"My daughter's pneumonia"

My daughter became ill very suddenly on the Wednesday lunchtime, I rushed her to the local casualty unit as there were no Dr's available at my local surgery.

Staff at the hospital worked fast, and a Dr came and saw her. I knew she was really sick, I am a mother of 5, and I just knew this was no virus.

My daughter was sent home, only to be readmitted to Exeter A & E by Ambulance that evening. The staff were totally overrun down there, my daughter was put in a cubicle where the only thing visible to her was a drunk lady, whose face was totally covered in blood. I thought this very inappropriate as my daughter is 5.

A & E discharged her at about 2am, yet I was not happy as she was still very sick, she had not seen a paediatrician, and at this point the Dr's had been notified that she had developed a cough. We returned home and the night was rough, she seemed to settle the next day. Although by lunchtime she was becoming very unwell again.

I rang my surgery and they told me to take her straight to the local hospital, where a Dr would be waiting to see her. I saw the Dr, explained what had been going on, and finally felt as though someone was listening and not passing it off as a virus. Like I said previous, I am a mum of 5 who knows her children. The Dr found her to have pneumonia. The Dr put her in an Ambulance and sent her back to Exeter for IV antibiotics.

We were left in A&E for 4 hours before my daughter was taken to the children's ward. Once on the Bramble ward, the standard of care changed. The staff were amazing, helpful and friendly.

I feel the way A&E is run needs to be re-looked at, space was short, and the number of people being brought in was high. The local hospital in Tiverton offered an amazing personal friendly service. I also feel that medical staff really need to listen to the carer of a child, as they know that child better than anyone.

The NHS overall is amazing but really needs more funding to support it.