"30 minutes before anyone came near us"

My one year old son was referred from the GP with a temperature of over 41 degrees, heart rate 180-190, mottled skin, cold hands and feet and lethargic. Hadn't passed any urine for a few hours. As a parent and someone who has previously been a nursing assistant I am well aware of the signs of sepsis. Unfortunately it would appear the staff on shift that day were not! It took 30 minutes before anyone came near us. To my disbelief it wasn't even a nurse who came but a nursing assistant! It then took roughly another hour before a doctor came to assess him. My son wasn't seen by a nurse until we got discharged! Unfortunately by that time his temperature was back up and feeling lethargic again! We got discharged with no indication of what was wrong or any advise on what to do.

When we got home we received a phone call to say we had left without his prescription of antibiotics. Had we of known he was to get a prescription we would of waited however the nursing assistant came in and told us we were to get ourselves sorted and can leave. That was after I went out and voiced my concerns over the fact my son hadn't passed any urine in about 8 hours even though we were pushing fluids and had a very distended stomach, to be told he was being stubborn because we were trying to collect a urine sample. We went back up to collect the prescription only to be told they had lost it.

However on a positive note the paediatrician was a gem, prepared us a new prescription and we re-voiced our concerns we were told how to manage the temperature and when to bring him back in again and that with his history and the symptoms it was more than likely another urine infection but he will look over his notes again. It's just a shame that he is the only person we now trust there.