"Infant with RSV"

I don’t usually make complaints or voice any sort of concerns but I am deeply distressed and anxious about what occurred when we went to the emergency department.

We went into the Emergency department recently. I took my infant child in because they were in respiratory distress. They were refusing bottles and had decreased wet nappies. They were pulling in under their ribs and trac and was becoming lethargic. I was seen by a junior doctor. They were wonderful. They told us ‘their boss’ would come and check our child to make sure what they thought was correct. Their boss never came to assess my child and we were sent home. A few days later, we took our child back in. They were having trouble breathing. They were choking on mucus that they were coughing up and was drawing in under their ribs. They were in respiratory distress again. It was frightening.

We were met by the triage nurse. She was fantastic. We then were taken to a bed. They told us they could do a swab and test my child for covid and influenza but they couldn’t test them for RSV. Our results came back and it was negative for Influenza and the flu. Our child was seen by a doctor. They diagnosed my child with asthma and nothing else. They gave us an asthma puffer and told us to give our child 6 puffs a day. We were then sent home, even after I voiced concerns to the doctor about our child not having asthma, but Bronchiolitis caused by RSV. I knew my child had something serious going on and I knew my child did not have asthma.

A couple of days later, we had an appointment with our GP. They looked at the same results they had in the ED. The results said that our child had RSV. They were the same results the ED had and had supposedly viewed. Our GP told us to stop the ventolin as soon as possible as my child did not have asthma, they had RSV and gave us a course of antibiotics. Our GP laughed when we told them about our trip to the emergency department and our child’s “asthma” diagnosis.

After our GP appointment, where we found out that the results the ED had received back did in-fact indicate a positive RSV result. I was incredibly frustrated, dissatisfied and disappointed. I was disappointed with how our child was treated by the doctor. There was absolutely no quality of care. It was very evident they didn’t take our concerns seriously and the doctor spoke to my spouse and myself like we were being hypochondriacs and quite frankly, idiots. Our nurse was wonderful and kind and respectful. But the doctor insisted our child had nothing else other than Asthma. Which we now know, is not true. I feel as though they never actually read my child’s results because if they did, they would have seen it had RSV detected and the appropriate treatment and plan could have been put into place. I know that it can be incredibly difficult to diagnose a baby, especially with a virus. I also hold a lot of respect for the nurses and Doctors here in Swan Hill.

I really just want to emphasises how distressing it was to watch my child trying to breathe. If you are a parent, you would agree that a parent’s intuition is a very strong sense and I feel as though people, nurses, doctors, and all involved need to remember this and not treat parents as being over dramatic.