"Paediatric blood tests"

My baby daughter has a visual impairment and other health issues which required more blood tests. Her first blood test was very traumatic for both of us so I wasn’t looking forward to this occasion either. 

When we arrived at the Acorn Centre at Antrim Area hospital for our appointment, we had to wait over 30 minutes to be taken. I understand that things can fall behind but no one advised us of a wait. 

When the doctor eventually called us, they ushered us into a room along with a student nurse - she was a complete angel. However, the doctor never introduced themselves to me nor explained what they were going to do. They asked if I wanted to be in the room which I agreed to. They then, to my shock, just inserted the needle into my daughter’s hand then continued to draw blood from both hands and both feet without even trying to soothe my baby. Their mobile phone rang throughout the procedure and once it was over, they just gathered the samples and left the room leaving the student nurse to tidy up. She also left the room but returned a short time later to tell us that we could go home. The student nurse was fantastic throughout the procedure, constantly soothing my daughter and reassuring me. 

In my opinion the doctor was very rude and as I stated before, I don’t even know their name to report. 

Unfortunately this is not the first occasion where we have encountered an unprofessional care service from doctors in my daughters healthcare journey - thankfully any nursing staff have been amazing.