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Care Opinion

Couldn't try to rest or sleep when my baby was asleep

Posted By Exhausted Mama

"Couldn't try to rest or sleep when my baby was asleep"

About: Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (Edinburgh) / Castle Mey Ward

(as a service user),

My 5 month old baby had to be put on iv antibiotics and kept in overnight. We got a bed around 4am after being in from 10pm  and then by time things were settled, spoke to a doctor etc it was 5am. The night staff were so lovely but I have a few issues I find absolutely shocking. 

By the time we got the baby to sleep and settled ourselves it was 5am (the baby then got woken at 6am for obs- which I totally agree with). The staff then came in at 7.30am and told me to put the bed away. I asked why it had to go away as 1) we were the only one in the ward at the moment 2) doctor wasn’t due around until after 10 3) this resulted in me only getting one hour sleep in a 24 hour period. So I couldn’t try rest or sleep when my baby was asleep. When I asked why I can’t have the bed down I got told it was the rules.

Where’s the support and consideration? Unsure how parents are meant to be mentally and physical able to support their sick child when they’re not allowed to rest when they can. 

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Responses

Response from Lewis Doult, Clinical Nurse Manager, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, NHS Lothian last week
We have made a change
Lewis Doult
Clinical Nurse Manager, Royal Hospital for Children and Young People,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 17/04/2024 at 16:51
Published on Care Opinion on 18/04/2024 at 07:55

Hi Exhausted Mama,

I am sorry to hear that your baby was unwell and needed to come to the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. I appreciate that this must have been a worrying time for you. I hope that your baby has recovered from their illness.

As Castle Mey is our Acute Receiving Unit the number of patients being admitted can change very quickly and as a result we aim to ensure that our bed bays are set up ready for admissions.

I appreciate in this case you were the only person in the bed bay and that you had had very little sleep overnight due to being in the Emergency Department and being admitted to Castle Mey. On this occasion we could have allowed you to have the bed set up for longer to allow you to have some more sleep. I have circulated your comments to the staff for their reflection.

Due to the size of the unit and the variety of patients that we care for it is difficult to estimate what time you will see the doctors. I am sorry that you were asked to put the bed up and did not see the medical team for a few hours.

I am pleased to hear that despite this experience you felt the night staff were lovely. Feedback is really important to us, so thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience.

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