Lack of care

On January 21, my 13-month-old baby went into a fit. All of a sudden, although her eyes were open, she lost consciousness, froth coming out of her mouth.

Immediately, my friend and I threw ourselves into the car and rushed to the hospital. In the car, the baby seemed to stop breathing, and my friend gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation. I called ambulance service and since I was just outside Paceville at that moment we agreed that I should take her to St James Outpatient Clinic, the nearest place to find a doctor.

We stormed into the clinic and screamed frantically for a doctor. A man came up to us, but instead of whisking the baby away from us, he just stood aside and looked at us. I was hysterical and I screamed for him to examine the baby. He just kept looking with this little smile on his face but did not move to take the baby.

Instead he asked the receptionist for an empty room. In there, we laid the baby down on a bed but he was still very reluctant to interfere. The baby had started to cry at this point (always a good sign) and he said that we should take her to casualty at St Luke's Hospital.

At this point, ambulance service called me back on my mobile. When I told them that the baby was breathing, they asked if we wanted them to send over an ambulance. As both my friend and I were extremely upset, and not in a good state to drive, we thought this could be a good idea. However, I told the operator to discuss the matter with the doctor present.

I was stunned when he refused to take the phone and talk to the operator. He clearly did not want to get involved.

At this point, I just took my baby girl and headed for the car, thinking there was no point waiting there as the man was clearly not interested in doing anything for us, and I would probably get to St Luke's Hospital faster if I drove instead of waiting for the ambulance.

At St Luke's Hospital, we immediately saw a paediatrician, who could tell us that the baby had febrile convulsions. Although a horrific thing to experience, she would be fine.

What I still today cannot believe is that I met a doctor who did not want to help me save an apparently very sick child. I thought all doctors took an oath to save lives. Any doctor would know more about saving life than me and my friend put together and would have been only for the good for my daughter. But this despicable man that we came across did not want his daily working day disturbed. I do hope I will never meet him again.