"Sligo university hospital emergency department"

I was admitted to ED after attempting suicide via overdose. I was in there for 2 nights. Firstly I want to say that my treatment wasn’t all bad and there were some really lovely, kind and considerate nurses and health care assistants in there. I did however have a very bad experience which has prompted this post.

I was hooked up to a drip which was attached to my bed and I had to ask to be disconnected and reconnected to it every time I needed the toilet. I would always try to get a member of staffs attention for this as politely as possible. On one occasion I decided to call for help so I called “nurse”. I repeated nurse several time and got no response at all. Bear in mind that I did this as politely as I could, I hadn’t heard other patients do did and get a response. I was also in a bed which was right beside the nurses station where all the staff would congregate. I tried again and called “nurse” several times. Again no response. I really needed the toilet so I disconnected myself from the drip and walked to the toilet.

On my way to the toilet I passed at least 3 staff members who continued to ignore me. I went to the toilet and I cried. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want to be there, I thought about leaving. When I returned to my bed I passed the same staff members again. I sat on my bed, I knew I needed to be reconnected as I needed the IV fluids as they were an antidote to the medication that I overdosed on. I was too embarrassed to call again to ask to be reconnect, I couldn’t face being ignored again. So I reconnected myself and hoped for the best. When I texted my other half this they told me I needed to make sure I was reconnected properly. At this stage I was so fed up that I let a roar out “NURSE!!!” as none of my other tactics were effective and this way I might actually get a response. 2 nurses came to help me then and I went on a rant, shouting and crying. This is not like me to cause a scene in public.  It wasn’t actually their fault they weren’t in the room and hadn’t heard me. To be fair to those 2 nurses, they were incredibly apologetic and kind to me then.

But those 3 “professionals” heard me and chose to ignore me. I don’t care what qualification you have, are you not supposed to care for patients and at the very least to show them dignity and respect? Is that not a fundamental part of your training? I understand that ED is really busy but there is absolutely no excuse for ignoring a patient calling for help. At least an acknowledgement that I was heard and someone would be with me when they could. I went in there because I didn’t want to be alive anymore, I didn’t want to exist but I called for help. I realized I made a mistake and I called for help. When those staff ignored me I thought about walking out the door and jumping off the bridge. I could have easily done it, I doubt any of them would have noticed me walking out, they were so run off there feet. In that moment I wished I never rang for help and I wanted to be dead and those thoughts and feelings were a direct result of how I was treated.

I really hope that they improve on their patient care as its not acceptable to treat anyone, but especially someone after a suicide attempt, the way I was treated.

Another point I wanted to make was about food and water. They regularly took my bloods and on one such occasion no blood would come out - I hadn’t had anything to drink for several hours. It was very hard to get a glass of water off them, as the staff only bring you food at set times. So I went hours without a drink and I had no way of getting water for myself. When I said that maybe the blood wouldn’t come out as I hadn’t had a drink the nurse told me “it was important to stay hydrated”. If I was provided with a jug of water then this have been prevented. One of the days I missed dinner because I was brought to a different room to have a chat with a member of the mental health team. When I returned to my bed, dinner was finished and nothing was left for me to eat. So that day all I had to eat was toast, bread, toast, soup and biscuits. 

My ask is not to ignore patients and to make sure that they are fed and watered.

Again I would like to reiterate that my experience in ED wasn’t all bad and there are some brilliant caring and empathetic staff up there. My complaint is about being ignored.