you can use the toilet,theres nowhere else.

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HelenM

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1.5 LADA
My Mum is in hospital at the moment, in a hospital with an endocrine dept of excellent repute, known for favoring pump therapy and devising an online carb counting course.
When I visited her in the afternoon I needed to check my glucose levels, 12mmol, I decided to correct but got a no delivery, I tried priming it but again when I tried to bolus , no delivery. Obviously I needed to change the set as I was receiving no insulin.( I'd walked 2 miles to the hospital so it should have been on the low side). Being well prepared I had a spare cannula, gauze swabs and hexocholoridine on me. I just needed a place to change discreetly. I asked the Nurse on duty, no I couldn't use any of the ward facilities. I would have to use the public loo. I explained it involved changing a cannula but she didn't budge.
I'm not argumentative and I did it in the loo(better than walking 2 miles home with no insulin). I'll probably come to no harm, but I'm not very happy about it!
 
And im not surprised! Poor you, :(

Hope it got you sorted anyway.
 
That is shocking.

You should consider writing to the PCT.
 
That's pretty awful, they could surely have let you do it somewhere more practical and hygienic, especially given the establishment you were in! 😱 I'd be tempted to write to the hospital asking if this is normal policy, and suggesting they change if it is!
 
Did you get the nurses name? I'd get that if you can and write a strongly worded letter to the PCT or the head nurse of the trust.

Tom
 
You should have gone to the diabetes and endocrine centre and told them about the nurse whilst you were at it! I'm sure they would have let you use one of their rooms.

The nurses on the wards aren't so nice, ive noticed that 😱
 
and we are surprise about other people reaction and not even an hospital has facilities is disgusting
 
That sucks! When I'd been on my pump for a week or so baby had a meningitis scare so we rushed off to hospital... sod's law i needed a set change (user error = insulin mousse in line & reservoir!) but had the stuff on me, I just plonked the stuff on the table by baby's cot & got on with it... I'm pretty sure they noticed but didn't say anything...I was quite ready to bite if anyone had been negative about it though! Don't get me wrong, I wasn't brandishing the stuff about, I was being as discrete as possible, but it is a hospital after all, baby had a canula in, various kids on the ward had all sorts of tubes, inhalers, dressings etc... I'm really surprised they didn't just allow you to pull the curtains round & do it on the ward! :( Sorry you had to experience that...
 
I agree with others really not good enough they would get a letter from me , with the amount of diabetics there are now you'd think they'd be more than happy to help out 😡
 
I'd contact the hospital and the PCT. This kind of thing is ot acceptable in a hospital, and it's not like you were doing anything that could wait till later.
 
That's not accepable, I would NEVER take Carly in toilets to inject her or anything like that. I understand you don't want to argue but please have the courage to make a complaint or give someone a right person to do it for you if not for yourself, do it for all other diabetics so it's don't happens again. I hope we have helped and given you strength to do it 🙂
 
I will contact the hospital and tell them. As a visitor they have no responsibility to me and people with insulin pumps are quite rare but I think there are also other conditions that might have similar problems from time to time.
Actually, the whole experience of this particular ward was pretty grim. It was a ward for the elderly and just reinforces the idea that I don't want to get old and end up immobile in hospital.(My Mum was left to soil and wet herself because the asked for bed pan took too long to come, pain relief given 2 hours late, missed meals because of tests and absolutely no stimulation, no radio, no TV, as she coudn't hold a book she couldn't even read). It was a complete contrast to our experiences with the rest of the hospital. Fortunately, they have moved her down the road to another hospital for rehabilitation. Hopefully it will be better there.
 
I think I would have just pulled the curtains around and not even asked them - but I do understand why you did. If someone were having an asthma attack or similar - I wonder what they would have done then - asked them to leave or go into the toilet to struggle. Let us know what the response is. I hope your mum is on the mend and is getting looked after properly now.🙂Bev
 
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