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Treatment for Croup

Posted By DCK93

"Treatment for Croup"

About: Royal Hospital for Children (Glasgow) / Accident & Emergency Royal Hospital for Children (Glasgow) / Clinical Decision Unit Scottish Ambulance Service / Emergency Ambulance

(as a parent/guardian),

Unfortunately, my little one woke up really unwell last night with croup symptoms. This happened completely out of the blue and gave us such a fright as he was struggling to breathe massively, making us at one point fear the worst. I swiftly dialled 999 and an ambulance was at my home address within a matter of minutes. The crew got us to hospital swiftly, however were unable to undertake any clinical observations due to my wee one being highly distressed.

We were seen at A&E then eventually moved to the CDU. My wee one needed a few courses of steroids and all staff were thorough and kind throughout when offering treatment, making sure he was at a more manageable level to get home. One nurse in CDU, Holly, was absolutely fantastic and a credit to the profession. I unfortunately didn’t catch any other names. Holly reassured me throughout and provided me with a lot of information regarding my wee ones condition.

One thing I will say is though that words such as combative and difficult to manage were used when describing my little one. He of course was extremely distressed and hesitant to have obs done due to the fact he woke up and couldn’t breathe. He’s awaiting a potential ASD diagnosis and I feel that this was the main focal point.

Several staff members asked me repeatedly if I had any concerns regarding his development. Looking at him holistically, yes there are developmental issues there, however that was not the purpose of our visit. I was there to get his breathing and oxygen levels back to somewhat normal.

It’s heartbreaking hearing people use these descriptors in regards to your child, particularly when this is outwith their control. Also we can’t expect a 2-year-old child, who is extremely unwell to be in a fully cooperative state, disability or not.

Working within the NHS myself, I completely understand why this has been asked, however I feel on occasion that the disability is seen before the individual, which shouldn’t be the case. This is not to critique anyone in any way, however I hope that going forward this can perhaps make staff be more mindful of how they’re describing children to their parents, when they are already visibly having a difficult time with an unwell child.

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Responses

Response from Coral McGowan, Patient Services Manager, Women & Children's Services, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 2 months ago
Coral McGowan
Patient Services Manager, Women & Children's Services,
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Submitted on 27/01/2025 at 10:05
Published on Care Opinion at 10:05

picture of Coral McGowan

Dear DCK93,

I was so sorry to read about how unwell your little boy was. The experience you've described sounds terrifying and thankfully our colleagues at the Ambulance Service were able to attend promptly.

Thank you for your very kind comments regarding Holly and the CDU team. As part of our response to your feedback, we've shared your thoughtful feedback alongside our own thanks.

I've thought very carefully about your comments and about how you felt hearing your little boy being described as "combative" and "difficult to manage", and how this made you feel at a time you were already highly distressed. I'm so very sorry you were upset and distressed by this and would wish to strongly assure that this would not have been anyone's intention.

I'm very grateful to you for giving us this opportunity to reflect upon your strength of feeling and share that with our team.

We will compassionately consider other ways in which support could have been discussed or offered. I do not want to detract in any way from my sincere apology, I must share that team members are obliged to highlight any secondary or incidental clinical considerations, but we must be very thoughtful about the way we do this, and when we do this.

I hope your little boy is now feeling much better and is safely recovering well at home.

Sending best wishes

Coral

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Response from Marie Kennedy, Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs, Scottish Ambulance Service 2 months ago
Marie Kennedy
Patient Experience Manager, Corporate Affairs,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 28/01/2025 at 16:58
Published on Care Opinion at 16:58

picture of Marie Kennedy

Dear DCK93,

Many thanks for taking the time to share your feedback here on Care Opinion. I note that your feedback relates to a number of different NHS services. I am writing on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service. I am so sorry to read about your son's recent experience. As a parent of two young children I can only imagine that this must have been a very scary and stressful experience for both of you. I do hope that he is feeling better now. I am pleased to hear that the ambulance arrived swiftly and that your son received thorough care when he reached the hospital. Similar to my colleague Coral above we deeply appreciate you providing constructive feedback with regards to what went well and what could have been improved. I wasn't sure from your feedback whether your constructive comments also related to the crew attending and if so, similar to Coral I would also like to extend my sincerest apologies for this experience.

In order to share your feedback with the crew members that attended directly we would need to know the date, time and address that the Ambulance attended and your son's name. This information can be sent to sas.feedback@nhs.scot for the team to pick up. If you do decide to do this, would you be so kind as to make reference to your CareOpinion username so that the team can easily locate your story and share it with the crew.

I wish you all the very best and thanks again.

Kind Regards

Marie,

Patient Experience Manager

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