A stroke survivor claims he was treated like a ‘dog’ by nurses at a South London hospital because of his bald head and tattoos.

Mark McDonald alleges nurses at Lewisham Hospital yelled at him, refused to make his bed and made him sleep on a faulty blow-up mattress.

He also claims he was left with a badly bruised arm after a member of nursing staff struggled to fit a tube in a vein during his 24-hour stay on the hospital’s stroke rehabilitation ward in October 2023. 

The 59-year-old dad, who suffers from emphysema, said he was so upset about his treatment by staff on one ward last year that he ended up in tears.

News Shopper: Mark McDonaldMark McDonald

He believes nurses singled him out because of his appearance and mistakenly thought he was a racist. 

He said: “I never want to go back… They looked at me like I was some scummy racist because I have a bald head and tattoos. I’m not a scumbag. I like tattoos and I like body art, so what? 

“There was no benefit of the doubt whether I was a good person or a terrible person. They treated me like a piece of crap. They treated me like a dog. They made my life a misery. All I cared about was getting away from the nurses. I was crying about the way I was treated on that ward.”

Mr McDonald was admitted to Lewisham Hospital on October 7 2023 with severe headaches that left him unable to walk or sit up.

Following tests at the hospital, it was discovered he had suffered a stroke.

He spent the first few days of his stay on one ward, where he described the staff as ‘respectful’ and ‘lovely.’

But on October 12, he was moved onto the second one It is here that Mr McDonald said his problems began.

Shortly after arriving on the ward, he claims a nurse tried to fit a cannula in his wrist but was unable to do so.

The same nurse then allegedly scolded Mr McDonald for his tattoos, which he claims she blamed for being unable to locate a vein. 

Mr McDonald said he was then sent for a CT scan in another area of the hospital without a cannula fitted.

But when he arrived, he was told by a member of staff that he should have a cannula and was told to return to the ward to get one.

Upon arriving back at the ward, Mr McDonald said a nurse shouted at him for not having a cannula, despite another member of nursing staff on the ward having been unable to find a vein to fit one just a few hours earlier. 

Explaining what happened next, Mr McDonald said: “They tried my arms and that’s when my arms blew up and she was going to the other nurse ‘we are blowing up his arm, we are blowing up his arm’ and she grabbed the lump so it would go down. I was sitting there looking at my arm blowing up and it was painful when she grabbed it to make it go down.”

He added: “They made me sleep on a blow-up mattress and I didn’t sleep for the 24 hours I was on the ward. I didn’t know if it was flat or full up. They didn’t make my bed. They made the three beds in my bay and left mine.”

Mr McDonald left the hospital the following day on October 13 and submitted a formal complaint to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust about his treatment two weeks later on October 29.

He is now recovering from his stroke at his home in Lewisham but says he won’t rest until he has had an apology from nurses at the hospital for his alleged mistreatment. 

“I want an apology. I want an apology from every single nurse that looked after me. At the end of the day,  I’m not one of those arses.” 

A Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) spokesperson said: “Patient care is a key priority for us at LGT, so we were sorry to hear that Mr McDonald was disappointed with the treatment he received here. We are investigating his complaint and have already apologised verbally to Mr McDonald. 

“This will be followed up in writing once our investigations have concluded. We always welcome feedback that helps us to improve patient experience, so would encourage him to contact us directly if he has any outstanding concerns.”