Single mum says hospital not taking concerns seriously
A 24-year-old woman feels her concerns over the health of her three-year-old daughter are not being taken seriously at Wexford General Hospital because she is a single mother.
Chloe McGuire, from Mulgannon, said she brought her daughter Sophia to Wexford General Hospital last October suffering from vomiting and other symptoms. Doctors had an X-Ray carried out and told her mother that she could have a clot following open heart surgery carried out at Crumlin when she was a baby or epilepsy because it is common in her family.
She was sent to Crumlin where an MRI and an EEG was carried out, but because of Sophia’s tender years she could not be put on medication.
When she returned to Wexford, Chloe said she received a hand-written note from a doctor at Wexford Hospital asking her to bring Sophia back for a repeat X-Ray, because they now thought she had an enlarged heart.
This took some time to arrange, but eventually it was carried out, although Chloe said she has still not been told the results.
She said that while she was waiting for the results at the hospital, the doctor examining the X-Ray said he wanted a second opinion.
Chloe said that she felt her concerns were not being taken seriously.
‘I felt small and insignificant. I felt that I was being judged because I was a single mother,’ Chloe told this newspaper.
‘ They disagreed with everything I said and did not take my opinions on board. I am sure there must be other people who have had experiences like mine,’ she said.
Both X-Rays have since been sent to Crumlin where Sophia has an appointment in late February.
A spokesperson for Wexford General Hospital said it takes the care and safety of all its patients seriously.
‘While we cannot comment on specific patient cases, we do have a robust complaints process within our hospital and we would encourage our patients to use this process so that we can appropriately follow up with them directly,’ said the spokesperson.