"Door volunteer"

I was due to collect my son from a medical ward at Dr Grays, where he had been a patient since around 4am on the previous day.

On arrival at the hospital I was informed by the door volunteer that I could not go up to the ward and would have to wait in the foyer. I explained to this person that I would like to speak to a doctor or nurse about my son's care and that I would like to go the ward to collect him. Instead of phoning the ward to see if this was possible the door volunteer informed me that it wasn't possible and that I could ask questions when he was brought down.

I informed this volunteer that I was a member of staff and that I would like to speak to someone to do with his care and could they clarify whether or not it would be a nurse, doctor or auxiliary who would be bringing my son down. The volunteer said they didn't know but that I couldn't go up and that was that.

After waiting in the foyer I saw one of the ward nurses who recognised me and said just to go up to the ward. Once there I was able to ask the relevant questions in the privacy of the ward and help my son back to the hospital door with his bags. The ward nurses, doctors and health care support workers were all pleasant and helpful.

Once back in the foyer, I asked the volunteer why they couldn't simply have phoned the ward to ask if I could go up. They insisted that they had done nothing wrong and that it didn't matter because I had been able to speak to someone anyway. They said that if I had simply shown my badge and said I was staff in the first place, they would have let me go anywhere. Further words were exchanged and we did not part on good terms.

While I understand the need for restrictions on ward visiting, I found this volunteer very unhelpful and obstructive. I was not looking for special treatment for being staff, in fact I was trying to work within the rules as they stand. I should not have to conduct a conversation about my son's health and his care in a hospital foyer and it is not the place of a volunteer to insist that that would be fine. Furthermore it seems very inappropriate to suggest that staff can simply show their badges and bend the rules to suit themselves.