"Most of the interactions made him upset and uncomfortable"

My son had fallen in the garden and split his lip open down to his chin so badly it was falling apart and he had a bump on the back of his head. His face was pouring blood.

We arrived at A&E and waited to be triaged. During triage they checked his face and vitals and gave him some liquid paracetamol. We were sent back to the waiting area even though he was struggling to stay awake. We waited a good while and it got to the point we could not really wake him, he was just rolling his eyes. My partner went up to the desk to ask for someone to help. We were then asked through to a room in A and E where a nurse came and did vitals and then left us, but not before his piece of kitchen roll fell to the floor and they handed us a paper towel from the hand washing area to hold on a very open facial wound, even though it was not sterile and could have picked up anything in the room.

We were in the hospital from half past five until half past nine before being told to go home and go to Livingston hospital for seven thirty the next morning. We were sent home without his wound being cleaned, no washing, no dressing, no steri strips to hold it in place, and nothing to stop the wound splitting any further through the night. The injury had happened in the garden and was clearly at risk of having dirt and germs in it. The next day infection had set in and I had to rub ointment into his stitches at four years old twice a day. Even then it was not enough and he ended up on antibiotics by mouth.

During our time at the BGH there was only one nurse that made any effort to calm or work with my child. Most of the interactions made him very upset and uncomfortable as if they had no patience for a child in their care. The level of infection control we saw was basically non existent for a vulnerable child at high risk of infection. No infection control procedures appeared to be followed. The room was dirty with a bowl of fluid left out and liquid down the wall. We did not see anyone washing their hands.