AN elderly Alton man is urging the NHS to Òbring back matronÓ following a 15-hour ordeal at North Hampshire Hospital which has left him deeply distressed.
Vivian Burt (76), who spent much of this time sitting in a room on his own, apparently forgotten, believes this sort of thing would not have happened if there had been someone in overall charge.
Anxious to save others from such a nerve-wracking ordeal, he will be putting this view to the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Community Health Council on Monday, during a patient forum at Alton Community Centre.
Mr Burt was admitted to Basingstoke hospital on Monday last week suffering from suspected heart problems.
He drove down to Alton Health Centre where he was immediately whisked onto a bed, given oxygen and attached to heart monitoring equipment.
His GP called an ambulance and he was rushed to the Accident and Emergency department at Basingstoke hospital.
There he received more tests and monitoring and his pulse rate returned to normal.
Mr Burt was then handed over to a medical team and put into a room to wait, he thought, until he could be given a bed ÒupstairsÓ.
At around 9 pm he was seen by a doctor who asked him if he was on medication and told him that he would soon be taken up to a ward.
Mr Burt then fell asleep in a chair and the next thing he knew it was six in the morning.
ÒThere was not a soul around, so I walked to the shop for some shaving cream, but it was shut.Ó
At 8 am an orderly came round with a tea trolley and Mr Burt then walked back to the shop to purchase a newspaper but there was no-one else around at all until 8-30 am and they only spoke Òpigeon EnglishÓ.
Shortly after a male nurse moved him to the next room where he sat doing the crossword until a doctor arrived at 11 am to take his pulse. ÒHe told me I could go but that I would have to return to the hospital at a later date for more tests,Ó said Mr Burt.
Disturbed by the fact that he had been left unattended and given no instructions as to what he should do or where he should go, at a time when he was clearly unwell, Mr Burt was even more distressed to find that his own GP had rung the hospital to inquire how he was and been told that he was not there.
ÒThey must have forgotten I was there. For all they knew I could have died in that room - nobody would have known,Ó said the pensioner.
ÒIt is unbelievable. I would have complained at the time, if I had felt up to it, but there was no-one around to complain to.Ó
Appreciative of the fact that NHS staff are under pressure and that there were other people needing attention at the same time, Mr Burt has only decided to register his complaint because he would hate for anyone else to suffer in the same way.
The hospital has advised Mr Burt to channel any complaints he might have through the new Patient Advice Liaison Service (PALS) which will investigate his case and hopefully allay any fears he has.