last weekend i attended a&e, had to wait10+ hours, but i could handle that, once, or so i thought, i was getting treatment. finally i was called, and went in. heard the usual intro of "hi-my-name-is-emma-maguire-i'm-one-of-the-doctors-here" - who for some reason felt the need to tell me that she was newly qualified. i don't mind if someone is new or has decades of experience, once they can do their job. so i told her about how ill i'd been, and the pain i was currently in. she told me how sorry she was that i'd waited so long in a+e for nothing, that i was going to have to go back to a gp, get a letter for an appointment, and come back?!!! i went through all the symptoms i'd been experiencing, that weren't abating, but getting worse, since dec/jan. personal, gross stuff that may be t.m.i to write here, a few are- bleeding for 20days, tearing my skin off my arms/legs with the itch, skin flare-ups that i've never had before, extreme exhaustion/constant fatigue, coughing black phlegm, low grade fevers, night sweats, excessive bruising, and loads more, but the abdominal pain was getting worse to the point of puking up with the pain. she told me that was a "good sign", because, according to this doc, if it was something really serious, i'd be dead or near it by now. she brought me to a bed to examine me. when she felt my abdomen it really hurt, but i didn't want to be a bother, and just gripped the sides of the trolley, but i started retching, and had to say, "sorry, sorry, excuse me", to sit up and vomit away from her. i was sweating and my eyes were running with the pain. i asked if i could lie there for a minute while the nausea subsided, she said , no, we're packed out - there was noone else in the cubicles but i, and another guy, the rest of the beds were free, and about 11 people left in the waiting room. there had been 4-5 ambulances , max, during the night. - i kept puking  and felt embarrassed repeating "i'm really sorry", and we sat back down. the pain had gotten much worse by this point. she said she was "confident to let me go", and damn my stupid social awkwardness and ridiculous politeness, i nodded, asking, okay, but could i get a scan, please, an ultrasound, even? it was another, "sorry, no." and repeating the line about going to a gp to get a letter. i gestured to my abdomen and told her the pain was terrible. that i'm not a fan of hospitals but i couldn't function. it made no difference. since then I've been outside once and the pain is way worse, along with other things, nausea, dizziness,  numbness in my hands. i'm a normal weight, so i'm fine. i'm a certain age, so i'm fine. i don't drink or smoke, so i'm fine. i'm in constant pain but sure i'm fine. never have i seen the decline of a hospital emergency dept so rapidly. pre-covid, you'd wait, be triaged, then followed by a full assessment in the department. now, it is a shambles, and a health and safety nightmare. an elderly gentleman whom had come in via ambulance with a head wound was left to sit in a chair while clearly unsteady. i asked if he'd like anything, water, and he said, please, so i fetched him some. the only people looking after patients, were other pts. a guy with a broken leg was given no assistance to go in when the doctor called him. i asked for an anti-nausea, and about four hours later, got it, as i was leaving. there were only chairs, one toilet was blocked and smellled, well, bad. please fix it, we understand that it's a high pressure job, and we respect you, but please, listen to your patients, please respect us. and please help us, when we come to you. we aren't files to be managed, we are people who are really sick and in pain.

Was here with my partner last night. The nurses in the a@e department where shouting at the patients when she was doing a roll call. A man had told her that his wife had to go over to the other department as she couldn’t sit on the chairs in that department. She proceeded to shout at the man in front off everyone that she should not have went across. I understand everyone is under pressure with covid and it been a Saturday night but there’s no news to be rude. The ambulances coming in had to wait for well over a half an hour to be checked in and the patients in full view on front off everyone in pain with no privacy. The government have made a shambles off the healthcare system in Ireland and should be ashamed off themselves.

