"Incredible ED & Paeds Nurses, and ED Doctor leaving us disappointed"

Firstly, can I please sing the praise of Mark in fast track, Clarissal and Earl in ED, Stuart in Paeds and the female nurses in Paeds working overnight. You were all so caring and took so much effort to make us comfortable, and care for our emotional and physical wellbeing. Thank you!!!

We came in with my toddler who was triaged I assume as low priority, understandably they were not in a life threatening condition but they were worsening and I was eager to get them properly seen. We waited for maybe 3 hours before we were seen in Fast Track. I felt one of the doctor's had shocking bedside manner, made us feel completely unheard and misgendered my child the entire time they spoke to us. We corrected the doctor honestly upwards of 10 times, and it was so disheartening having someone care for my child when they were incapable of even referring to them as the correct gender. 

My child had tugging at their ribs when breathing and I could tell they were working very hard for breath, and this doctor told us it was likely a blocked nose and wanted to send us home to saline flush 3x a day. A fabulous nurse Mark and I spoke, and I shared that I felt this was not accurate, he said they’d be looking into doing some more tests for us. He came back after organising a swab, and my child tested positive for RSV and Rhinovirus. He then assured us we’d be getting looked into more seriously, but it may be a while to wait while they decided if we were to be admitted (no problem, we were happy to be feeling seen and genuinely looked at). The Doctor again told us we would not be admitted, no antibiotics were needed, we could go home and saline flush. Mark came to collect us and my child was moved from fast track into an isolated room due to their RSV positive status, and this doctor continued to refer to my child incorrectly, and didn’t listen to nurses asking them to keep us isolated and close the door to not risk the immunocompromised patient next to us.

We were taken for an Xray to check my child's lungs, and while the doctor tried to cannulate they casually told us “oh there’s some pneumonia on their lungs” which felt entirely inappropriate for worried parents to hear, since the last thing they told us was no antibiotics and we’d be going home. This doctor's delivery was awful, and I was holding it together until they again referred to our child's gender incorrectly and I corrected them again and cried. The doctor said “oh mum and dad don’t like me anymore because I keep calling you [the wrong gender]”, and said it’s because my child looks like their other parent. It was entirely frustrating and just made our experience so much worse having to advocate for my child's health, diagnosis, checks, and literal gender. 

Clarissal was so caring, shared stickers and brought juice for my child, and reassured us all. She then finished her shift and gave a handover with Earl, who was equally as kind, caring, and helped us feel upbeat and positive. Once our care was handed over to the Paediatricians from our original ED doctor, our care and experience was lifted exponentially and we are so grateful for all their help and kindness. We moved up to the Paeds ward just after midnight and were settled, and the nurses were so careful coming in every hours to administer IV medicine and medicated puffers without waking myself or my child. I wish I could remember these nurses names, they were the most amazing at administering my child’s medication so smoothly and without disrupting them.

Stuart took extra care in making us feel comfortable, reassuring us, ensuring we had everything we needed and more, and letting us cry over no sleep and having a crappy time to him. All the Paeds nurses were fabulous, but he really went above and beyond for us. We are so glad to be home and on the mend after our hospital stay, we were sent home with all the medicine my child needed plus extra supplies we could use to help keep them comfortable while feeling so unwell. 

After seeing how quickly things got serious our first night in ED, and how serious the Paediatrician saw my child's case as while ordering immediate medication and assistance, I would hate to think what could have happened had I not advocated for my child and listened to that first doctors advice and diagnosis. I’m extremely disappointed in their professionalism, bedside manner, and skills as an ED Doctor. Luckily, our story has ended happily with us all at home, but someone not as confident to advocate may have a different outcome with worsening conditions after being sent home in a situation like ours. Please, do better!!!