I had to spend the night in A&E at Manchester RI on Friday. I'm fine, but I was having really weird chest pains so went in to check. I've not been in a hospital for absolutely years, mercifully, and not in even longer as a patient. Probably 15 years, and in trafford general instead. I was absolutely astounded at how bad the place was. They're falling apart. The staff were all great, but the facilities are truly atrocious. I was sat in a dark room with no windows that looked like a corridor with some chairs thrown in, with no ventilation, with a few others for literally about 9 hours without being seen. I was given a piece of paper that said 'immediate ECG' on it, which meant what it said. After half hour an hour of no one seeing to me, I asked someone and they said 'Yeah, the system is knackered, we weren't notified'. They apologised loads and got it done, but I literally would have been left there unless I asked.
I got it thankfully and all was fine, but still had an eight hour wait to go through my blood tests. I sat in that same dark corridor, immensely uncomfortable and tired, beds and equipments being wheeled past me until 6am (got there at 9) waiting to be seen. I was exhausted and felt gross. I said to one of the doctors that I can see why there is so much infection in hospitals and she just sighed and agreed. The place is fucking awful. Old, run down, uncomfortable, badly ventilated, bulbs going, not really that clean, chaos, short-staffed. They deserve so much better, the doctors/nurses. The patients too.