My roomate and I are international students here in Ireland. We both suddenly got very ill but tested negative for covid our fevers were running from 103.2-103.8, we couldn't get out of bed, burning sensation in chest when we breath and fast heart rates. We tried to get help through our school but they were booked and recommended that we went to this hospital. After going through the whole check in process and the receptionist reassuring that we needed to be checked out a very rude nurse approached us in the waiting area. She barked at us asking us what about our case was an emergency. And would ask questions like why didn't you go to college health when we responded saying that our college health recommended us to go here she demanded names and then when we gave her names she said "who is that." We were basically reamed and manipulated to leave with her saying it would be cheaper anywhere else and less of a wait anywhere else. When my roomate and I left we were both in tears and by the time we got home my roomate was running a temp of 104. I understand staff is under a lot of stress but as two international students who are very ill with no other guidance as where to go in this situation it was very upsetting. Over all aswell her tone was very rude and condescending

Shocking treatment of disabled people. I’m a social care worker supporting a patient who’s non-verbal and has autism. I flagged with everyone that the patient has trouble waiting and will self-injure. The triage nurse kindly put us in a cubicle. However, after 3 hour’s waiting, bloods not even done, the patient was self injuring repeatedly and ended up bleeding. I pressed the nurse buzzer and a HCA to came in and asked could I not stop the patient doing this. That would be restraint which is a big no no. She was very rude and said the doctors are too busy. No compassion at all for a patient who doesn’t have the capacity to wait for hours on end.

My son was taken to St Vincent hospital at 04h00 on Wednesday. He sat on a hard chair even though he had been taken for back problems. He was told he required surgery immediately! It is now 19h15 and he is still waiting on the hard chair. Causing a great deal of discomfort and further damage to his spine. Where's the patient care? Nothing given to him to eat or drink either. Shame on you all.

Absolute nightmare! The A&E department is extremely slow. I had to wait about 10 hours to be examined. Then they said I had to wait until 8 am for the MRI but I was told to come around 10 am since they have priority patients. I went to the hospital again at 10 am. Guess what? You already know the answer. Avoid!

Unfortunately there is no option for minus stars. My sister has been an inpatient here for a number of days, immunosuppressed cancer patient under the care of consultant Donal McGuire. Consultant never came around to visit my sister despite being incredibly unwell. A doctor under their guidance (lady called Danielle) had no clue what she was doing, asked my sister, who has acute delirium what are acceptable haemoglobin levels and at what stage should she need a blood transfusion? Constantly phoning to speak to medical team to no avail, extremely difficult considering we cannot visit the hospital. Told my nursing staff that consultants rarely visit the wards. Overall a concerning lack of knowledge and initiative displayed by medical team in A&E and on wards- care is essentially non existent. Cancer patient left in bed for three days (and counting) who needed a blood transfusion, no phone call from medical team to seek history on patient or information re medication!! Awful standard of care provided!

Brilliant hospital Clean Excellent doctors Non medical Staff have unfriendly manner Waiting times are terrible to see doctors. Some nursing staff can be unpleasant to deal with. Hand gels empty often.(although covid is gone. So they say! It was/is good hygiene practice to have in a hospital.) I feel masks should be made readily available without prodigies.

This hospital is an absolute mess. Their emergency department is appallingly slow. Having someone wait after a back injury for over 4 hours and not even being seen or sent to an x-ray is BEYOND me. My husband couldn’t even sit on their chairs from the pain so he had to lean against the wall THE ENTIRE TIME! Honestly looking at the reviews, you’d think they’d invest a little more in staff and support but clearly the management has its priorities mixed up. Genuinely shocked. Wish I could say this is the first time I experienced this at St. Vincent’s - will be desperately looking for other options.

