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| Letter of response from patients together re article in newspaper questioning who we are |
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Reply ref article in Examiner 11th Nov by Mr Noel Whelan
My name is Janette Byrne a member of the Patients Together group. You don’t know me and this is precisely why I am writing this letter. I want to tell you a little bit about myself and my family and why the group was formed. We are a reserved family by nature who had a very loving up bringing. Three years ago I collapsed in my home unable to breathe and was taken to the Mater hospital where I was left on a trolley for two days, having been told that test results taken two weeks previously (which lay unread in the hospital) showed two tumours in my chest.A major operation was too be carried out the next day.
I was terrified. Lying on either side of me in a tiny room were two strange men, when I needed to use the bathroom I would make my way to the only available toilet in A&E. It was used by all including people from the street. It was freezing and there was no lock on the doors.
A poor unfortunate lay sticking a needle in his arm, I was shaking, my mind was devastated by all around me. The noise level is horrendous, fights constantly break out, so it is impossible to sleep, it was like jet lag a hangover and your worst nightmare all happened in one day. I still rate the fear of my cancer returning with that of A&E and dread the day I might ever have to go in there again.
I was told in intensive care that I had cancer and that they were starting treatment straight away. My head was a real mess but I had the support of wonderful friends and family. I was eventually sent home with the knowledge that my cancer was rapid growing and until treatment had finished they could not say how things would be.
The system 'bed management' use in the Mater is that you are given a date for your next chemotherapy and told to book in by phone, but day after day I was told there was no bed. It was more than I could endure, I cried every time I hung up and thought it was so cruel. I tried everywhere for help but found none. Eventually I took court action and secured a bed. It was horrible for my family, the stress was unbearable.
I have worked since I was fifteen even through a teenage pregnancy then only ever taking my twelve weeks leave, so I felt I deserved to be treated better, having paid twenty five years P.R.S.I.
In the meantime my family were writing letters to anyone who would listen about the appalling hygiene conditions on the ward i.e. sani-bin overflowing, no antibac soap, toilet roll dispenser that flung open and hit you every time you used it. It was revolting, full commodes were left in a shower/toilet area with no window or ventilation, the smell consumed our ward, we could barley breath sometimes. It was so embarrassing.
The purpose of my writing is just to let you see why we took the action we did four weeks ago and where our drive came from. When my mother was left for four days on a blood splattered trolley (not her blood might I add), being told by her doctor she needed to have tests but could not have them in A&E. It was as though our nightmare returned. My mother eventually got a bed but along with mental scars it had left her bruised and blistered and very fatigued, she also caught the vomiting bug as did my sister and my dad also ended up sick.
So you see we have no personal vendetta against Mary Harney or the government .I hope for all our sakes she can do something soon. We don’t know where this will take us, but we are the voice of the hundreds of people who have contacted us with their storys and in most cases mine pales to insignificance. We are all different people and while we can tell what went wrong for us, we don’t think it is our job to tell the government how to fix it, that obviously would be the work of the staff employed in the health service.
We never expected to be here today with our lives turned upside down, people phoning, begging us for help or answering emails from all over the country, this thing has snowballed and I find people are just looking to tell their stories, to be heard, but most of all they want change.
Most of us are working, we have no funding, my social life no longer exists. I can’t sleep worrying about the 92 year old who is lying on a trolley for four days or the 29 year mother who rang us from her hospital bed crying to go home having endured seven days on a chair and looking for a social worker to help her with family problems.No one had come to her six days later. We don’t claim to have the answers but we certainly know the faults and when people are sick and their families consumed with fear its wonderful to have someone to fight your corner, even if all they are doing is highlighting your plight.
I watched many brave and wonderful women die when I was ill, people I really cared about and never once did any of us see a counsellor, when I asked I was told she was on maternity leave. You see there is a lot wrong as the patients can tell you and don’t think for one minute I don’t thank God that I am so lucky to be in remission but I still live like many others with the nightmare of A&E hanging over my head. I hope you have a better understanding of who we are.
MANDATE: authorization or instruction from electorate to its representative or government, give authority to-
As a NON POLITICAL group we are just demanding that the conditions we endure in our Health System must improve so we need no longer fear our hospitals. Patient for years have being battling the system alone, now we are gathering together, hopefully for the good of all.
Yours faithfully
Janette Byrne
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06/05/2005
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