"My son was let down"

Our son entered Good Hope Hospital last September aged 18 and just about to go to uni. He had high temperature which they gave him painkillers for, and we were told any sign of blood had to be reported urgently. Once this was done I felt they did not take a lot of notice, and by now he was being sick.

I met the consultant once. He walked past me and said ‘he’s a mystery’ about my son and that was the last time I saw him in the seven days our son was there. When we complained about it all afterwards the consultant claimed that he was in contact with us at all times; which was totally untrue. My husband never met him.

My son was put in a side room and everyone was supposed to wear aprons but often this didn’t happen. If it had not been for the next weekend staff he would have still been there. Our son had to be transferred to Addenbrooke's because there were no intensive care beds.

He eventually died and we feel it was partly due to the care he had. The arrogant consultant gave the impression he thought he was better than everyone else. We feel our son was let down. He may not have survived but we will never know.

We believe that if the consultant had looked at other areas he would have been able to see what was wrong and there is a protocol for what our son had. Our daughter found the information easily on the internet by typing in all his symptoms.