Disgraceful. Have to tell doctors and nurses how to do their job. They cannot keep up to date with times of medication administration. Poor pain management. Give food when supposed to be fasting. Give oral meds when severe stomach issues. 2 canuelas fell out.rude nurses. Seen a nurse verbally and physically abuse a lady with dementia. The attitude of the blonde woman in MRI dept is shocking. Horrible experience. Do not attend this hospital. No communication. The staff should be ashamed of themselves absolute Kip

Absolute disgrace! The emergancy department is so disorganised and incompetant. We brought our friend there twice because he was struggling to breathe, he even experienced a panic attack at the hospital. We had to wait for hours just to even be admitted by a nurse. Appalling seeing other patients worse off having to wait so long. The specialists couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, didn't prescribe anything, no advice, no information, even had the audacity to ask him what he'd like to be diagonsed with. However, it didn't take long for fees of €100 for each visit to come through the mail. From my more personal experience, my dad, who passed away from cancer in St Vincents, was poorly attended. My relatives were taking more care of him. Absolutely unreliable!

The nurses are kind but we have been waiting for 7,5 hours now during the night for a blood result and did not get any information at all. Doctor was very rude after waiting all night. My partner does not speak english well but they did not let me in to translate. Shame on him for treating us like that. It is pretty terrible. I guess public healthcare is just very bad in every country and you have to pay extra to get the basic human treat in private healthcare. Other patients were also sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs even in worse condition for 7+ hours. They only took one when she fell in the toilet and could not move. Horrible horrible place.

6 hour wait at A&E with 2 broken bones and no pain relief so only 4 stars. The follow up treatment has been amazing! Some nursing staff are downright rude when you interrupt them out of desperation asking for directions to due no signage, when they're having private mobile conversations during working hours. They should know that people need help to get pointed in the right direction.

Excellent patient care. A&E can get very busy but patients are triaged and prioritised based on this. If you are critical (e.g your appendix is about to burst) then you will be seen quickly. If you are not critical then you may have to wait a bit but once you are admitted (if needed) then in patient care is also excellent. There are carers available 24/7 for each section of 6 bays. Nurses are excellent. Nothing is too much trouble. I’ve seen some reviews saying they waited too long. And maybe this is the case but when I was there I could see a clear red/amber/green priority list of patients. I was a green patient as I had an inflamed appendix and in moderate pain. I waited my turn for scans and a bed and didn’t mind waiting given there were others in much more critical condition. If you want a quicker service then either go to a hospital that is further away or pay for private. All ED costs at St Vincent’s are capped at €100.

Simply pathetic. Don't go here. 9 hours in ER for a dislocated elbow, sent home with no information. Impossible to get a hold of my own reports because either no one picks up the phone, or they have no clue how to help and divert your call. Didn't receive a call back as promised. Phone service is even worse than their medical care unfortunately.

Positive experience. I had day case surgery on a broken wrist so went through ED, ward, surgery and post op care in a day. My husband also became ill in the ED and was very well looked after. The medical care was good (unqualified opinion of non-medic!). The staff in all areas are unfailingly kind and polite. Hospital's march to their own beat so there are periods of waiting but I think that is ok - there is a system and it is followed. Wasn’t so busy today so the waits weren’t too long. I was grateful for the medical care and the kindness shown to both of us.

I want thank you to all the staff who was amazing, warm, excellent attention and super professional. I was there for 2 days and all the experience was very good. Doctors, nurses and staff are super professional, they really helped me with my problem. Excellent medical technology. Great hospital. Thanks so much for helped me in my dark days. I wish you the best. Thanks so much I am really grateful with the staff who are hard workers.

If you have an appointment, things will go pretty smoothly. At the beginning I was a bit intimated by the size of the hospital and I was afraid that I won't find the department I was looking for. However there are many indicators and the staff is very proactive and eager to help. To be fair, even with an appointment, I had to wait 1 hour, but everyone was doing their best, so it didn't bother me. I was able to do the full set of tests in the same day and place (saw 2 consultants, got blood tests and scans done and they also provided the medication for free). Some areas of the hospital need to be repainted and cleaned, but other than that I'm pretty happy with my experience.

