Foster parents reject hospital criticisms

Press, 26 July 1984, Page 7

Foster parents reject hospital criticisms

Christchurch foster parents'have come out in support of the treatment meted to parents of sick children in Christchurch Hospital. The president of the Christchurch Foster Care Association, Mrs Margaret O’Keefe, said that contrary to the complaints aired by the Young Patients Rights group recently, members of her association had always received exemplary service in the children’s wards. The Rights Group has complained to the Canterbury Hospital Board that on most nights in the young children’s ward anything from two to six parents would be sleeping on chairs and on the floor so that they would be with their sick babies and young children.

The group is seeking better facilities at the hospital for parents who want to remain overnight with their sick children. Mrs O’Keefe said that members of the Foster Care Association were often in the pediatric wards visiting their sick or handicapped children and never came across the circumstances complained of. “Members cannot speak highly enough of the treatment,” she said. Even in the early hours of the morning the staff were always courteous and helpful. . “I have had three children sick in hospital in the last eight months,” said Mrs O’Keefe. Always the offer of a bed or a lazy boy chair had been

available and if not blankets and a chair, she said. Cups of tea were also regularly plied on attendant parents. If parents really wanted to sleep near their children they should be willing to nap on the floor or a chair. The important thing was being there, she said. “It is tiring but hospital visits are stressful at the best of times.” Some parents abused the facilities offered, said Mrs O’Keefe. Association members had noticed some parents using the hospital like a motel, doing such things as watching television in the lounge while their children screamed in the ward, and doling out the patients’ cordial to their visitors.