"Croup management pathway"

Last year, my son attended the Emergency Department with croup and presented with a stridor. In other NHS trusts, there are established pathways that enable children with croup to be assessed promptly at triage, receive dexamethasone early, and be observed for a short period before being safely discharged if their symptoms improve. Much of this is actioned by a competent nurse who has had training for this.

However, when we attended NDDH, there appeared to be no such pathway in place. Despite the presence of stridor, we were advised that we could be waiting several hours to be seen. All my son required was a timely dose of dexamethasone, after which he likely could have been discharged following a brief observation. 

I’m unclear why NDDH does not appear to follow a croup management pathway similar to those implemented by other trusts, and I would appreciate clarification on this.