Medical Receptionists!!

Wendy started an illness on Saturday. She is feverish and listless. She sits very quietly next to her mum with her head resting against Caelyn, saying 'hug, peas' or 'bed, peas'. Anyone who has ever had a child knows very well that 2yr old toddlers do not ask to go to bed, especially during the day. She is refusing the breast except to have it near her for comfort and she isn't eating or drinking. She has only had one wet nappy since Saturday and is therefore at risk of dehydration, which is dangerous in the very young and the elderly.

Caelyn phoned the surgery to ask for an appointment this morning and the Receptionist refused to make an appointment for her because she "had not been sick for more that 3 days" Dear Lord!!!!!!!! Heaven help us, because the Health Service surely won't.

She phoned back later and was more assertive and she got an appointment for 17h10. Nigel is going with them because they are less likely to mess a man about. And I told Caelyn to tell the Dr what his receptionist was saying as the chances are, he has no idea. I really can't see a Dr issuing an order like that because of the serious nature of childhood health problems. Something like Meningitis can kill a child within hours, so the idea that a child has to be ill for 3 days before being seen is bizarre, and a receptionist is not sufficiently skilled to be making those decisions.