County Derry Post

A Castledawson mother has vowed never to return to Antrim Area Hospital after claiming to have found dried human excrement and blood in a room where her four week old daughter was being treated.

By Connla Young
connla@derypost.com

Tracey Scullion slammed hospital chiefs after her infant daughter Sarah was taken to the hospital last Saturday with a suspected Kidney infection.
The angry mother says when the new born was eventually brought into a medical treatment room she was horrified by the conditions they faced.
As well as finding dried excrement on a hospital bed the doting mum says she discovered what appeared to be dried blood on an oxygen tank and a discarded medical glove which was hanging from the side of a bed.
And the disgusted mother managed to grab a picture of the stained tank on her mobile phone.
“There was dried diarrhoea on the bed and they just got a bit of paper and set my daughter on top of it,” said Tracey. “An oxygen tank had blood on it and a ripped nurse’s glove with blood on it was hanging on the side of the bed. They wanted her to stay for a night for tests but I told them that if they said she was okay I would take her home.
“It was the dirt of the place that put me off and after seeing that blood I didn’t think it was safe to leave her. I have heard all about this C-diff and I’m not surprised when you see the dirt of the place. Going onto the ward there was nothing up for you to wash your hands or anything. I just thought to myself, ‘She will end up coming out of here with something ten times worse if the place is that dirty’. I have been in the Mid Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt before and there is no comparison. It’s so clean and friendly compared to Antrim. I will never go back to that place again.”
A spokesman for the Northern Health and Social Care Trust said:
“We are concerned if anyone finds conditions such as those described at any of our facilities. We would appreciate it if the person concerned would raise a formal complaint, so that we can investigate the matter fully.
“Hospital cleanliness is an issue we take very seriously and we would wish to address areas where our high standards are not being met.”