The mum of a critically ill toddler was banned from seeing him overnight for a week by a hospital saying she was too disruptive.
Little Elliot Copestick had been rushed to hospital with breathing problems and put onto life support as his condition rapidly deteriorated.
His mum Laura admits arguing with staff about the care of the toddler, now aged two.
But she was heartbroken after being put on a ‘behaviour plan’ and told she would be not be allowed with her son from 7pm to 9am for a week.
Birmingham Children’s Hospital says restrictions are ‘not taken lightly’ and only happened after Elliot had been taken off life support.
He later recovered and is now back home.
Mum-of-four Laura told Birmingham Live : “It broke me to have to leave my son when he was so ill.
“What if he had woken up and needed his mum?
"I wanted to transfer Elliot to another hospital but they said he was too poorly to make the journey.
"At 6pm each evening, they’d suggest I wash and change him because I had to leave at 7pm and I’d feel them staring at me as it got to 7pm.
“At times I felt like I couldn’t go on, but I had to for Elliot."
The measures were put in place in February 2019.
A letter sent to Laura, 27, from the hospital said it had a ‘duty to provide a safe and secure environment’ for patients, staff and visitors.
It claimed concerns had been raised about her behaviour, in particular ‘raising her voice and using abusive language’, ‘disrupting and distracting nurses’ and making staff feel ‘intimidated and uncomfortable’ at the bed space.
Laura said: “I have ADHD so I do tend to mouth off back at them (the staff) but it’s only because I’m fighting for my son.
“The staff said they didn’t understand ADHD but I felt they should have found out about it because they should not have treated me the way they did.
“I did lose my temper quite a bit and I always say exactly what I think. They said I made the staff feel uncomfortable.”
A spokesman for Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust said: “Ensuring staff are able to provide safe care to our patients is a priority.
“It’s rare that our teams find themselves in a position to make a decision to restrict visiting access. It’s not something that is taken lightly and is a final step in a considered process we follow to resolve any behavioural issues in conjunction with visitors.
"In such cases, restrictions are usually placed at set times, for example, overnight, and effort is made to limit this to as little time as possible.
“Any concerns raised directly to our ward teams by families involving the care we offer are looked into and every effort is made to feedback findings directly in a timely manner.
"We’d encourage anyone with continued concern to raise them with our Patient Advice and Liaison Service which offers confidential advice and support.”
Miraculously Elliot pulled through and came off life support. He started to walk and talk again and was discharged in May 2019.
Elliot’s condition is complex and still has no formal diagnosis. Due to his brain damage and time on life support, he is unable to do things he could do when he first went into hospital.
Elliot has to go to appointments with respiratory physiotherapists, pediatricians, community pediatricians, orthotics specialists, sleep specialists, dietitians, autism experts and audiologists because he’s had hearing problems since being on life support.
Mum Laura added: “He’s such a fighter, everyone calls him a miracle child and no-one can believe he’s here, doing what he’s doing now."
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