"Some of the care I experienced fell short of what I expected"

I was admitted to the Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy via AU1 with a severe cellulitis infection. AU1 was extremely busy, the staff were nice enough but clearly overworked. Numerous times I heard a nurse mention that I needed a cannula and IV antibiotics, I eventually got them over 2 hours after they were prescribed. I'd been advised by the doctor to ensure I stay hydrated, I finished the water I'd brought with me and when I asked for more I was given a cup of water, just the one cup, in the middle of the night. I heard the staff talking about how there were no beds in the hospital that night so I was given a bed in AU1 assessment, I slept for 1 hour due to the constant coming and going of staff due to the high workload. 

When I was finally moved to an admissions bay the following afternoon the bed hadn't been changed from the previous occupant, so I was parked in the corridor on a wheelchair while the very flustered nurse stripped and cleaned the bed then wheeled me in beside it to wait for someone else to come along and make it. Nothing else in the bed space was cleaned. I again asked for water which was brought to me by a student nurse and sadly left on the over bed table which was too far away for me to reach from the bed, and I didn't have a buzzer. At this stage the infection in my leg was excruciatingly painful and I struggled to mobilise so this was less than ideal.

A few hours later, just before midnight, I was then moved to Ward 33 as a medical boarder. The care significantly improved, medications were given on time, the consultant and his team were extremely helpful. One nurse in particular, Becky, who was on night shifts, had the best manner of all of them, and she was the only one all that week who flushed my cannula prior to giving antibiotics and then put a flush through afterwards. Having had a total of 5 cannulas during my inpatient stay because they kept tissuing, I feel that if everyone had cared for it properly it maybe wouldn't have had to be replaced so much.

The whole experience was exhausting as there is very little sleep to be had as an inpatient which is not at all conducive to recovering from a severe infection.

I was finally discharged to the OPAT team after a week of inpatient care and I cannot find fault with any part of the team - Emma, Avryl and David the Doctor have all shown me great care, thorough treatment, excellent planning of ongoing care and just a generally fab bedside manner. I was also finally given proper wound care and dressings to the blisters I'd developed on my legs which had been oozing for a few days, and I'd only been given fluffies to put on the beds rather than any actual dressings to the wounds.

As a current NHS Fife employee with many years of healthcare experience it's very hard to be on the other side. I've never needed to be an inpatient, or been as unwell as I was on admission with this infection, but some (not all) of the care I experienced fell short of what I expected and indeed what I would provide to my patients.