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Altnagelvin ED - daughter still unwell

Posted By dancebp46

"Altnagelvin ED - daughter still unwell"

About: Altnagelvin Area Hospital / Emergency department

(as a parent/guardian),

Attended last night with my daughter (3 years old) after being unable to be seen by our GP. Daughter has been unwell and symptomatic for over 1 week, received an antibiotic from GP and has not improved. Hence the visit to A&e.

After 5 hours we saw a Dr, not paediatric as we were informed they didn't have a paediatric Dr on Tuesday in the emergency department.

The Dr we saw was dismissive of my concerns at best. Neither the Dr or the nurse who did my daughters obs wanted the urine sample we were asked for at Triage (my daughter received antibiotics for a urine infection) and the Dr told me my daughters symptoms of lethargy and drowsiness were fine as she seemed fine (at that point) and that sometimes children were just 'like that'. My playful, energetic 3 year old has never been 'like that', hence my serious concerns for her. We were sent home.

I would never dream of coming to an emergency department unless I had real genuine concerns. I have been left feeling like I am in a seriously broken system screaming for help and no one is there to help me or take my concerns seriously. I am now home with a three year old who is still lethargic, restless and crying that she doesn't feel well and I don't know where to turn. My GP will not help nor will my local hospital.

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Responses

Response from Trudy Wallace, Sister Emergency Department Altnagelvin Hospital, Acute Services Altnagelvin, WHSCT last week
Trudy Wallace
Sister Emergency Department Altnagelvin Hospital, Acute Services Altnagelvin,
WHSCT

Submitted on 23/04/2024 at 21:34
Published on Care Opinion at 21:34

Hi dancebp46,

I am sorry to read of your negative experience when bringing your daughter to our department. Firstly I hope that she is recovering, if she is not and you are concerned about her I would advise that you either ask for her own GP to assess her, or return to our department and ask for her to be reassessed. I appreciate that you have already brought her to our department, but we would never want parents to feel that there is no-one to help or take your concerns seriously, and we would never want anyone to feel like these concerns are being dismissed.

While Paediatric doctors do not work in our department, our ED doctors do have experience in caring for sick children, and do seek help and advice from both their senior colleagues within our department, or from our Paediatric team within the hospital as necessary. There is also a pathway for GPs to refer patients directly to the Paediatric assessment unit (APAU) if they feel a Paediatric assessment is necessary.

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