"Made my son feel safe and confident"

I attended the children's emergency department at the Edinburgh RHCYP with my 3-year-old son, who had hurt his leg. The whole experience was really positive for both of us.

We were in the department for less than 3 hours, start to finish. This included checking in at the reception (friendly and organised), playing in the waiting room, which my son thought was fun and had good toys and books and a TV playing interesting things which kept us occupied and not bored whilst waiting), being triaged (concise, kind, made my son feel safe in the department), seen by the doctor (Fraser, child-centred, spoke to my son directly and was gentle, examining only as much as was required) 2 x-rays.

The whole team were encouraging, made my son feel safe and confident, (he says the best thing about the whole experience was watching Superworm on their ipad). Reviewed by the consultant (Dr Broomfield, available promptly, gave a clear explanation, avoiding terms which would scare my son) and having a cast put on (Eilidh and Kate, friendly and calm, came promptly and explained everything to my son, with good instructions to me for aftercare).

Fraser then spoke to the registrar in Glasgow to arrange transfer of our care closer to home while we were still in the department.

I felt really well cared for and totally confident in the care we were receiving. It felt like there was great communication within the department, with each step of my son's care happening seamlessly, without us feeling like we were left unsure of the next step at any point.

Most importantly, my son left feeling happy having been to the hospital rather than scared or worried, even though he had broken his leg and was tired and sore. He now speaks positively about the experience which I think is a great achievement. Thanks to the great team who looked after him.