"A compliment sandwhich"

I recently took my young child to the ED as they developed sudden and severe lower tummy pain. We went to the GP first who advised us to go straight to ED, they suspected appendicitis.

The good:

The triage nurse was lovely, she could see I was struggling with carrying my child and got us a wheel chair. She also gave my child pain relief straight away and as it was their first time having BP checked, she explained exactly what was going to happen and how it would feel.

The clerk at the front desk was also very nice. She was quick, efficient and friendly.

The wait was quite short and Dr Peter was great. He explained what needed to happen (bloods, urine, surgical consult), explained his concerns and our options (regarding bloods) and arranged stronger pain relief. He also gave my child the VR goggles to distract them during the procedure to insert the IVC, which I have to say is amazing and such a great tool for the ED. My child barely noticed that the IVC was in! He kept in contact right until my child was discharged and kept me informed at every stage.

Then there’s nurse Cassie, who is exactly what I believe a nurse should be. She showed genuine care for my child and for myself, she was quick to respond when my child became more unwell, she checked in with us regularly and explained everything she was doing so that my child wasn’t afraid. She was very reassuring and I noticed the respectful way that she interacted with her colleagues.

And Angelina, the sonographer. She was also gentle, patient and made sure to explain everything to my child in a way they could understand, which again, helped make sure they were not afraid.

Room for improvement:

The surgeon did not introduce themselves, I have no idea who they were. They did tell me that they were the surgeon and was very good with my child, but something as simple as telling us their name would have been helpful. They also seemed surprised when they commented that my child was relatively pain free and I advised them that my child had required Fentanyl on admission to settle the pain (in addition to the paracetamol and ibuprofen provided at triage).

After the ultrasound, my child was moved from the main ED to Short Stay, which was great and welcomed as the beds are comfier and the department much more calm and quiet. However, none of the clinical team told us this was going to happen and the first we knew about it was when the PCA came to collect my child. We weren’t introduced to the new nurse and didn’t witness any bedside clinical handover. We weren’t even sure who was looking after my child until Dr Peter and the surgeon came in some time later to tell us the test results and the discharge plan.

Lastly, we weren’t provided with a discharge summary when we left, which wasn’t a huge issue, as Dr Peter did verbally explain everything to us, but I am aware that all patients are supposed to have a summary before leaving the hospital.

Overall:

Our experience was very good. My child was treated well, both clinically and just as a person in general. We were kept mostly informed throughout and the clinical team listened to us as parents. But most importantly the staff seemed like a happy and cohesive unit that worked well with each other, which made our experience calm and positive.