"Above & Beyond!"

I attended my diabetic review appointment at the beginning of August at Daisy Hill Hospital and had to bring my 6 year old son who has Autism as I was unable to get childcare for the appt. Long waits and hospitals are never a good mixture for him due to a previous bad experience when he was younger.

When I arrived at my appt the nurse advised me that the clinic was running behind which initially I was a bit panicked about given my sons needs however Amy (nurse) picked up on my concerns straight away. She kept me up to date on waiting times and let us wait in the main waiting room with the TV to keep my son as regulated as possible. She interacted with him when I was getting my height/weight checked and let him get involved too and it was so lovely to see her chatting away to him. As a parent with a child with ASD it can be really stressful taking him to appts like this but Amy made it so easy and nothing was too much bother. 

My consultant Dr Neely was great and didn’t mind at all my sons bouncing about and random singing! He took my concerns on board about pre blousing and for the first time I felt like I had actually been heard and listened too. 

My DSN Carolyn was excellent as always and has always been able to come up with realistic ideas/goals that work alongside my chaotic home life and work.  The dietician helped me keep an eye on my son and was quite happy for him to walk about and stim to his hearts content. 

It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve attended a hospital appointment that’s not been for my son and we have been supported from start to finish. What could have been an absolute disaster with meltdowns actually ended up being a fairly calm afternoon all thanks to staff that took the time to recognise my son’s needs and that enabled me to attend my appointment. A massive thank you to everyone involved!