"Doctor's communication skills were second to none"

I took my child to the emergency department last week. She had been experiencing extremely high temperatures and was unable to keep anything down orally including an oral antibiotic she had been prescribed by the GP.

We were triaged by Staff Nurse Neil. Neil was great with my daughter and explained what he was going to do and ask her consent. I asked Neil if it was appropriate to be in A&E for this complaint and explained we had seen the GP twice and her temperature was 41.4 at home, she was deteriorating in front of my eyes. Neil reassured me Yes it was and that she would be seen by a doctor and a plan of care put in place. Neil advised me to knock on the triage door if I had any concerns while we waited. I observed the department get busier and busier.

Staff were working tirelessly and the patients continued to arrive, some now having to stand. I went to triage and knocked to advise Neil my daughter now had a temperature again and was feeling nauseated, Neil immediately brought her back into triage, got ibuprofen prescribed and administered this promptly.

She was then assessed by Dr Grabar, who listened to my concerns as a parent despite my daughter now sitting quite comfortably and saying she felt fine. Sophie ordered a chest x-ray which showed a nasty chest infection. She cannulated my daughter and had great patience with her as she was so upset and anxious. Sophie apologized there was nowhere for us to sit right now inside the department but explained she had went to the waiting area and asked some adults to move to allow our daughter to sit down in the children's waiting area.

Sophie then came out to the waiting area and spoke to myself and my daughter explaining she would be admitted and the process of admission. She spoke in a manner appropriate and understandable for my daughter, and then explained the blood results to myself. Her communication skills were second to none.

I can not thank the staff enough for their assessment of my child and ensuring she was admitted in a timely manner to prevent further deterioration. Despite the challenging circumstances and pressure these staff members were under, when they spoke to me and my daughter you would of thought we were the only people in the department.

These staff are an asset to Western Health and Social Care Trust.