Do all paediatric an and e units have this rule ?

I agree it's to stop a cast of thousands turning up. I was there once (always alone with whichever child it is because we have other children at home) and someone brought a toddler in with 3 other adults and an older child, then spent over an hour kicking off because the older child is diabetic and they hadn't brought his insulin. He had been brought along as a tool to get seen faster.

When we have been admitted to the children's ward we both tend to be there in the day, and I sometimes nip home/out for a bit of a breather, but at night they only allow one adult. This seems a sensible approach to me, it's loud enough as it is, the wards aren't big and it's not nice for the other children to be surrounded by unfamiliar adults, it's hard enough as it is.

Ours does have that rule, however it’s not particularly enforced even when busy. I had to take youngest DS to A&E a few weeks ago and remembered from a previous visit that there was a sign up.. I chose to go with him while DH stayed at home with our eldest. That night was extremely busy and to be honest it would have made sense for there to have only been 1 adult per child but support is crucial when it’s a high stress situation like taking your child to A&E so I don’t blame anyone. Although when one girl who had seemingly broken her finger arrived with her dad, they were joined by 5(!!!!) adult family members / friends? Seemed a bit excessive especially when there weren’t enough seats

I think it is a common rule, which they might turn a blind eye to if it is quiet.

Too many people seem to treat a trip to A&E like some kind of extended family outing, then there aren't enough seats for people that need them, plus it gets stressful and noisy.

It therefore makes sense and helps staff trying to manage it.

As with any rule, there will be situations that make it a challenge for some, but overall, it is there for all the right reasons.

We have a chronically unwell child who is under consultant care. We have regular unplanned admissions which do go via the local paediatric A&E. Normal rule there is 1 parent per child.

I would say we've been via A&E at least 40 times now over the latest couple of years. Many younger children unwell enough to be at A&E are in pain, scared, upset, don't understand what is going on etc etc or are frequent flyers. It may not be very easy for medical staff to tell at a glance which child is distressed because they are ill and which have a condition or complication which would fall into the category of needing extra support which justifies 2 adults at all times. As someone else has already said, A&E isn't the best place to deal with this, definitely look into the passport. You can then mention this at registration or triage. We mention her consultant and treatment plan for admission when we have to go, for example. We use the play team support workers at the local children's hospital which has been really helpful too and you might want to investigate if you have lots of admissions?

The rule is likely based on the space available in main A&E pre triage and the queueing space for treatment rooms in the treatment area,post triage.

Also they are trying to limit cross infection and doubling the number of adults attending and queueing somewhere with lots of undiagnosed but very sick children is sensible for that reason too.

Ours has that rule. Dh brought DD recently and plan was that I'd go a few hours later and swap. Then I got a call saying I was needed, a nurse said to call me and I raced in a panic worried sick. I was there about 5 minutes and a different nurse told us off for both being there. Dh then left. I can only assume that Dh was being useless at answering questions. I think its mostly a fair rule but it's something I would expect falls under reasonable accommodation for SN.

Ours does that when busy as otherwise there is not enough space for the sick children.

Same at my local peads A&E, they will allow more if quiet however if it’s busy it’s strictly 1:1.
you wouldn’t believe how many unfortunately treat it as a day out. If you want the other parent close by then we usually advise they sit in the car.

Yeah both our hospitals are like that, I think because they can care for the children better if it's simpler. Same overnight once admitted but you can have more visitors during the day time and they aren't super strict about kicking the other parent out on the dot
It is annoying in a & e if your child is super ill and can't stand, because you have to carry them in and out of the little rooms plus all the stuff you brought in case you were admitted, but the staff try to be helpful with luggage.
Hope your little one is ok now.

Quite a few years ago (2006) when my DGD was in hospital,the staff insisted that only one parent could stay at night with her. During the daytime,both could be there.

This was us last month too. DC diagnosed with rare disease and only one parent allowed to stay. They let us both stay in the end because my anxiety was through the roof and DC wanted me but I could barely function without DH.

Ive been to paed Aand E a few years ago when all and sundry were allowed in. It was like a circus. Sounds like a good rule to me.

I ended up in paediatric A&E with an under 1 year old (didn't really need or want A&E but we had an OOH GP appointment through 111 and when we arrived for that we were told that all little kids were sent straight to the emergency department instead). She had an extremely high fever we couldn't get down and was quite poorly and distressed. I had a six hour wait to be seen and my husband was sent away. It was quite stressful (I couldn't, for example, pop to the loo during that time). And honestly I think we would have been better off at home. It was quite eye opening re the dire situation the NHS is in, despite staff doing their best.

I do think in your situation you definitely should have both been welcomed to stay.

Ours has this rule but hospitals are not exempt from having to provide reasonable adjustments for disability.

Reasonable is subjective though and not all autistic individuals need 2 on 1 care, or even 1 on 1 care, and there's a lack of public knowledge about the spectrum of need.

It may not always be reasonable or safe for doctors and nurses to perform their duties with multiple carers present, and in A&E it's really not the place for having those discussions.

I do strongly recommend the hospital passport if you can. It's an additional tool of advocacy.

My own son requires 2 on 1 care as he's a runner and becomes easily distressed when he's not allowed to be self directed. Hospital passport is a must for kids like him as a lack of support from carers puts not only him at risk but those doing their duties too.

Our baby boy was admitted at 5 weeks and 13 weeks and we were only allowed one of us to stay overnight 🥲 and at 13 weeks he had started his vaccinations so was put on a ward with 7 much older children (aged 8 upwards) awful night

This is discrimination on the grounds of disability. You are both there as carers and your child needs 2:1 care. I would refuse to leave. They should be making exceptions where appropriate. Please contact PALS to complain to the Equality Lead and Chief Nurse.

It's probably due to space. I've been to A& E a few times when the kids were younger and sometimes it's like a family outing. Obviously they should make exceptions for a child with special needs. Have a word with the sister/ charge nurse

Ours has this rule but there is clearly some flexibility. We had to take baby in when she was days or early weeks old, I was too unwell with mastitis to take her alone but had to be there to breastfeed. With a very very small baby nobody asked one of us to leave. I would expect them to ask it of us now, but you are clearly also in a situation where flexibility is needed.

Of the 3 hospitals I have taken children to, all 3 had this rule.

It's a very sensible rule really, most kids don't need two adults with them and it keeps things a bit calmer. Obviously they should've readily made an exception for you though (along with very sick kids, newborns etc), it's really bad that they didn't.

I believe it's one at A&E and overnight on the ward, but during the day on the ward we both stayed. We were in our own room with a little kitchenette, but they deliberately put one single bed in them.

Are there learning disability nurses available at your hospital? There should be if it is large enough to have a paeds ED. They'll be back in the morning. Try to get in touch as they will help facilitate for future visits

Ours has that rule when it's busy, yes. Not enough room for everyone otherwise. You're allowed two parents when you're admitted though.

It depends, exceptions made for new mothers for partners to support if baby unwell, kids with additional needs who are hard to manage with one parent, very sick kids and if it is not busy anyone can have 2 parents. If it is busy they will ask the other parent to sit outside as not enough seats for all the sick kids.

Usually there is me and one other with my baby and nothing has ever been said. We need to go through a&e triage before headed up to the open access ward.