"Blood test trauma for ASD child"

I called in advance to book a blood test for my son my who is suspected ASD (pending autistic assessment) and very frightened of needles. I was given an extended appointment and felt optimistic that we would be in good hands. Naively I thought that the nurses would have a lot more experience dealing with this situation than me as this is a new and tricky road to navigate as a parent. 

Sadly this was not the case at all. When we arrived, we waited for about 20-30 minutes, but I sympathise with how busy the department must be.

When we went into the room, the atmosphere was quite miserable and my son quickly became apprehensive. There were two nurses in the room so I assumed they were up to date and aware of our situation. 

When we sat down, my son began to cry and did not want to put his arms out. Quite quickly the nurse said that I would probably have to book another appointment when the play nurse was available. I said that I had called in advance and had been given an extended appointment already, hoping this would take the urgency out of the situation. They said that I hadn’t, but when they checked their notes saw that I had. Meanwhile my son became more upset.

The lack of patience and understanding was palpable, and quite hurtful.

At this point I also felt very rushed and was trying my very very best to keep my son calm, distract him etc. I realise retrospectively that we had only been in the room for a few minutes! There was still little / no attempt to comfort my son. The nurses muttered behind me that there might be a play nurse around but seemed to make no attempt to find someone.

I ended up holding my son’s arm behind me so the nurses could do the blood test. He screamed like I have never heard before and was left shaking. It was absolutely awful. My son had a blood test a few months earlier at a different hospital, with a lovely, sympathetic nurse - no additional play nurses required!? - no tears. We were in and out. So I know it can be done. I would go as far as to say that this experience was traumatising.

I called in advanced and explained. I don’t know what else I could have done.