Right or wrong?

[BRIE]

I recently had the dreaded phone call saying my child had been involved in an accident & had been taken to hospital by ambulance, I rushed off to A&E not quite knowing what to expect when i got there.
On arriving a nurse came out & told me the doctor hadnt seen him yet & to take a seat till he'd been examined, I was a little taken aback at not been allowed to see my child straight away & did state that I thought a parent had to be there if a child was under 16. I was still told to wait & was only allowed in to A&E once my child was ready to be discharged!
I never saw the doctor at all & had to ask my child what he had said.
Is this normal procedure these days? or am I right in thinking it was a bit odd?

[Ash]

i wouldnt be happy at all! your right that you were meant to be with as he is under the age of 16, i would complain about this, i really hope you and your son are ok

[Venture]

Id definitely complain at this. As far as I am aware no child is allowed to be examined by a doctor unless a parent or guardian is present. Very surprised at A & E. What age was the child?

[Kismet]

This does seem really strange, my daughter had an accident I recieved a phone call at work from the police and arrived at the hospital before her, saw her getting taken in and was in the room with her straight after.

I would have thought a parent being in the room with an upset child would make it easier to examine the child. I do think a doctor should be able to go ahead and examine a child without the parent if the parent is absent but for you to have been there and left out and having not even gotten to speak to a doctor seems really strange.

A complaint should definately be made you are obviously very upset by this and a complaint would stop another parent being put in the same position and becoming equally as upset.

[silverfox57]

my grandson was admitted to a & e we where all allowed with him the whole time.I was also admitted to a & e whole family was with me ,can not fault staff , ps granson was only 5years old and where very helpful to mother ,keeping her informed the whole time,brie seems a bit odd to me aswell?

[Valerie Campbell]

Brie, this is so wrong. You should write a letter of complaint and demand a response. A child under 16 has the right to a parent being present, and you as a parent have a right to see your child! The nurse should never have stopped you. You must have been thinking all sorts. I hope you get this sorted out, and all of us on the Org are relieved to hear your child is ok.

[badger]

This sounds completely unacceptable to me and you have every right to be angry. Definitely complain. Thought this kind of behaviour went out years ago.

[ciderally]

hope you are all okay...you probably in a state of shock....cant understand them not letting you in...would investigate that one...not good at all

[MadPict]

A shot in the dark but perhaps they felt that the child may become more 'distressed' if you saw them before they were seen by a doctor?

Obviously you should take this up with the hospital and you may be provided with either an explanation or an apology...

[TBH]

You definitely deserve an explanation as you should have been able to get access to your kid while he was being seen by a doctor.
Depending on the age of your son, maybe he didn't want his mum there but the doctor should still have taken the time to speak to you personally.

[BRIE]

Firstly thanks to everyone for the well wishes my sons on the mend slowly!
Glad to see it wasnt just me that thought it was wrong it was distressing enough knowing he'd been in an accident let alone having to sit in the waiting room not being able to be with him!. My son had actually asked them to ring me & obviously wanted his mum as he was upset & in pain. (hes 14 but when their hurt they always want their mum or dad)
I was quite upset at having to wait as I didnt know how badly he'd been hurt either.
We did have a similar situation a while ago when my other child was rushed to A&E I was allowed in with them but when their father arrived he had to wait in the waiting room,we just assumed it was hospital policy to only allow 1 person in.

[Julia]

That's absolutely dreadful, you should expect nothing less than a detailed explanation as to why this happened followed by a sincere apology. Don't let it go, I wouldn't! I hope your son feels heaps better soon.

[padfoot]

i think its wrong as wen i had an accident wen i was about 13 14 it was comforting to know my mum was there and made me less distressed

[Fran]

I am very surprised at this happening especially at caithness General. Staff usually encourage a parent,relative or friend to accompany the patient in a and e but would ask you to leave the room when working on the patient.
You can always complain to the hospital manager or the patients council