A Dumbarton father-of-two has told of his anger after he was denied access to visit his daughter, despite her coronavirus testing proving negative.

Stewart Henderson and his girlfriend, Fiona Watt, have been visiting their 10 week old baby, Amelia, who was born 13 weeks premature while following strict government guidelines.

However, they were affronted when they were told they could not visit the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids, then allegedly left in the dark as to her health.

Allegedly, Amelia coughed on the morning of Sunday, October 4. Her parents were then called by a nurse who instructed them not to visit.

Stewart presented at the hospital and asked to know what was happening, he was then put in a ‘box room’, with no windows, had to call to be left water at the door and was given no information regarding Amelia’s condition.

Stewart said: “When they called to tell us not to visit I asked what was going on, they wouldn’t tell me anything so of course I went to the hospital to address the situation.

“I was placed in a box room with no windows and no one to ask questions, they brought me a cup of water which I had to call for, but they knocked the door then ran away.

“Amelia is high risk so I was extremely concerned, I also wanted to know if I should self isolate and if she would be moved to another ward as there are other children on the ward who are ill and all the same nurses care for the babies collectively, were the other babies at risk?”

“Instead, they told me after several hours of waiting that she had had a massive cotton bud shoved down her throat, she’s only tiny, and the test came back negative.”

Stewart, from Bonhill, proceeded to go home and attempted to visit the following day as he assumed this would be allowed as Amelia had tested negative.

Instead, the nurses instructed the worried parents to stay at home, as Amelia would undergo another Covid test.

Stewart and Fiona were told they did not need to isolate or have a test, and Amelia would continue to receive treatment on ward 7, not a coronavirus patient ward.

Stewart told the Reporter the second test was also negative and the parents were allowed to visit on Wednesday, nurses had determined that Amelia has a virus unrelated to covid and have now placed her in an isolated ward.

Stewart feels the couple were left in the dark and the hospital could have handled the situation better, providing more information to the couple and cannot understand why a second test was necessary. They cannot understand why she was not isolated from the other premature babies when the virus was suspected.

A spokesperson for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We know it is a difficult time for many of our patients and families with the challenge of COVID-19.

“At the Royal Hospital for Children, we are supporting babies, children and their families as much as possible.

“Parents are currently welcome to be with their baby in the neonatal ward and we have additional safety precautions in place to protect against COVID-19.

“We know it can be a stressful time for parents with their baby in neonatal care which is why our staff do as much as they can to keep parents informed.

“Our staff make sure all discussions with families are person centred and take into account individual needs.

“This includes providing regular updates and using the VCreate video service to send video messages on a secure platform.”