NHS hospital staff refuse to see 12-year-old patient for face-to-face appointment because her mother works as a nurse on Covid wards
- Tracy Shenton works at the Royal Stoke University Hospital ‘s critical care wards
- She took Emily for a pre-arranged face-to-face appointment on her GP’s advice
- Staff at Bradwell Hospital refused to see Emily forcing Tracy to take her to A&E
- Now North Staffordshire GP Federation has apologised for the ‘poor experience’
NHS hospital staff refused to see a 12-year-old schoolgirl patient because her mother is a front line coronavirus nurse.
Distressed Tracy Shenton – who works as a senior staff nurse on the critical care wards at the Royal Stoke University Hospital – took her daughter Emily for a pre-arranged face-to-face appointment following a telephone consultation with her GP.
But when the mother and daughter arrived at Bradwell Hospital for the emergency doctors visit, they were told to stay in their car.
Staff at Bradwell Hospital refused to see Emily Shenton, 12, (left) because her mother Tracy works as a front line coronavirus nurse
Tracy was gobsmacked when she was told Emily could not be seen because her mother has been in contact with coronavirus-positive patients.
Now North Staffordshire GP Federation has apologised for the ‘poor experience’.
Emily has been suffering monthly fainting episodes and has missed school as she awaits diagnosis and treatment.
Mother-of-two Tracy, from Sneyd Green, said: ‘We waited in the car for about 15 minutes and then they phoned me and said because I had been in contact with Covid patients they wouldn’t be able to see my daughter.
‘I told them I have had no symptoms of Covid or contracted it and I’ve been wearing full PPE at work every day since February.
‘They said she’d have to be seen at the hot clinic and I’d have to go back through my GP, which I had already done to get here. She said they didn’t have the correct PPE to see my daughter.
‘I explained that my family were being discriminated against. I was told that was not the case. But if my husband had taken her the appointment would have gone ahead.
‘I’m so angry and upset. I’ve got mum guilt. She heard the conversation and her face just dropped. Her not being able to be seen because of my job made me feel guilty.
‘I knew I was in work the next day and I didn’t want to go and look after other people because my own daughter wasn’t getting seen to. I can’t tell you how upset I am.’
Distressed Ms Shelton (above) told staff she had no symptoms of Covid or contracted it and has been wearing full PPE at work every day since February
The frustrated nurse of 10 years took her daughter to A&E, as a last resort.
The 48-year-old added: ‘We were sitting there for five hours at risk of exposing her and myself to Covid. She was seen and they ran some diagnostic tests and they all came back normal. So I think it’s going to be quite a long process to get her diagnosed.’
North Staffordshire GP Federation runs ‘extended access to primary care’ services from five locations, including Bradwell Hospital.
A federation spokesman said: ‘We apologise for the service provided on this day and thank Tracy for bringing it to our attention.
Ms Shelton, a nurse of 10 years, took her daughter to A&E, as a last resort when staff at Bradwell Hospital (above) refused to see her daughter Emily
‘We have processes in place for screening patients but keep these under constant review so that we continue to improve things and provide a quality and safe service for all patients.
‘We have made changes as a result of this and advised our reception team accordingly so that this scenario will not be repeated.
‘We would like to discuss this case to both ensure we learn any further lessons from it and apologise personally for the poor experience she received on that day.
‘We would also like to thank her and her hospital colleagues for the fantastic work they have been doing caring for their patients during the pandemic.’