Was at the hospital at 1 15pm for app at1.45pm at 3pm called in by nurse but kept calling the wrong Surname I went over to her and asked who was the patient she was looking for a dr heard the conservation and got my chart he told me that I was to go for an X Ray went over to the X Ray Desk the guy at the Desk said I was to go for a MRI scan have been on the waiting list since 2021 of mid May told the guy at X Ray that it was an x ray I was sent over for he went and checked it out told me it was an x Ray took a seat and was waiting an hour in the cue when he came back over to me and told me I wasn't for X Ray I caused havoc in the hospital all that time wasted for nothing was sent over to the bone and joint clinic again brought into a consultants room waited 15min and after talking to the Consultant I told him what I thought of and the staff working there the hospital at this stage it was 14.15pm they could not are less he gave me a phone number to contact to lodge my complaint .that was all that was done for me in St Vincent's on the 7th Dec which my GP wrote in 3different letters for me to get an App with the severity of my problem a broken wrist which happened in 2021 and since it came out of plaster cast in April 2021 it has never been right since it has been all swelling up for the past 6 months and the pain has been there since I broke it I am on steroids for the last 6months and still no sign of coming off of them. It is a dreadful situation to be in and can't use my left hand at all . The Minister for Health should be sacked from his job and the Consultants the same not all of them there is some very good Drs in that hospital but the Bone and Joint Clinic it is appalling came out of that hospital at 4.30 totally shattered never again got nowhere .

Horrible place. Took hours to be seen, arrived at 10 am, left at 5 am. My partner then had to stay overnight, and was asked to fast so she hasn't eaten breakfast, then she was told food is only for the patients that pay insurance, so now without eating for two days must watch the rich family across from her enjoying a lovely meal. Completely incompetent, will not tell you what's happening next to you because most likely they themselves don't know.

I have to say that St. Vincent’s A&E is beyond pathetic. I came in for debilitating pain this morning around 9.45am and the lady at Check In counter 2 somehow found it appropriate to laugh because her narrow mind couldn’t process my foreign name. She also laughed at the name of the person who accompanied me (my mother). Absolutely appalling that there is evidently no racial sensitivity training given to the staff at a hospital of all places. This isn’t even the whole story. I was forced to bring my mother into the same A&E department for a serious injury about a week ago, and while the nurses had neglected to run basic tests on her for two hours, they had the audacity to tell me that the longest people had waited there was 11 hours. How is the hospital’s incompetence an ailing patient’s problem? Apathetic people should have no place in healthcare. I haven’t even gotten to mentioning that I have been waiting over a year for a gynaecology consultation despite having a referral from my GP, which was based on unbearable pain. They have no concern or empathy for the suffering of their supposed patients and clearly believe that health, sickness, life and death are going to come by and perhaps leave at their convenience. The HSE really needs to get its act together before they cost more people their lives.

So disappointed how nurses treat, we’re human, they need to be more kind at any term, as is their job. I believe that the nurse this morning about 4:30 am, she treated me too bad, I just came to check my blood pressure because I felt unwell all the night (and she didn’t take it right). So I think the Hospital should give more important in this point when they hire, I believe this woman (nurse), came from abroad and probably 3rd country style where they don’t care. I just left at 5:20, because she said well you have to wait for the next 6 or 7 hours i’m the waiting room, everyone is busy… I said I just wanna know what’s going on… anyway the answer for everything is take paracetamol. I believe doctors and nurses are nice, it doesn’t mean everyone is awful like she was.

When we called the ambulance we had amazing Paramedics Team coming to our house- Stephano and Fiona, these guys were so kind, skilled, knowledgeable and professional! Thanks a million Guys for your amazing hard work and kind hearts! Ten stars out of five for your work! A&E experience was really bad- unexperienced doctors slightly older than 16 years old, cold and unsympathetic nurses who could not care less about you. I was there for 11 hours on the bed in the hall beside the dirty lift with everyone walking by me and in severe pain, no privacy ( with gynae condition) not even checked in and no pain relief offered , no food/ drink offered for 11 hours ( my 2 weeks old was at home waiting for me) but with cannulas very unprofessionally inserted in my veins " just in case " as soon as I arrived and causing additional pain. Nightmare, emergency department should be there to offer URGENT CARE, 11 hours waiting in the hall is not an urgent care! They sent me home with pack of antibiotics and a few weeks later my condition got worse and I had to go for a complex surgery few weeks later as a result because St Vincents did not care enough to do proper investigations On a separate occasion they kept my 70 year old father with the pneumonia waiting in the hall for 5 hours- disgusting. Attacked by an ED receptionist when asked for someone to see him sooner as he was nearly fainting , who instead of helping us, shouted at me to "calm down"

