"My three old son's blood test"

My boy has had to have a number of blood tests through this year, starting in February. As a child we cannot just turn up we have to book an appointment for each blood test. Initially we had some at Queen Mary's in Sidcup which were fine. We were then sent to another hospital in London for further check ups. I had not been told in advance that he would need to give a blood test and so with no numbing cream the test was done. It was awful. He ended up with three people in the room. One of the nurses just seemed to get annoyed with me, telling him to keep the needle away from his arm till he had found the vein and walked ( more like stormed out ) of the room. My poor boy was screaming you are hurting me and I kept thinking stop this - no get it over backwards and forwards.

Anyway this happened twice at that hospital as he was so scared of having further blood tests. Today we went to Queen Elizabeth's for the first time for a blood test. They were running late and we were seen a hour after our allocated appointment time but all is forgiven.

The two nurses/ assistant were amazing. I was so impressed with the way they listened to me and my concerns and how they handled the situation. Their technique was great. They worked well together and spoke age appropriately with my boy, instinctively letting me take over in keeping him distracted. I was surprised that the blood had been taken when the nurse walked away.

A massive thank you to you both.

I am a psychologist and was so very worried my son would end up with a needle phobia but it was perfectly managed today. I cannot thank you enough.