Support for a local family
During the Summer of 2024, we attended a local primary school to meet parents before their children began school later in the year. Here we shared information about our services, the support we can offer through our information and signposting service, and updated those present the benefits of the new Pharmacy First programme.
During this engagement, we spoke to the parents of a young child who shared with one of our Engagement Officers their concerns related to their child’s health. They explained the child had been referred to the Pediatric Department at Sunderland Royal Hospital by their GP a few weeks ago, but they were worried about the prospect of long delays in their child being seen and the potential negative consequences such delays would have on receiving a timely diagnosis and the follow-up treatment they knew was needed.
Our Engagement Officer advised the couple to contact the hospital’s Advice and Complaints Service to see if they could find out how long the family would be expected to wait for the child’s initial appointment and also share how worried and concerned they were about the impact any sort of delay would have on the health of their child.
A few months later we spoke again to the mother of the child who happily shared that the couple had followed the advice she had given them. The Advice and Complaints Service was able to offer the appropriate support.
What difference did this make?
We were delighted to hear that the child has now been seen by the hospital’s Pediatric Team, where they received a diagnosis. The mother reports that the child is now receiving the appropriate treatment, which happened within 7 weeks from their contact with the Advice and Complaints Service. She also shared her gratitude for the advice and information our Engagement Officer had given her and her husband and reported that the family has already seen a positive difference in the child’s health and development.
We are so happy with this outcome and wish this family all the best for the future, which looks brighter now. They have peace of mind that their child is doing better and is receiving the care they need to develop and grow.
