"Childrens A&E"

I took my 10 year old daughter to the children's A&E department on Friday the 9th December 2016.

My daughter has suffered a temporary loss of vision in one eye, and because we were awaiting a consultants appointment due to rapid deterioration of vision in the same eye.

The triage nurse asked what I expected them to do now that my daughter's sight had returned? I responded that I was not a medic but I was concerned that detached retina might be something to be considered.

They Huffed and said well if you insist.

When we were seen by the very pleasant doctor in A&E they had no equipment to test any vision and I asked them what it could be, they said that they did not have any experience in eyes.

I asked what symptoms we would see if it were a detached retina, they said they did not know.

I asked were there any risks of not examining my daughter's eye and they responded that they could not deal with eyes in this department.

At no point did they suggest that there was any other option apart from wait for the consultants appointment.

That night I spoke to my mother to tell her what had happened and she said had a checked whether the eye walk in clinic was open at the weekend.

I checked - it was- we went.

I have not had such good care anywhere else in the NHS they were fantastic.

The triage nurse was extremely knowledgeable and tested the vision and asked appropriate questions.

We saw a doctor within an hour who was extremely thorough, excellent at communicating that there was potentially a problem with the nerve at the back of the eye.

The Dr test the pressure and explained everything extremely well - they were fabulous and I would like to thank them.

However I am still distressed at my visit to A&E that unless I had been insistent we would not have been seen and that there was so little knowledge.

I would have expected the appropriate response to be that there was walk in clinic opening in 9 hours time in the hospital which would be much better placed to assess the issue.

Dismissing temporary blindness ( in one eye) is inadequate care .

If I had not happened to find out about the fantastic eye clinic then there could have been a very different outcome.