Hello and apologies for the clickbaity title.
I'm really interested in perspectives from people working in the NHS. My little one has been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It's malignant and we are waiting on a final diagnosis before starting chemo.
The lead up to discovering this was troubling. For the months prior we were told it was reflux despite them not starting to throw up until they were 7months old and the fact they regressed and the regression escalated even after they were on anti reflux milk and medication. They had multiple a&e admissions and we were told it was dehydration yet they said themselves it was confusing because the tests they ran didnt show dehydration. His heart rate in the 60s and 70s they said was due to malfunctioning equipment. We are now at a larger hospital and the staff have said it shouldn't have gone that way. The child's life was saved because we paid to go private.
The thing is, I'm not mad. The LOs consultant absolutely needs retrained (fired) but the nurses we saw were incredible and pushed for extra care and they were ignored too. This is a hospital where political interests are pushing for it to be closed/ severely restricted but it's so needed by the community and 99.9% of the people that work there are wonderful.
I will be putting in a 'complaint' to review the multiple missed red flags and the fact parental concerns were ignored but I want it to mean something. I'm not adversarial, i want to fight with and for the hospital to improve things.
I dunno. Am i completely naive? Those on the inside, is there anything i could say that would make a difference? Will I just be fobbed off? I do not want to sue, I have zero intention of suing but would that have more of an impact? I swear to God I would donate the money straight back, it genuinely holds no interest for me. i just want to see the hospital staff properly funded and supported so no other child goes through this. I know the people who work there are brilliant, I know the hospital is so needed by this community and I know it's being run into the ground and my child was days away from death as a result (not hyperbole).
Interested in your thoughts.