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Care Opinion

Waiting times too long for a child

Posted By Jaymc95

"Waiting times too long for a child"

About: Causeway Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as a parent/guardian),

My son had a bad bump to his head. Was given a time slot, but still waiting at two hours later. Absolute disgrace. He is under 5 and waiting time far too long.

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Responses

Response from Natalie McLaughlin, Clinical Services Manager, Renal & Endo-Diabetes, Ward B2, Ward C5 and Renal Unit., Northern Health and Social Care Trust 2 years ago
Natalie McLaughlin
Clinical Services Manager, Renal & Endo-Diabetes, Ward B2, Ward C5 and Renal Unit.,
Northern Health and Social Care Trust

Submitted on 22/02/2022 at 14:04
Published on Care Opinion at 14:04

Jaymc95

Thank you for your feedback. I apologise that on your attendance to ED with your son, you had to wait longer than expected. This is not ideal, especially for children under 5 years.

When attending ED, all patients are triaged using the ManchesterTriage tool, and are then catergorised according to their clinical need.

Although we do endeavour to ensure children are prioritised and seen in a timely manner. However, on occasions when the department is experiencing unprecedented demand, we cannot always meet this.

Again I apologise for the waiting time, and I hope your son is recovering well following his visit to the ED.

Kind Regards

Natalie McLaughlin

Assistant Clinical Services Manager

MEM

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful

Update posted by Jaymc95 (a parent/guardian)

My son ended up waiting for four hours in total after me speaking to reception on three different occasions. The examination consisted of the SHO shining a phone torch in his eyes, asking him to hop and jump and asking him if he lost unconscious. He replied yes. This is a three year old child who does not understand the meaning of the word unconscious. We were then given an information sheet on head injuries. Very poor standards in my opinion. Furthermore I rang phone first at 3pm. Given a time slot of 5pm. It was 9pm before he was seen. I find this completely unacceptable.

The main point is I am glad my son was grand and no serious injuries, however, with the examination and information sheet, surely the triage nurse could have done this. To expect a 3 year old child wait for four hours is absolutely ridiculous. As parents all we wanted was the reassurance that he was ok.

We went to A+E on the advice from GP.

Further learning: perhaps Causeway should consider having a paediatrics A+E department.

Time slots are ineffective and pointless.

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