"A&E visit with a young baby"

I brought my young baby up to A&E on the request of NHS24 with a high temp. A&E was extremely busy so I understand there were significant pressures for staff. I was informed on arrival, because of this, they would phone the kids ward and see if we could go straight up. Unfortunately there had been an emergency in SCBU so we were unable to attend straight away.

Waiting in A&E waiting room, I felt forgotten about. We were eventually 'triaged' without any set of observations and a quick run down of what I had already discussed with NHS 24 earlier. This is not triage. There is a lack of confidentiality with your 'triaging' as everyone in the waiting area can hear this. This also adds to other people's annoyance as they start forming their own opinions on who should/should not be seen before themselves/relatives. 

We were eventually taken up to the ward 2.5 hours later and they were also surprised we had not been seen considering the age of my child and a high temp being an obvious red flag. My baby was escalated very quickly as she was dropping her oxygen saturations significantly and her temp remained high. She was given a full septic screen because of this. She was later diagnosed with viral meningitis. Had this been bacterial meningitis we'd have lost precious hours. The night we arrived the staff in the children's ward were brilliant, specifically the 2 Nurses in attendance, Nurse Practitioner and Paediatric Consultant were all fantastic. They took my concerns seriously, escalated promptly and explained everything fully. 

I understand that there are multiple issues within the NHS that are not the fault of those on the floors. However, I have worked in an A&E department and strongly recommend triaging patients on arrival, in a room with privacy and obtaining a full set of observations so that an informed clinical decision can be made.