Very, very poor experience with ENT - waiting nearly a year and then endless rescheduling with idiotic excuses, best of all when consultant doesn’t show up for work but neither they remember to cancel appointment nor do they have this information on check in in the waiting room. Total incompetence. I doubt they’re even able to do their jobs right when it comes to slicing people up!! Totally do not recommend.

I had surgery in Vincent’s the other day. I couldn’t say enough about how I was treated with the greatest kindness and given the best care imaginable by every single member of staff. Thank you all so much and Happy Christmas

I would like to thank the wondurful ENT doctors Dr Michael walsh Dr alanna quinn And the nurses S/N reena S/N soja and the medical staff for the good treatment and the great attention I received from them. and I do not forget the reception also the beautiful curly-haired girl for the good treatment.

Great doctors, Great nurses great staff, overall a great experience. If I could give them 10 ⭐ I would. Cleanliness, attention to detail,. Thank you all at St Vincent's hospital

The admission nurse attitude is the worst I seen within Ireland or outside. No treatment provided for my case, and I had to visit another hospital the second day. I should listened to the reviews here before wasting my time and energy to visit this hospital.

If you get an appointment/referral for a specialist from St. Columcille's (which is public) and you show up at the appointment time then you will be seen very quickly. But the appointment given is normally a few days away.

My dad was in for Pneumonia via ambulance. (Arrived fast) Some staff appeared to be over worked, no money could pay you for their excellent work under pressure on shift. Thanks to everyone in St Paul's ward and the person who helped me locate a wheel chair. Thanks again. Consistently excellent hospital

I had to attend A&E recently and I did have to wait which is stated very clearly. Firstly I want to say thank you too all that looked after me , from reception at check in to triage nurse my apologies names I don’t remember nor do I want to get wrong either.when I got seen the efficiency was second to none both Amy and Rob and I hope I remembered correctly Susannah trainee doctor they were helpful and apologised for the delay. The staff are incredible and doing a wonderful job, I find it incredible that people get annoyed with the nurses and doctors and all involved who are doing their best . I wish more would get annoyed with the system and how it’s failing everyone!!the health tier system it’s on its knees now that who one should get annoyed with not with the staff I am sure there is a way . I will also be grateful to the hospital they have looked after many times different events and have been truly wonderful . You are all amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 🤗🤗🤗

Over 13 hours,and steel I did not get seen by a doctor.This it’s the second time I was on this hospital and I have same experience.On first trip on A&E I waited over 15 hours before I was diagnosed with appendix.After been diagnosed I have to wait another 28 hours to get surgery.The appendix burst on me,then they have it removed.After a week I have testicular infection from the appendix not been treated properly .They don’t care at all,especially if you are a east European,you will be left at the end not matter what problem you have. AVOID AVOID

I visited A&E a couple of times. I’d only heard that the A&E is terrible here, and worked up extreme anxiety making my way here. However, it has been great both times. All the staff are very kind starting from the receptionist, all the nurses and some of the doctors - it’s a mixed bag and depends on who you get, but overall it was a good experience in the ED

I would like to say how brilliant Aercon (earcon) not sure if I am spelling the name correctly he is a really lovely man who brings the food for patients etc, I have met him before while my sister was in Vincent's. He was amazing with all the patients and today I met him again, I saw him today, looking after my mother and exactly the same as before, unbelievable manner with all the patients. I hope he gets the recognition he deserves. Thank you for being so lovely to all the patients 👍👍👍

Why do Irish hospitals hire foreign doctors whose English is so bad that there's a communication issue? She kept saying why I've been sick is because I'm pregnant (which is 100 percent not the case) or my spinal pain is because I lifted some heavy stuff up (which is not the case either). I just can't believe how bad her English was. But she thinks my English is so bad that I can't understand her. In addition to her poor English, her medical knowledge wasn't accurate. Just shocking.

