A Downpatrick mum has called for politicians to step up and support the health service after her son endured a nightmare 10-hour wait in A&E at The Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The woman, who wished not to be named, told Belfast Live she and her husband took their son to A&E at the RVH in the early hours of Sunday.
The six-year-old autistic boy had to sleep on the tiles of the foyer to the waiting area, and left the hospital over 10 hours later without having been seen by a doctor and was later diagnosed with Strep A.
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The woman said her son had started feeling unwell on Thursday and his temperature spiked on Friday and Saturday. She began to become concerned about the possibility of Strep A or scarlet fever.
She rung the out-of-hours service and was advised to take the boy to A&E.
"So me and my husband went down and as soon as we got to the Royal A&E at about 12.30am, it was just like a cattle market," she said.
"There were adults lying on the floor, kids on the floor, nowhere to sit - we got checked in, went to triage and all his observations and stuff were ok and he got Nurofen.
"We had nowhere to go other than the main foyer area and he had to lie down on the floor, and I just put the coat over him, it was just really cold and he shouldn't have had to be lying there.
"There must have been about 10 people in that outside foyer area trying to get comfortable."
The concerned mum said she was not putting any blame on the Belfast Trust or the staff at the hospital, as she recognised they were understaffed and very busy.
"We were just told that staffing was the problem, that there was one doctor there and that they hoped more would come back on at 8am.
"And to be fair, the poor nurses and that were run off their feet and I do feel sorry for them.
"We managed to get into the main waiting area a while later at about 3.30am and there was still about 14 children sitting around there at that stage."
The woman said it became clear that they were not going to be seen, when a woman who had arrived before them on the Saturday night enquired about potential waiting times.
"The straw that broke the camel's back for me was she went to enquire what was happening and she was told there was no handover doctor," she said.
"So I stuck my head in and I asked a lovely wee nurse how we were going and I was told we were still hours away.
"She got his observations done and she just said at that point that she wouldn't blame us if we did go home, because we didn't know when we were going to be seen."
The Belfast Health Trust had reported that the Children's Emergency Department was under extreme pressure on both Friday and Saturday night into Sunday morning and apologised for anyone who faced long wait times.
In social media posts, it had asked for anyone whose child did not need emergency treatment to instead consult their symptom checker advice for further guidance.
The Downpatrick mum was able to reach the out of hours service on Sunday afternoon and was told by the doctor he would check the boy's chest on Sunday night.
Her son was diagnosed with Strep A after that examination.
The woman said her anger was more at those in power who had failed over the years to address waiting lists and staffing pressures at hospitals.
"He was apologising so much and saying they're so understaffed," she said, referring to when she rang and reached the out-of-hours doctor over the phone to arrange for an examination.
"And I told him I totally understand that, because I actually sent a message to my MLA, as they're the ones that will be knocking our doors come next year asking for votes.
"I swear, if I met with them in the middle of the street, I wouldn't be long telling them exactly what I thought.
"It's 2022, we're not a third world country and we're meant to have a system that's one of the best in the world you know?"
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