Care Opinion

Not the experience we expected for our son

Posted By jemnz68

"Not the experience we expected for our son"

About: Borders General Hospital / Paediatrics (Ward 15)

(as a parent/guardian),

My son was admitted to Ward 15 from the GP because his symptoms were the same as when he previously had Pneumonia.

We went in expecting that he would be checked for the symptoms he had, however they started to treat him for dehydration. They gave us a cup of apple juice and a syringe, and the nurse asked us to hold him, and then proceeded to put their arm over his arm and held his cheek to squeeze the syringe in his mouth, but he got upset and wouldn’t take it.

They then got flustered and went to get him some medicine and proceeded to give it to him in the same way, but this time he was lying down, so was even more upset.

They were quite rude and told us it would be a lot worse for him if he had to have a tube up his nose.

There were times when we tried to step in as he was upset, and we were upset. They blew in his face to try and get him to swallow, which wasn't good as they didn't appear very well themselves.

We felt they were quite forceful, and we didn’t think they were professional. If we did what they did as parents, there would be questions asked.

He stayed in overnight and was monitored. He then got discharged in the morning by a consultant who said they thought he had a virus. They then turned to our son and said ‘oh gingernut’. You don’t expect your baby to be called names.

You go in to have your child cared for, not to have the experience we did.

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Responses

Response from Fiona Dickson, Senior Charge Nurse, Ward 15, NHS Borders last week
We are preparing to make a change
Fiona Dickson
Senior Charge Nurse, Ward 15,
NHS Borders

Senior Charge Nurse

Submitted on 04/03/2025 at 15:36
Published on Care Opinion at 15:42

Hello

I am very sorry your experience was like this whilst in the ward. We met last week where you were able to tell me your story last week. This is not what we want the children and families to experience.

I have been able to reflect with the nursing team on your story, and we are planning to make a change. We want to provide written information to our patient's and families about fluid challenges, thus engaging families and the hospital team, working together to plan the best care for the children.

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Update posted by jemnz68 (a parent/guardian)

Thank you for your response. We have also had previous experiences with fluid challenges with our son who sadly has had a few hospital visits in the past few months and fully understand and are aware of the purpose of this; it was, however, the manner and force in which it was done that made us as parents more uncomfortable and upset.

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