Witham: Resident discusses 'scary' Broomfield Hospital trip

Toby Easthope, 55, of Newland Street, went to A&E at Chelmsford’s Broomfield Hospital after suffering “chronic headaches” for four days.

This ordeal ended in the father of two discovering he had three strokes, had lost 50 per cent of his vision, and would spend several weeks in hospital.

On August 19, 2023, Toby called his GP due to intense headaches at 8.40am, having “squiggly lines” in his vision, and experiencing high blood pressure.

Life changing - A photo of Toby taken twelve months before the strokes and a photo taken after (Image: Toby Easthope)

An ambulance arrived at about 2.15pm and took him to hospital.

Within the first five hours of being at Broomfield A&E, Mr Easthope had his blood pressure taken which was 190 over 120.

He was then told by nurses that they would find him a bed for an overnight stay with a drip feed to help lower his blood pressure, however he was still left in such pain and having only allegedly been given cocodamol.

It wasn’t until 7:00pm that evening he had a CAT scan and he was given a ramipril tablet around 8.30pm.

He had been informed that they cannot find a bed yet nor a consultant in the building to prescribe the the drip feed medication they mentioned to him earlier.

Location - Broomfield Hospital (Image: East News Press Agency)

He was moved to a smaller A&E as a bed  still needed to be found and then moved back to the main A&E at 11:10pm.

The following morning in A&E he finally saw a consultant at 9am who wanted him to be seen by an ophthalmologist as they suspected he may have glaucoma.

During this time, everything felt “tender” around Toby's eyes, at 10:30am he was given another medication which made his vision feel like a kaleidoscope.

At around 10:30am, Toby is moved to the corridor outside the stroke ward and finally had a ophthalmologist appointment several hours later at 3:51pm where more tests are completed.   

According to Toby, he was kept waiting until 6:50pm when he was informed he had matter of fact had three strokes affecting the "optic nerve" area within the last 24 hours, Toby explained his initial reaction.

He said: “I didn’t really feel much, I felt gutted, at first, I felt lucky because you hear that people lose a lot from a stroke.

“I have lost the 50 per cent in each eye, I was sitting in a corridor and couldn’t see what was going on, it was like looking through a kaleidoscope.”

After finally getting a bed on the stroke ward at 8:02pm, Toby began a several week stay at the hospital until September 13.

Now, almost 20 weeks later after occupational therapy and other treatments, Toby has lost 50 per cent of his vision in each eye, double blurred vision, and suffers with Charles Bonnet Syndrome, meaning he sees hallucinations.

Optimistic - A photo of Toby in December in a rare trip outside of his flat (Image: Toby Easthope)

Due to his situation, he has lost his job as a mortgage advisor and has barely left his flat, suffers with shortness of breath and it’s been extremely tough.

He said: “At times I just wanted to throw myself out the window, I got fired from my job, I can’t verify documents and passports, I sit here, I don’t sleep at night, and stare at the wall.

“The only thing I keep telling myself is that it could have been a lot worse.

“Yes, I had three strokes, but my friend had one and has lost the power of speech and mobility.

“If you met me you wouldn’t know I had a stroke until I get up and walk around.”

Now after time to think about the whole experience, Toby appreciates the hard work that the NHS and its staff do but is disappointed about his time at Broomfield.

He said: “How can you have a hospital like Broomfield, a leading hospital with a stroke ward and team that hasn’t got a consultant to prescribe the medicine that you apparently need.

“I never got that drip anyway.”

Diane Sarkar, Chief Nursing and Quality Officer for Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, commented on the situation.

“We are sorry Mr Easthope feels his care fell below the standard he expected.

"We would urge him to come forward and make contact with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service for support, so that any concerns can be looked into.”