"Feeling belittled with a terrified 5 year old"

My 5 year old son had been bitten by a tick 2 weeks ago, he later became unwell, with a fever and he was completely fatigued. I called the GP with my concerns for some advice and my son was seen right away. The GP examined my son and tried to take bloods, however he was petrified of the needle as soon as he felt the scratch. We were asked to come back the next day to try again with the magic cream being applied this time so he wouldn't feel the scratch. The staff at the GP surgery couldn't have been nicer and tried everything with my son to get the blood however he was just too scared. We left the GP surgery and awaited a call from the GP.

At lunch time the GP called and asked us to go to the assessment unit at the children's hospital, as after talking to the medical team there, they felt it best to try again to get the bloods.

We arrived at the hospital a little time later and we were greeted by a lovely student nurse. We were taken in to a small triage area. Holly was great with my son and gave him all the time he needed, she took his observations and a history of the story from myself. She then applied the magic cream again for the bloods.

While we were waiting I could hear the staff at the desk discussing my son's case where one of the staff members asked why is this boy even here, and if it was it just because the GP couldn't get bloods. They then went on to question the doctor as to why he was there in a manner that made me feel like we shouldn't be. This nurse was surely aware of where we were positioned which is right beside the nurse's desk, where everything can be heard.

The junior doctor then came in to examine my son and take the history he was very pleasant and once again gave my son the time. He was then followed by the consultant, who was once again nice.

After the magic cream had been on for an hour the consultant and junior doctor came in to try and take the blood. My son knew what was coming and was very scared, he started to get very distressed and when the consultant tried to get hold of his arm to hold him down he just screamed the ward down and became extremely upset doing anything to get them off him.

I never for one moment thought that they would just try to hold him down to get the blood or I would have said it wouldn't work. After this distressing scene the consultant decided the best course of action would be for my son to continue on the antibiotics the GP had prescribed (as the bloods may not show Lyme disease up anyway) and phone the GP next week to let them know how my son was.

When we were leaving a nurse turned around to me and stated it’s very rare to get Lyme disease from just one tick bite. What they may have thought would comfort me just made me even more upset, after the comments earlier I felt like they again were saying we should not even have bothered coming in and we had wasted their time.

I myself work within healthcare and have looked after people with Lyme disease, so I'm aware of the signs to look out for. I am also aware of the pressures of staff within the hospital, but maybe some conversations should be had out with ear shot of patients and family members. I feel upset about the lack of empathy shown and being belittled into feeling I had wasted their time when I was asked to come in.

I was even more distressed that afternoon receiving the NHS Grampian's daily brief and seeing their social media, where it was highlighting all the risks of a tick bite and to see a doctor if you had the symptoms my son had.

I would hate for any parent to feel with way I did especially when they have an unwell child and are just looking for advice and help.