"Unsatisfactory Experience"

Recently I attended accident and emergency with my young daughter due to a fall at school.

We were treated well by all of the staff we came into contact with, the co-ordinator at the front desk, the triage nurse and the paediatric doctor were all wonderful with my daughter, myself and my husband. When the Doctor had finished her examination we were sent round to X-ray with a referral sheet. They were querying a fracture. 

Arrived at X-ray with no clear idea of who to speak to or what to do, one door was closed and the other was open so I decided to look inside. I was greeted by three members of staff, one of whom invited me in, I was told to go and speak to the radiologist.  The member of staff may have been under the impression I was attending in a professional capacity because I was wearing my uniform however I did make it clear I was awaiting an X-ray for my daughter who was at this point in the waiting room with her dad. The reason I was wearing it was because as soon as my daughter was seen I was returning to work elsewhere in the hospital. I was sent through anyway and I handed my sheet to another member of staff. I was asked then to go and wait with my daughter and husband in the waiting area. After around two minutes I was approached as asked to enter the x ray room where I felt I was spoken to like a child, given a lecture in a condescending tone and told that I should not be entering a controlled area and that I should put my sheet in the box and wait. I did try to explain that I did not know about the box system, the instructions were not particularly visible and that the member of staff in the first room invited me in and that I was unaware of the usual protocol in the x-ray department.  This member of staff's tone was abhorrent. If entering the area in question was so dangerous at that time, perhaps the original member of staff I came into contact with should not be inviting people inside?

After I returned to my daughter and husband my daughter was called forward for her x-ray and she was asked by the same radiologist if she could "come by herself". She is 5 years old. My daughter shook her head. When I entered the room I was fitted with a vest by another radiologist who had a really pleasant manner, no issues with them at all. The original Radiologist then snapped at me when I went to stand away from the bed in a horrendous tone that I didn't need to move as I was wearing the vest!".

All in all not a pleasant experience. When I returned to placement after my daughter had been seen by the doctor, I explained the situation to my  colleagues and they all encouraged me to submit a complaint. I would be keen to receive acknowledgement of this complaint because as far as I am aware this is certainly not the application of "person centred care" that we are all taught about.