"Distressed and Disappointed"

My husband brought our two children to Daisy Hill Hospital Emergency Department recently — one had a sore throat and was feeling unwell, and the other had rashes all over her body.

At reception, he was told that only one child would be checked in first and that both would be seen once inside A&E. They were asked to wait in the main waiting area, but were never brought into a room.

Over the next four to five hours, our son’s condition worsened — his sore throat became more severe, and he started developing a high fever while lying down on the waiting room chairs. My husband tried several times to get staff attention, but was told they would focus on the baby first. No one came to assess or check on him.

When a doctor finally saw our daughter, she was sent home with hydrocortisone cream, but our son was never examined. By the time they got home, he had developed a very high fever and later became delirious and hallucinating, which led to another emergency visit around midnight.

We completely understand that A&E can be very busy, but it was extremely distressing that our son was left without any assessment or monitoring for hours, even as his condition visibly worsened.

I hope Daisy Hill Hospital can review this incident and ensure that all children are at least briefly assessed or checked while waiting, especially when more than one sick child is brought in.

We truly appreciate the hard work of NHS staff, but this experience left us feeling worried, unheard, and disappointed.