Hospital was so bad I wouldn’t go back... even if I was dying

A teacher who spent nine “nightmare” days in hospital with malaria says she was verbally abused, neglected and even threatened by staff.

Chandini Wilson, 48, described her stay at Queen’s Hospital in Romford as the worst experience of her life and is considering legal action.

She claims her care was so poor that her husband Andrew, 48, a government worker, was forced to act as her “private nurse” to look after her. Mrs Wilson, who lives and works in Romford as a special needs teacher, contracted malaria during a trip to Mumbai.

She said staff at the hospital were rude, refused to give her medical test results, failed to use medical equipment properly and often did not respond when alerted.

She also claims she was told by a staff member that she had a face that would “scare” children after she went in search of a phone. She added: “My husband had to come and give me a shower every evening, without him I don’t know what I would have done.”

She added: “I could never recommend anyone to go there even if someone was dying. I would urge them: Go somewhere else.”

Mrs Wilson said: “Staff refused to divulge my blood test results and gave me medication late. They did not know their jobs. Nurses seemed to be untrained and did not know how to fix an intravenous drip into my veins. At one point, it leaked. I needed to go to the toilet every 10 minutes and there was hardly any help. Somehow I had to make my way there on my own.”

Mrs Wilson also says that the hospital’s registrar was rude to her husband and daughter when they asked for blood test results. He snapped at them that he was busy and threatened to call security to have them thrown out, she says. The family got the results the next day from another doctor who apologised.

The hospital today apologised for Mrs Wilson’s “poor” treatment and for her quinine medication being given late at least once. Medical director Stephen Burgess wrote in a letter to Mrs Wilson: “Please accept our apologies about any comments made about your appearance. This was not acceptable. There was no intention to offend and the nurse involved has apologised for any misunderstanding.”

The hospital has twice been criticised by the Care Quality Commission. Five patients have died on its maternity ward since 2007.