"Disappointed with the lack of concern and care given"

My little one was sent up to paediatric A&E recently after seeking advice from 111 due to breathing difficulties and becoming unwell. When we were seen, it was very brief and the doctor only listened to his chest and looked in his throat. The doctor diagnosed bronchiolitis as well as a sore throat.

By the next morning he’d got worse so we sought a second opinion from the GP and they discovered an ear infection, and shared concerns of his reduced intake and output. They sent us up to A&E that afternoon as he had refused anything orally and hadn’t had a wet nappy since early hours that morning.

After struggling with the fluid challenge and sitting in A&E for many hours, they agreed to admit him, albeit a reluctant decision admitted by the doctor. When we got onto the ward, he had minimal observations done, no tests and doctors were reluctant to do anything although he had now been 24 hours without passing urine and he was very lethargic. I had to request the nurse to check his BP which was slightly elevated, but I was told it was fine.

His sats were 91 on two occasions, in comparison to 95 the night when we initially had breathing concerns, yet once again I felt I was brushed off saying he was fine. When the doctors did ward round they expressed they weren’t concerned and they didn’t want to do anything with him and he will perk up, and they will hopefully get the results from swabs done to help diagnose what the issue is.

I had to question about these swabs which were noted in his documentation as done but they hadn’t been. The nurse then came and corrected the doctor and said it was still yet to be done. At this point I had lost confidence in all care and felt very brushed off. When we were discharged he had passed a small amount of urine, and still significantly reduced fluid intake and eating. 

The following day he had improved slightly but he was still very unwell. On the Monday we took him to the GP again, where they noticed his chest was still wheezy and he was still working a little hard. They prescribed steroids at that point and booked to review him a couple of days later. 

I feel if the hospital hadn’t brushed him off initially he would’ve been able to recover quicker and if my concerns were heard originally a lot of the issues wouldn’t have occurred. I was disappointed with the lack of concern and care given on this occasion, so much so that it’s given me significant doubt in returning in the future for any medical emergencies or concerns with my children, although it being the closer hospital I would endeavour to go elsewhere when possible.