up and going. I can buy a syringe from boots to take the catheter out. I don’t know what to do, I’m scared and desperate.

Did you ask her for water and to empty your catheter?

Make sure you ask her for water AND to empty the catheter

I hope it helps op.

But honestly do you have any family or friends who can come now? Fuck visiting time. If i knew my loved one was being put through this, i would be getting down the hospital right now and raising merry hell.

It's hard in the middle of the night in hospital when you are experiencing poor care. I'm glad you realised with everything going on that you cannot really go home right now. You will just come back in, in a worse condition & start the process again.

I know you've already asked, but please keep asking to get your catheter emptied & request a jug of water. If your urine it too concentrated it could cause bladder spasms & increase the bypassing, a pad will save some dignity there.

I doubt the catheter issues are helping your mental health issues, considering your history. Do double check it's still needed as they do sometimes get left in longer than necessary.

In the morning ask to speak to the nurse in charge, as well as PALs/patient experience. Keep chasing the ward Dr to clarify your treatment plan, & then check with your nurse over the day what has been documented in your notes. Unfortunately being told one thing & experiencing something else isn't uncommon.

I'm hoping the nebuliser will help you settle a bit.

Take note of the nurses names and report them the PALS & the Royal College of Nursing in the morning. When you've been discharged whistle-blow to your local newspaper. This shit has gone on long enough, it's not just lack of resources ruining the NHS it's uncaring staff as well.

Write to your MP and inform them of the situation saying patient's safety is being compromised by incompetent nurses. Some people should not be health care staff but are attracted to it by the power it gives them over vulnerable people.

You need to wait for the scans and tests.
Keep harping on about the catheter and water.
Try to be patient - if you leave you will have to repeat so much of what you are already coping with.
You are clearly ill if you are on morphine.
Wait it out, the process is bringing back bad memories sotry to over ride them with good ones.
Do you have access to TV or music or radio?
Listen to radio talk back.

do you normally drink water at night,
you shouldnt drink too much water, it interferes with your electrolytes

This is illegal, do don’t do that!

OP tell the charge nurse what’s going on during the night shift. Sometimes diagnosis changes throughout the admission … they think it’s one thing then someone else thinks it’s another and investigations come back and the picture becomes clearer.

you need to ask what’s going on to your team on the morning ward round and if you aren’t able to take that in ask the nurses to read your notes.

Do You have a family member that could bring you drinks and snacks to have during day/night ?

ALso, if you are unwell enough to warrant admission then you are going to feel rotten for a few days.

Neither should OP only have had a few hours' sleep over the course of several nights, @Willmafrockfit, but that's what she's experiencing.

OP - your blood pressure was low and being dehydrated, as you are, will cause it to drop further. You may suffer from confusion so please stay put, however shit it is there because at least they are technically responsible for you. Nobody out on the street will be.

The staff sitting around discussing take away and ignoring patients is unforgivable. I'd record them anyway, illegal/immoral or whatever. You would at least then have a reminder of events to jog your memory when you need it.

We need to stop being sentimental about the NHS, dismantle it and put together a new healthcare model that works.

Oh no, that’s rough OP. A bypassing catheter is agony. You’re doing right by staying put though and as others have suggested, can you get someone from home to bring you some emergency supplies later today- bottled water, glucose sweets, a few bits to make you more comfy like an eye mask so you can rest your eyes if nothing else and a fleece comforter? You’re fighting on so many fronts at the same time, at least having your own access to water makes you feel less out of control. I get how upsetting that is. Whether you are actually dehydrated or only feeling so doesn’t matter. The meds you’re on, and the nebuliser now, will make you feel thirsty and our bodies are not capable of ignoring thirst in the same way as hunger or tiredness. Hope you get some help soon!

Email pals. I had to and they were absolutely brilliant. I was a care worker in a former life and I felt like I was at work, not seriously ill in hospital. I ended up making several serious complaints about the way some elderly dementia patients were being treated.

The chaplains are also really good in these situations where you just need someone to talk to. They don't care if you have a faith or not. In fact last time I was in I ended up with a Muslim chaplain (I'm Christian) and he stopped me going insane by just being there to talk to. He arranged for me to be taken to the chapel (I needed a break from the ward because being neurodiverse, I was in total sensory overload and just needed to be somewhere quiet and safe).

Hope you are better soon. Hospital sucks at the best of times

I'm so sorry you're having such a bad time. I hope the day team are helpful. Make sure you tell them what your night care is like.

