NHS Tayside has apologised to a Dundee mum who waited nine hours for help for her sick baby.
Mya McLeod, who is 10 months old, developed a rash and blood in her stool last Sunday.
Mum Georgie Malone was understandably worried and called NHS 24 for help.
But then had to wait a staggering nine hours for a call back.
Georgie, 21, was concerned when Mya took ill on Sunday afternoon.
She explains: “She was quite unwell – she was screaming and came out in a rash on her body and cheek.
“She also had blood in her poo as well, it was really scary.
“I phoned 111 at 6 pm and explained what was wrong. I was told I’d get a call back, usually within four hours.”
Georgie anxiously sat by her phone waiting for them to call back.
“I didn’t want to go to A&E while I was waiting for this phone call,” Georgie continues.
“Because I didn’t want to be in one place and get a call telling me to go somewhere else.”
‘Still on the list’
But by 10.30 pm Georgie hadn’t heard anything back.
“I messaged my great-gran Margaret and said – should I phone them back?
“She said I should to check just in case I’d been lost in the system.
“When I phoned them, they said we were still on the list but didn’t know how long it would take.
‘I’d been waiting nine hours’
“I was able to stay awake until 3 am. But by then I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and must have fallen asleep.
“They finally called me back after 3 am – I’d been waiting nine hours by that point and didn’t hear my phone as I was so tired.”
Georgie woke in the morning and was worried to find she’d missed the call.
She phoned 111 back immediately, only to be told the lines were closed.
Georgie phoned The Crescent GP surgery in Whitfield for an appointment.
She was impressed by their quick action.
“They gave me an appointment that day and said just to keep an eye on Mya,” Georgie says.
‘All that matters is that Mya’s ok’
“They even phoned me back afterwards to check everything was still fine with her.
“And they asked a paediatrician to get in touch about the blood in her poo, which they think might be down to her having an upset stomach before.
“In the end, all that matters to me is that Mya’s ok.
“But given her symptoms and her age you’d think they’d phone someone with a baby first?
“It was horrible and really shocking we waited that long.”
What do NHS Tayside say?
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside tell us NHS 24’s 111 service assesses all calls and prioritises appropriately.
It’s then passed to the local Out Of Hours service.
Call back times vary according to the prioritisation category.
Calls from ambulance crews and those identified as needing an urgent return call by NHS 24 within an hour are given priority.
They explain: “The Out Of Hours team works really hard to try to call everyone back as quickly as it can.
“However at peak times, such as at the weekends when GP practices are closed, sometimes routine calls take longer to respond to.
“We’re sorry that in this case the caller experienced a delay in receiving a call back.”
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