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"Appalling treatment on my 16 month old"

About: Heartlands Hospital / Paediatrics

(as a parent/guardian),

My daughter was born at almost 32 weeks premature, this makes her susceptible to respiratory problems. She is now 16 months and has suffered from bronchiolitis and chest infections very frequently having to need antibiotics. On this occasion my daughter attended the paediatric A&E in which the service was second to none, the nurse and Doctor who attended to my daughter were amazing and I would like to thank them for their  professional provision of high quality care. We then were transferred to the paediatric assessment unit as my daughter was borderline bronchiolitis/chest infection/viral wheeze. She was administered a salbutamol inhaler due to her having difficulty breathing going into respiratory distress, presenting with tracheal tug and intercostal recession, also having a high temperature. The service on this unit was despicable. Children are vulnerable therefore extra care should be taken and jurisdiction. I am appalled at every nurse who worked the two days and one night I was on that unit with my daughter. The doctors reviewed her, set a plan in which the nurses could not follow. Nurses have a duty of care, my daughters temperature went up to 39.1 degrees and at no stage did they follow procedures in assessing her vital signs in a timely manner.  They did not administer any paracetamol

. It was lucky that I had carried my own which I had to administered to her. They then came over after I had already administered paracetamol to her to give ibuprofen, luckily enough I asked the nurse what it was she was giving her, if I did not ask she would never have said. It's was ibuprofen in which my daughter can not have. She is under the paediatricians due to her prematurity and they advised to stay clear of ibuprofen due to her history of respiratory distressing episodes, severe eczema and family history of asthma. He also said as she is too young to diagnose for asthma, she is following the signs and symptoms as an asthmatic, this is another reason she should NOT have ibuprofen. I said to the nurse she can not have ibuprofen due to her condition the nurse said my daughter will have fits if she doesn't have it. Which is not true and was not taking a holistic approach to care or explain this to us either. Nonetheless, my daughter did have her last dose of paracetamol left to be administered so I asked for that when it was due which the nurse was very reluctant to give and until this day I am still awaiting her to give her paracetamol. Luckily enough, I could give it to her. Also another nurse was asked prior to this and she said the doctor needed to prescribe this, this was after 3 hours of waiting for it to be given. I believer then told her colleague to lie to us stating the doctor has only prescribed ibuprofen so basically it was that only they could give. This is appalling and is breaching the NMC code of conduct professional body. Then 6 hours later they decided to check my daughters temperature in which it was high so  I gave the last dose of paracetamol myself then another nurse came to check it within minutes which again means they are not communicating with each other, which is high risk of causing errors and overdose. I can not fathom the distressing time I had let alone my daughter whilst here and it is a good job I was my daughters advocate because who knows where or what would have happened to my daughter. I can appreciate the ward is very busy and fast pace but providing basic care, communicating, being open and honest and treating my daughter and I with respect and dignity is all I asked. The NMC states you have a duty to your patients. It seems to mean they do not know what this means and it is sad to know health care professionals could treat a minor of 16 months like this. It give me no hope and scares me for what the future holds!  

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