I cant blame St. Vincent for the misinformation and communication problems between staff because I see it happening all over Ireland. I had a hand infection because of a Nurse mistake e had to get my wound opened and get it surgically clean, This same nurse forgot and access in my arm and I went home with it only to discover on the next day that was a mistake. ED is slower and more disorganized than in Brazil that is a messed up in crisis country (But still had a really good public health system, witch I value even more now that I discover that here is worse and you pay even for public hospitals and they cant seem to make the engines work). Just disappointing and a stress every time I have to go. (never had problems when I had appointments on CT, only department it seems to work).

Never seen this kind of emergency department The nurses were very rude I told them that I didn’t eat for 2/3 days and I am getting worst they didn’t care told me to wait outside And I never seen in the hospital they ask you about your religion but this hospital asked me I don’t know why, The time I arrived to hospital was 7:45pm and waited till 4am but still I had to wait more.

Overall the experience was very positive. However, a number of nurses wore perfume which I found rather odd. I'm allergic to most perfumes and I would have thought in a professional environment (never mind a medical one) people would be aware that it's a big no-no.

Grand hospital once you get seen too, but who knows when that will be... Everytime I'm here it's just a waiting game, joke.

After being admitted recently with a pulmonary embolism on my lungs, I received excellent care in A&E ( special shout out to Jamie and one of the Filipino nurses who got my cannula in without drama), St Monika's and St. Raphael's ward and to the radiographers, radiologists, nurses, consultants, junior doctors, pharmacists, phlebotomists, porters ( night and day ) thank you so so much. I felt safe, looked after, cared for, informed and can only thank them from the bottom of my heart for saving my life. There are so many more who deserve kudos here but I'm terrible with names as I met so many people during my time as an inpatient. My consultant from the respiratory department, who kept a close eye on me and ensured my safety - thank you so very much. You are an amazing bunch and the people of Ireland are so lucky to have you as our healthcare provider.

I'm on day 2 in St Vincents Pvt. The staff are amazing. Doctors, nurses, porters and anyone else who has helped me - all friendly, helpful and really try their best for you.

Staff, nurses and doctors are fantastic

Excellent care from Nurses, Doctors, Porters, Cleaners and Kitchen staff.

Been a fair few times over the years. Clean, competent and sensitive nursing staff, many working under a lot of pressure, especially in ER. Been to ER three times and in all three cases, I was treated within three hours. Pretty good going for a public hospital. Not enough beds of course, was placed on a trolley for hours but it's still better than many other hospitals I have been to in Ireland and abroad.

I was in the A and E Vincent hospital today. From the time I got out of the ambulance been seen the nurses and doctors we're so lovely and kind towards me and everyone else. Thank you so much for all the care. 💐🤗

Waiting for 7 hours in an empty ER, great, more doctors and nurses then patients I've seen, but still here not jet seen by doctor 7 hours later, yuppie yey, don't know how actual emergency cases survive here in Ireland. Lol

Awfully run A&E department, never seen anything like it. Rude, not helpful, disregard anything you ask for. (ie painkillers) Left for hours to be seen too. Bed management needs to be better too, 36 hours waiting for a bed and sitting in pain on an uncomfortable chair.

This hospital is brilliant and I owe a big thank you to Mr Rory Kennelly and his brilliant team who saved my life in December 2017 after major surgery on my colon. Also to the nurses and staff and the brilliant stoma care nurses. 👍

Filthy dirty smelly kip full of lieing gits couldn't lie straight in the bed if they tried. Went in paralysised from neck down, and the nurse said i was shoving it on. Tried to stand and fell face first into the floor in the waiting room. Only then did they realise i was in trouble. Was forced to get covid jab.

