A story of care and reassurance

Posted on 23 November 2021

Early in September this year, Amina Shaikh*, a mother of three boys, had put her three-year-old youngest to bed as usual. But later that evening, the little boy started vomiting and the diarrhoea began. When she couldn’t get any liquids to stay down and his body began to go limp, Amina and her husband, Iqbal, became extremely concerned and decided to bring him to Mediclinic Victoria Emergency Centre.

The child had become dehydrated and was quickly admitted to the hospital, diagnosed with norovirus. Worse still, it didn’t take long for the virus to spread to the rest of the family; soon all three Shaikh boys and their father were admitted to Mediclinic Victoria. The children were admitted to a private room in the paediatric unit so their mother could remain close to them, while Iqbal was admitted to the surgical ward for treatment.

Being admitted during the pandemic didn’t cause any additional concern, she says, thanks to Mediclinic’s strict observance of COVID-19 protocols. Instead, the family was just grateful for the care they received. “It was such an emotional and scary time for our family, but our experience was such a good one. The staff of Mediclinic Victoria were amazing. Everyone provided excellent care – from the admission via the Emergency Centre, through to hospital admissions, the cleaning staff, kitchen staff, the teams in the units, unit managers, and doctors.”

The doctors’ regular rounds, and the cleaning teams who kept the unit and bathroom constantly clean and sanitised, provided additional reassurance. “The kitchen staff even assisted my bigger boys with their food choices if I couldn’t help them,” she adds.

“My three-year-old was not the easiest patient! But the staff were calming, assisted with administering the oral medications and did everything in their capacity to keep us all comfortable and allow us to recover from the norovirus.”

It’s unusual to have a whole family admitted to hospital at one time, but the Shaikhs are happy to assure the community that their experience was a good one. “While we all get used to the new normal around COVID-19, you can rest assured of the high quality of care available from Mediclinic Victoria.”

*Names have been changed.