"Superb caring & professional treatment of one year..."

Anything else?

On Sunday, my son was taken very sick. A trip to the local walk-in centre prompted a 999 call and the paramedics took us to the Royal. My one year old was admitted with suspected meningitis. Firstly the paramedics were great, professional, reassuring and one of them even took our 3 yr old son on a quick tour of the ambulance area to distract him from his brother's situation as my husband and I were trying to take in what was going on. The A&E team, with the doctor were fantastic from the start, worked on him constantly to bring him to a level of responsiveness and simultaneously take tests and apply remedies should the worst case scenario be realised. They were professional and clear, I was clearly trying to figure out what was happening and they were working hard & keeping me updated when they could. I felt part of the process throughout, as informed as I could be. Tests were scheduled (CT scan) and delivered promptly, waiting for the results, although hideous, was mercifully short and again I was informed quickly that it was a good outcome. We were moved onto the Childrens Assessment Unit around 4 hours later when our boy was more responsive although still very poorly, he was already in better shape than when he'd arrived. It was a long wait for a bed on the childrens ward but again the nurses here were great, regularly checking our son, his obs still weren't great and they would not forget we were there. They were also good at keeping us informed with the bed availability. Just after midnight we arrived on ward 14, childrens medical ward. The care there was great too, the nurses were the right balance of caring and professional and I trusted my son was in the best hands. He required a lumbar puncture which was done very swiftly. His recovery continued, it became apparent that he didn't have bacterial meningitis as symptoms subsided but they continued to apply his medicine until test results were available. A few difficulties were had with his canula sites and his d&v continued so iv drip feeding was required, again, all very painful for him and a lot of genuine sympathy from nursing staff. The lovely ward cleaning lady got the first smile on day 3 and the playroom lady was very kind and lent us the sensory cabin/machine for the room for a while which made him very happy and relaxed. All in all, as 'pleasant' an experience as could be expected from a very traumatic situation - I sincerely hope we won't need these services, although fantastic, again! Others may do so and I can't stress enough, this route through the hospital was pretty much faultless. Please keep up the good work!