"Triage nurses are rude and GP didn't have a clue."

My son had been diagnosed with croup and given a course of steroids but symptoms were not improving, he had a barking cough as expected with croup but he was also coughing up blood which obviously was a massive concern. I called his GP who advised I take him straight to alder hey.

Upon arrival I spoke to the Triage nurse behind the desk who asked what the problem was. I explained he had croup and was coughing up blood so I was advised to get him checked, to which they leant over the desk and asked my son to cough. I was not pleased with this as his cough was hurting him enough without him forcing it. The Triage nurse then remarked "well his cough isn't noisy", I explained that I wasn't concerned about his croup symptoms as I'm well aware what they are and how long they take to clear up since he was hospitalised with croup in January this year, I was only concerned with the blood he was coughing up and I was advised to come straight here.

The Triage nurse then told me to go and sign him in at the desk but not before adding "he looks fine to me". I not only find this rude and disrespectful, but incredibly unprofessional. Does my son need to "look" ill in order to receive treatment?

I felt they were insinuating he wasn't ill enough to be in a&e and I was wasting their time. Under no circumstances would I have brought him to hospital had I not been advised to do so unless he was seriously unwell, not only is it inconvenient and miles away from where I live, my son has ASD and so sitting in a waiting room for hours on end is a horrendous experience for us both.

Eventually Triage referred us to the hospital GP who listened to his chest, looked in his ears and throat and then to my utter confusion began checking his teeth and tongue. The GP asked, "how do you know the blood isn't coming from his gums?" I explained that he coughs and then spits out mucus along with the blood, there's no blood in his mouth at any other time and it's only been in the last 24 hrs. The GP told me that I need to make an appointment with a dentist to check his gums as although his teeth and gums looked fine there's no way he could be coughing up blood. I asked to be sure that they were telling me they don't think his croup and coughing up blood are in any way related, and they said no and again advised us to see a dentist.

I was not at all satisfied with this explanation so I called my own GP the day after who told me to bring him down to the surgery immediately. After a quick examination (excluding looking at his teeth) shetheyprescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics and explained that his larynx was likely so swollen and irritated that coughing is causing it to bleed and he needs to begin treatment as soon as possible.

Had I taken the advice from the hospital GP, I'd have been waiting for a dentist appointment which he absolutely did not need and leaving my son untreated and in terrible pain. I would never use a&e services again unless in an absolute emergency when I don't have the choice.