A grandmother-of-six has blasted an East London hospital after she ‘nearly died’ five days after being sent home from its A&E department.
Faye Brown, 58, from Leytonstone, was admitted into A&E at Whipps Cross University Hospital at around 9am on August 31 after suffering worsening diarrhoea, nausea, bleeding and extreme pain for around two months.
Having already been referred to a specialist clinic for her health issues, Ms Brown had been instructed by her GP that if her condition deteriorated, that she was to seek emergency care immediately.
READ MORE: Sickle cell sufferer, 46, left screaming in agony died after hospital neglect
She says she was told by receptionists in A&E that nobody would be able to treat her, but she pleaded with staff to help her find out what was causing her so much pain.
Faye begged paramedics not to take her back to the same hospital when she went to A&E for the second time
(Image: Handout)
Speaking to My London, Faye, who has two children, said: “I pleaded with them but they were adamant that they wouldn’t see me. I was called into a side room and told the same thing by a man who I thought was a doctor, but I felt like he was extremely aggressive.
“He told me to leave and not to come back unless I was dying, or if the pain got worse. I got sent home and was told a doctor would call me.
“I didn’t want to cause any trouble, but I was just so drained and upset by this point, so I just went home. The staff at the hospital made me feel so small and belittled, like I didn’t matter.
“When I arrived home I called 111 and they just told me to eat rice and take painkillers. I was so confused because I was in so much pain.”
Five days after leaving the A&E department, Faye’s pain got more and more intense to the point where she felt like she needed to call an ambulance.
She added: “When the paramedics arrived, I begged them not to take me to Whipps Cross but a different hospital.
“I was seen in A&E at Newham General Hospital and was told an emergency operation had to be done because I was dying. So why did Whipps Cross turn me away without an examination?
“I constantly think about the consequences, I could have died. I am often in tears about it, and I’m still feeling overwhelmed and anxious.
“If I had died, my children would not have been able to fight my corner. I could have died due to Whipps Cross neglect.”
Faye had suffered an intussusception – a serious condition which is rare in adults, in which part of the intestine slides into an adjacent part of the intestine.
This ‘telescoping’ action often blocks food or fluid from passing through while cutting off the blood supply to the part of the intestine that’s affected. It is said to be like ‘a sock getting turned inside itself’. More information can be found about the condition here.
During surgery, Faye can’t remember much of what happened because she was ‘slipping in and out of consciousness’.
But her son was told after she received scans and tests: “If your mum doesn’t get this operation then she could be dead in the next 20 minutes.”
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Faye added: “I am so grateful to the surgeons at Newham who saved my life. Without them I wouldn’t be here, but it should never have got to that point.”
Despite having surgery, she says she is far from being fully recovered, and has carers looking after her on a daily basis.
She is still receiving tests and treatment at various different hospitals and clinics, and is still suffering from the trauma of what happened.
She said: “There’s no words to describe how I feel. It’s broken me. If I had died, I feel like there would have been no one to fight my corner.”
A spokesperson for Barts Health Trust said: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Brown’s experience at Whipps Cross Hospital and we are looking into the care she received. We are working with our partners who run the urgent treatment centre at the hospital to provide the best quality care for all our patients.”
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https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/gran-pleaded-ae-nearly-died-22038635