There is no law that forbids a private individual from recording a conversation they are having. There are laws against using that recording in certain ways without the consent of the parties involved. It will be difficult, but not necessarily impossible, to get it admitted in evidence for a complaint or court case - such a decision would normally be at the discretion of the presiding authority.

Ask for ward matron first thing tomorrow. If no change in care, look for the details of the chief executive of the hospital, I found these online. Then call and email and let them know what is happening. Withholding water is a disgrace. Ask visitor to bring notebook and pen and record every negative interaction with name, time and witnesses. If it carries on, call CQC from your bed. If a particular nurse is ringleader or consistently neglectful, contact the nmc for advice once discharged. You shouldn’t have to do any of that when unwell and hopefully matron will deal but if not, the “yes you know best” deferring to medical staff says are well and truly over. Wipe the floor with them, it works quickly in my experience

@RawBloomers is right

You can record without consent
You can't play that recording without consent
What you can do is use it to make your own accurate notes

You could also contact the patient services manager - suspect you need "acute division" - and s/he will deal and they have some clout

You can play the recording, you could, for instance, play it back to the nurses you recorded. But selling it is illegal and publishing or broadcasting can be - there are defences e.g. public interest which journalists who go “under cover” use and sometimes when a recording provides evidence of a criminal offence a court will accept it.

Nebuliser helped. Hasn’t stopped the wheezing totally but enough that I crashed out for 3 hours or so. Nurse said I should be able to get one again if wheezing starts again. I can’t believe it took 24 hours for that - that was 24 hours of 95% sitting at a 90 degree angle.

Catheter done just now, obs haven’t been done since 8pm. Still haven’t got water, got told the domestics will give me some at 6am.

Family are all miles away so can’t do much and don’t want to worry them, but my support worker is coming in at 11 (I’m at uni) and she’s an ex ITU charge nurse, so will be v quick to point out what she’s not happy about.

I think it’s an attitude thing. I used to be a band 2 a few years ago and remember working nights with people who believed nights were an easy ride. Will mention to someone as soon as I’m home - they slagged off another patient loudly (‘she’s just a pain in the arse, thank God they’re moving her’) and the band 2s were complaining about the band 5s and vice versa. Apparently band 5 is ‘very nice out of work but effing useless once she’s here.’ Was the same the night before, someone needed a log roll and it was loudly discussed several times why then wouldn’t be doing that - ‘no chance, she’ll just have to stay on her back.’

And have been told a couple of times ‘the doctors are just FY1s, you can’t expect much from them really, they haven’t a clue.’

yes confused at times - part of that is because they’ve massively reduced psych meds that when I take home mean I’m a hundred times more stable. That’s definitely not helping.

I’ll try and see if I can speak to a female doctor alone today; it’s intimidating when they come round in ward rounds because lots of them appear, and I can’t say what’s really wrong.

If you were my family, I would want to be worried if you were in the situation you're in now. I think you should really consider telling them - and consider (given what you've said about your meds and lack of sleep) if you're in the best place to make those decisions right now.

I'd also Google "mental health advocacy <your county>" as you might find the are volunteers who can help.

If it's an infection are you on intravenous antibiotics? And a drip?

I was admitted to hospital a few years ago with suspected appendicitis. It was a kidney infection (from a uti) and a secondary chest infection. I had high fever, hallucinations, shaking. It was awful. They never catheterised me tho. I had to use a bed pan or walk to toilet.

I equally found nursing staff could not give less of a shit. I was in ten days in total, doctors and ot were fantastic though.

I've only ever done this once and it was very effective. Drop an email to your local councillor highlighting the poor care that you are getting. Ask them advocate on your behalf, in our case it ended a painful 3 week wait for a transfer to the right hospital for an operation on a leg shattered in a car v bike road collision.

dont worry about the gender of the doctor op,
but i would suggest your ask your family to come down.

Ask to speak to the site manager.

Sorry you're dealing with this.

After having my son (multiple errors there but all ended well) I remember being so hot and they wouldn't turn my heating down, so dehydrated and the wouldn't bring me water, or just a tiny just every once in a while when I could have done with about 10. Then someone else came in and put me on a drip because I was dehydrated, I just wanted some bloody water! Don't understand why it's so hard to access in hospital! Luckily I was out after 2 days

No antibiotics no, they asked me to get a sputum sample though so away to give them that if and when someone appears. Still haven’t had bloody obs done. It must have been a horrendously busy night…

All I can think of is my ex SCN who still called herself a ward sister, and would have hung staff up to dry for just having my phone in their pocket let alone having it on top of a drugs trolley so they can check it between patients!

but it is only 6.30 in the morning op.