A toddler who suffered a life-threatening cardiac episode waited four hours in A&E at a Romford hospital before being sent home without treatment.
Maria Kyriakides had to carry out CPR when her son Joshua Ogbondah, two, collapsed at home at about 8.50am on November 29.
Joshua, of Harold Hill, suffers from Jervell and Lange-Neilson syndrome, a rare heart disorder that can lead to sudden death.
In what she describes as "the worst moment in her entire life", Maria, 32, had to administer compressions on his chest for two minutes before he responded.
She believes that her son probably would not have survived if she did not know the lifesaving technique.
The dangerously ill boy was rushed to Queen’s Hospital in Romford by ambulance, but when he arrived, Maria was left in disbelief when staff did nothing.
“It was the most traumatic moment of my whole life,” Maria said. “I was in a complete state of shock because of what happened.”
Maria claimed they waited at the Rom Valley Way hospital until about 1pm, without being admitted to a ward, before being told they could leave.
“They just rushed us out,” she said. “It was just not taken seriously whatsoever. They just thought I was exaggerating.”
Then at 4.35pm, Maria received a call from Joshua’s cardiologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital in Lambeth, telling them to come in urgently.
Within 15 minutes of their arrival, Joshua was seen by an A&E doctor and admitted. A week later, on December 4, Joshua had chest surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea.
Four days later, Joshua had another operation, this time at the Evelina, in which the surgical team inserted a pacemaker to regulate the speed his heart beats at.
Joshua was discharged from the children’s hospital on December 11 and is now recovering at home, his mother said.
Maria praised the level of care at the Evelina and Royal Brompton hospitals, but said she has lost trust in Queen’s.
“No one believed anything I was saying and I just felt like an idiot,” she said.
“It just made me lose my trust completely - I have no trust in them whatsoever.
"I don’t ever want to go back there again. It's made me think that if there’s anything to do with Joshua I have to drive down to the Evelina where they actually understand his condition.”
A spokesperson for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re sorry Maria Kyriakides was unhappy with the care her son received.
"We are looking into her complaint and will respond to her directly.”
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