"A&E and Children's Ward"

Anything else?

My 14 month old son was diagnosed with a viral infection by the out of hours GP and we were told just to keep the fluids going in. Over the next 12 hours his condition detoriated and we phoned the Out of Hours back and they told us to bring him straight in to A&E. We arrived at 8am and were seen immediately. Within 2 hours we were admitted on to the Paediatric Assessment Unit were he was monitored for a couple of hours, before a decision was made to keep him overnight and we were transferred to the Cubicles at the end of the Ward.

During that time we were regularly informed of what was happening. The staff were caring not only towards my son, but also to us - offering refreshments and then showing us the family room etc.

The whole experience was distressing at the time, but the staff were professional and caring. Special praise to the Ward Manager who I felt went out of her way to ensure that my son's follow up was made quicker than computers allowed!

If I had to make a criticism it would be of Junior Doctors standing round the nurses station talking inappropriately about their social life and then making comments about who was going to take which patient as they were "more interesting, than yours". These are people's children and not a science project to get points on!!