An A&E patient claims she was left “in agony” and covered in bruises after a cannula insertion allegedly went wrong.
Bebhinn Langridge said the pain was so severe it felt like she was “in labour” after the cannula was fitted in her arm while she waited in an emergency department.
But the 25-year-old claims four NHS nurses insisted it looked “fine”.
Bebhinn was rushed to hospital with her mother after suffering excruciating abdominal pain and 36 hours of vomiting linked to her endometriosis.
Desperate for fluids and pain relief, a cannula was inserted into her right arm, but Bebhinn says she immediately knew something felt “off”.
“I’m needle phobic and was practically begging for them to do a new one; it hurt that much,” Bebhinn, from Dorset, told Need To Know.
“I passed out and threw up once the cannula was put in.
“The nurse walked out and left me, saying ‘I’ll give you a minute’.
“Five minutes later she walked past and asked if I was bleeding still.
“This was something I’ve never encountered.
“I knew something was off around 10 minutes afterwards.
“My arm began feeling achy and tight and was rapidly getting more painful.”
Bebhinn was taken to the A&E department at Dorset County Hospital and placed in the “fit to sit” area.
She claims the pain intensified rapidly after the cannula was inserted while four separate nurses checked her arm.
During inspections, Bebhinn alleged her arm was repeatedly “pulled and twisted” by staff while she was made to feel like an “inconvenience”.
She said: “I felt like an inconvenience to them and I felt gaslit.
“I felt terrified that something was going really wrong and no one seemed to care.
“The whole day I felt like the nurses were avoiding eye contact with me when I was asking for assistance.
“I was left standing with sick bowls while a nurse rolled her eyes.
“I was left to hold a pot of my own urine in the waiting room for 20 minutes as no one was free to help or even acknowledge me trying to give them my sample.”
Bebhinn also claimed she was offered anti-sickness tablets despite being unable to keep fluids down.
Her mother was reportedly forced to use a sick bowl to catch tea she could not drink as Bebhinn tried to stop herself retching to avoid aggravating a hernia.
She says this continued for four hours without being offered an IV alternative.
Eventually, the cannula was removed, with one staff member allegedly admitting it appeared “bent”.
Bebhinn said: “Me and my mum looked at each other like ‘what the hell is going on here’.
“But I was so relieved and so uncomfortable at the same time I just hugged my arm and felt dizzy.”
However, Bebhinn claims the pain continued long after she left hospital and has left her struggling for weeks.
Despite living with chronic pain, she described the aftermath as “debilitating”.
She said the medication prescribed to manage the pain left her feeling like a “zombie”.
Bebhinn said: “I’ve not been able to wash, cook, walk the dogs, dress or even lift the kettle properly by myself for two weeks.
“The sling has helped my pain, but has made it even harder to mobilise.
“I’ve felt like a zombie from the medication I’ve used to help with pain and had to sleep with my arm bound to a cushion so I don’t lean on it or cause more damage.”
The former make-up artist said the experience has left her both traumatised and confused by the treatment she claims she received.
While acknowledging pressure faced by NHS workers, she criticised what she described as a “lack of compassion and communication”.
She said: “I know the staff are under pressure, I know they’re rushed off their feet, but patient care is based on how you make patients feel.
“I appreciate that this didn’t seem as urgent as other cases coming in, but I have now had almost three weeks of pain, unable to live properly or care for myself due to nurses who made me feel I was inadequate to be there.
“I’ve never felt so inconvenient or annoying to staff for being poorly.
“I came out worse than when I entered from pure lack of compassion and communication.”
A spokesperson for Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re not able to talk about individual cases due to patient confidentiality.
“We would encourage Ms Langridge to get in touch with our patient experience team directly to talk through any concerns about her care so we can look into this on her behalf.”
