A woman who was admitted to hospital for a 'routine' procedure says she ended up stuck there for 18 days and in agonising pain after being denied medication.
Catherine Cullen, 62, says she went into Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport on January 24 to have her gallstones removed. But, 15 minutes before she was due to be discharged, she began 'vomiting violently' and suffering 'severe pain'.
Later that day she was given paracetamol intravenously, but she says she was then left for six hours without pain relief. She also believes she wasn't given antibiotics soon enough after showing symptoms of an infection, and so ended up spending 18 days at Stepping Hill suffering Hospital Attained Pneumonia (HAP), sepsis and pancreatitis.
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Catherine, a grandmother-of-six from New Mills, is unhappy with the treatment she received from start to finish. Describing her operation, she said: "They have to make a small incision at the bottom of the bile duct where it meets the small intestine.
"They put a camera up and a claw removes the stones. "I remember saying 'you're hurting me' - I wasn't supposed to feel anything but I did. I'm not sure if they could hear me as I had a tube in my mouth.
"After the procedure at around 11 am I came round OK, I got a cup of tea and was due to be discharged at 3 pm. About 2.45 pm I started to feel severe pains. I was all dressed and ready to go home but I started vomiting violently.
"The pain started to increase but the ward was due to close at 4 pm, so they started to ring round to get me a bed. I was given intravenous paracetamol and I was taken to a gastric ward at around 5 pm.
"From then on I was left without pain relief for around six hours and I was out of my head with pain. I had been prescribed antibiotics by the doctor who did the procedure, but I was advised by a nurse not to start them until I had spoken to a different doctor.
"When I eventually spoke to a doctor, I told him the same thing and the doctor said no, they needed to know what it was they needed to give me. The confusion seemed to be that the doctors believed I had come up from A&E and they didn't realise I had already had a procedure.
"They didn't realise I had come to them from a different ward or that I had had my gall stones removed. As a result I was not given the antibiotics I should have been."
Three days after being admitted, Catherine, who has two daughters, one of whom is a gastric nurse, WAS diagnosed with Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP), sepsis and pancreatitis. She believes her condition worsened as a result of antibiotics being administered too late.
"There were some very good nurses, but one tried to bully me," she claimed. "Some of the nurses did not have the skills to manage patients pain.
"I told the doctors they had done harm by letting an infection get a three day head start before admitting they needed to give me antibiotics. It was like a case of 'one shoe fits all' for pancreatitis - as they don't treat it with antibiotics.
"If they had looked at my records, they would have seen I had been prescribed them because I had had a procedure. They said they hadn't been told that. As far as as I am aware my temperature spiked in the first night and that should have been a warning to them."
Catherine, who is now recovering at home, says she has been left distressed by the pain she went through.
Describing the aftermath of the operation, she said: "The pain regime was shocking. On the first night, I was left when I should not have been left and I asked for A&E, because I thought it would be quicker (to get pain relief).
"I was in agony - but there was no concern. I was told that was my prerogative but I would be sent back to the ward as I was wearing a band - so I just went back."
Speaking of the infections she acquired, she added: "They can't get away from the fact they should have given me antibiotics and they didn't, " she added. "Their system failed to protect me from sepsis. They are supposed to be on the alert for it.
"They just made a decision and stuck to it until my temperature was so bad they had to do bloods to determine what was wrong with me. The pain was something I have never experienced in my life."
A spokesperson for the hospital said: “We are aware of the concerns of a member of Mrs Cullen’s family regarding her care, and we are currently in discussion with them on their concerns.
As we have received a complaint which is currently under investigation we cannot comment further on the matter.”
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