HOSPITAL bosses are investigating a complaint that a woman in extreme pain was ignored by nursing staff as she lay on a hospital trolley covered in vomit.

Viv Thomson was taken to the Royal Bournemouth's accident and emergency department screaming in agony following an apparent flare-up of her rheumatoid arthritis.

Her friend Jane Colleau, who accompanied her to the hospital, said: "I have known her for 10 years and have never seen her in so much pain.

"The ambulance crew wanted her to have morphine, and they advised the staff of what had happened when we arrived at 10pm.

"The staff were dismissive, unhelpful, and had no understanding of how much pain she was in. I had to ask three times for help.

"It was so distressing that I had to leave the department twice because I didn't want my friend to see that I was crying."

She added: "When Viv gets like this, she can hardly move, but they were putting things out of her reach.

"They were just ambling along and not helping.

"She spent an agonising 15 hours on a hospital trolley and wasn't given morphine until 6am.

"The morphine made her vomit and when she asked for a bowl, they put it out of her reach."

Viv, 48, of West Howe, Bournemouth, said: "It was the worst pain I have ever experienced. I couldn't move my arms and hands.

"I was being sick, but they wouldn't move my bowl for me, so it was going over my face."

She was transferred to Poole Hospital the following lunch time, but was readmitted to the Royal Bournemouth for eight days after tests showed she had septic arthritis.

"I'm normally cared for by the rheumatology team at Bournemouth, who are fantastic," she said.

After Jane Colleau wrote to chief executive Tony Spotswood, Tracey Hall, head of communications for the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust, said: "We are treating the letter as a full complaint and it will be looked at as a matter of urgency."

First published: September 7