A mother felt “let down, angry, and upset” after an eight-hour wait in children’s A&E with her baby struggling to breathe.

Following a separate story about A&E problems last week, mother-of-two Sarah Realmuto told the Watford Observer it was so similar she “thought it was somehow about me”.

Just the night before (November 19 to 20) she took her own eight-month-old, Elisa, to the hospital with severe chicken pox, but when she arrived it took three hours to be triaged and then five more hours for a doctor to see her.

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Mrs Realmuto, from Garston, said: “Her breathing was very shallow and fast, there was something not right. She was doing this jolting movement.

“I called 999 but they advised they wouldn’t be responding to the call.

“I thought, 'I have only one choice now' and I put the phone down and took her to A&E at about half 11 in the evening.”

She continued: “We weren’t triaged until about 2am when they took her temperature and looked her over.

"They said it was definitely chicken pox. Her heart rate was really high.

“Then I didn’t see anyone else until I kept chasing and chasing.”

The staff were “lovely” and clearly under extreme pressure but Mrs Realmuto felt the lack of communication made the situation much more stressful.

She said: "I felt quite let down to be honest. Overall the experience left me feeling angry and upset.

“When the doctor saw her he said we were right to bring her in as it was a very serious case of chicken pox and she needed to be seen.”

Elisa is now "absolutely fine" having been monitored.

A trust spokesperson said: “We are sorry for any patient who experiences delay to their care.

"Our services are under pressure and there are very high numbers of attendances to our emergency department.

“We aim to treat everyone as quickly as possible but waiting times can be long and we see patients according to their clinical priority.

“If readers have any concerns about the care they have experienced, please contact our patient advice and liaison service.”

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