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Disappointed at Aberdeen children's a&e

Posted By Em25

"Disappointed at Aberdeen children's a&e"

About: NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital / Accident & Emergency (Emergency Care)

(as a parent/guardian),

One morning, my son grabbed my hair straightener and by 7pm that night I noticed he developed a big blister on his thumb. I decided to call nhs 24 for some advice to which they told me to take him to a&e. They where great on the phone and very helpful.

Once we arrived at a&e around 8 pm the receptionist booked us in. They were lovely ladies. When we got called through about 20 minutes later that's when our experience changed. The nurse had a quick look and told us the blister would have to be burst and dressed but a doctor would have to have a look first. She then told us she was going to get my son some pain relief. She never came back. We waited there for 3 and a half hours while my son cried his little heart out. Not one member of staff came to see if we were ok.

After finally getting my son to sleep the doctor finally came in but he didn't seem very competent. He couldn't make his mind up with what he was going to do. He told us that he probably would have just left it alone but because it had burst while we were waiting he had no choice but to cut the skin and dress it. He then could decide whether to give my son antibiotics in case of infection. He proceeded with the treatment and it was easy until my son woke up. He seemed annoyed my son was flailing about and screaming. In the end decided to just put a plaster on it (loosely) which went straight in my sons mouth and was off by the time we got to the car. Considering he told us to keep it covered and dry both of those where out the window by the time we where home at 12: 30. As we were leaving he ran after us to tell us to go to the gp in the morning... I had to dress his hand myself when we got home to do us overnight. I feel really let down at the level of care my son was given. Unhappy mum!

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Responses

Response from Shona Lawrence, Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 6 years ago
Shona Lawrence
Clinical Governance Lead, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 06/06/2017 at 10:56
Published on Care Opinion at 13:26

picture of Shona Lawrence

Dear Em25

Thank you for getting in touch with Care Opinion to share your story. I do hope your little boy is ok after touching your hair strengtheners. This would have been a frightening experience for your both.

As you have mentioned a call to NHS 24 within your story, the Care Opinion team has kindly tagged us. I am very pleased to read that your feel NHS 24 managed your call well with a referral made for your son to attend at A&E. I note you have stated that our staff were very helpful. Thanks for your positive feedback.

Should you care to provide any additional detail, then I would be pleased to hear directly from you which means I could pass your comments to the staff who managed your call. I can be contacted on 0141 337 4582 or by email at patientaffais@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

I was sorry to learn of your experience within A&E. I am sure my colleagues within NHS Grampian will read your comments with concern.

I do wish you and your little boy well.

With kind regards

Shona

Shona Lawrence

NHS 24 Patient Affairs Manager

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Response from Kerry Ross, Deputy Business Manager, Royal Cornhill Hospital, NHS Grampian 6 years ago
Kerry Ross
Deputy Business Manager, Royal Cornhill Hospital,
NHS Grampian

Submitted on 07/06/2017 at 18:36
Published on Care Opinion on 08/06/2017 at 09:41

picture of Kerry Ross

Dear EM25

Firstly can I just say I hope your little one is on the mend, it’s such a worry when they are injured and in pain.

Thank you for taking the time to tell us your story, you have expressed a mixed experience of the service. It’s good to hear how you felt our colleagues in NHS 24 were very helpful and that the reception staff that you encountered were lovely. I will make sure this is fed back to the team.

I am sorry you experienced such a long wait and that your son was not given the pain relief as advised by the nurse. I was also disappointed and sorry to read that you were left without an update and that the consultation/treatment by the doctor was unsatisfactory.

It would really help me and the team here if we could review your patient journey and indentify the reasons for the above, you may find this helpful too? If you are interested you can contact me to discuss either by email kerry.ross@nhs.net or call me 01224 554471.

We are always keen to look at how we best deliver services to our patients and work really hard to improve using the comments and feedback we receive, so again I appreciate you taking the time to share both the positive and negative experiences you had while your son was in our care.

Best wishes

Kerry

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Response from Kerry Ross, Deputy Business Manager, Royal Cornhill Hospital, NHS Grampian 6 years ago
Kerry Ross
Deputy Business Manager, Royal Cornhill Hospital,
NHS Grampian

Submitted on 09/06/2017 at 14:03
Published on Care Opinion at 15:56

picture of Kerry Ross

Dear EM25, I just wanted to quickly update you that I have discussed your story with the consultant in RACH who would welcome the chance to review your sons patient journey.

Many thanks

Kerry

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