Best hospital 🏥 as hospitals go

My gb directed me to this hospital because I have cancer after 3 weeks you cannot still reach this hospitals urology nurse to know if you ever will get an appointment in the urology department for treatment of cancer they just refuse yo be contacted got my gp to change me to James hospital instead they are better

Amazing treatment from (Dr/Prof/Mr) Kieran O’Shea and the Team. My wrist surgery had minimal scaring, excellent follow up care and examination. Many complain about the HSE. I was in the University Hospital which I couldn’t recommend more.

I just left St John's ward yesterday and I honestly can't praise the staff there highly enough. A special thanks to Gwen who, with a helped me recover and got me back on track. Thank you all. Anne Carmody wonderful sense of humour and professionalism got me through some very dark days. Gwen, Shane and the staff there

A big thank you to true professionals theater staff nurses porters catering too. Everyone took great care of me during my recent visit. T

I never been to A&E so cant rate that and i feel sorry to read that many reviews that are bad. I was referred to this hospital after a GP appointment to follow up with my cancer diagnosis from 2015 - the first time i met my doctor she was so nice! Everyone in the liver unit is amazing and so kind. And today i had to go in for a PET CT scan and this lovely nurse made me feel less anxious (i dont remember her name, she had ginger/dark blonde hair) and she was so great to talk to! Even answered some questions i had. My experience in this unit was good as well and they gave me food after i was done with the exam. Hopefully future experiences will be as good :)

Avoid parking there if possible. The car park was very busy this afternoon, with a queue to enter.

On Tuesday morning I left home to go to work and ended up in the ER of St Vincent’s hospital. The whole Team working that morning was amazing with me and I can’t say I wasn’t looked after. It is a big, busy hospital and definitely not a HOTEL as I realised some people there expected to be. I’ve gained so much more respect to the nurses, after seeing with my own eyes what they have to put up every singe day, the way some people treat them. I just wanted to say THANK YOU for looking after me and trying your best to make me feel better when I was feeling my worst. Respect and kindness go long way.

I have mixed experiences of this hospital. First the good bits, day case surgery experience for me was excellent. Attending a few outpatients clinics has in recents times been equally good & very efficient. A&E is, like at most Irish hospitals, a tedious experience of sitting for many hours in a chair. 15 hours a previous time before I graduated to a trolley. It is probably no worse than most hospitals in the country, which generally have disgraceful waiting times due to overcrowding & lack of staff. Recent experience, a follow up A&E attendance for an issue relating to a previous admission, was merely 6 hours before I was given a bed, so I have no criticism there. On the public surgical ward things were not good. I have an ileostomy which means dehydration can be an issue in itself without additional stressors, but I was effectively denied water for a day, except for two small cups. No IV fluid replacement given. Was told it was because I was to have a scan in the morning, which wasn’t going to happen as my gynae doctor’s request for a CT scan was denied by radiology department as I “didn’t fit criteria for CT as per SVUH protocol” even though I was admitted for diffuse abdominal pain following a tubo-ovarian abscess which appeared resolved on ultrasound. Denying an ileostomy patient liquids is hazardous to renal function apart from causing added malaise. As I was not being given very basic adequate care I did not feel safe remaining here so discharged myself. I was only holding up a bed for no good reason with the prospect of my doctor trying to reason with radiology to try and afford me a scan. If this is SVUH’s way of saving money, it is an extreme example of false economy considering the cost of a bed night. Last admission to SVUH saw me transferred as a public patient to the attached & co-owned St Vincent’s Private Hospital, where the care is radically different, and where there is no issue for doctors to order scans. The doctor tried to get a bed here this time too but no beds were available. It’s a two tier system on this campus for public patients, those lucky enough to get the lucky straw get requisite scans, fluids, & decent care. How this is allowed to happen frankly beggars belief.