DH is almost at the end of a course of radiotherapy for bladder cancer. He is also registered blind (no peripheral vision) and has severe heart failure (cannot walk very far)
We've been attending outpatients/oncology for five weeks and appreciate the need for security at the main entrance due to Covid restrictions but our treatment this morning was beyond belief!
The journey to Addenbrooke's hospital takes just under an hour so by the time we got there DH was desperate for the loo. He wears a pad as a precaution. I always drop him off as close to the door as possible (the loos are just inside) then go and park the car. He doesn't need an appointment card, just a schedule which I keep in my handbag.
I don't want to go into explicit details on an open site but in short, the security man refused to let me in because, in HIS opinion, DH didn't need a carer or a wheelchair (I had to nip next door to another clinic to collect one because the ones in outpatients were chained up!) because he'd seen him walk from the car.
An argument ensued, I eventually walked in unchallenged because I waited until he bullied somebody else and his back was turned. We got to DH's appointment just in time and left the rest to an appalled radiographer who phoned security straight away.
By the time we got back to outpatients, two security men were dealing with him! I hope he's toast! One of them was kind enough to follow us out to the car and apologise.
I appreciate hospitals are under extreme pressure at the moment but employing 'bouncers' to fill the void is not a good idea. He was so horrible, one woman sat outside on a bench sobbing because, in her words, she'd been 'ejected!'
I've e-mailed my complaint to PALS. Hopefully better luck next week!
