A luxury hotel in Scotland has issued a “humble apology” to a family after denying them access to plug in a breathing device for their terminally ill child.
Three-month-old Charlie, who breathes through a tracheostomy, is currently receiving end-of-life care at Robin House Children’s Hospice in Balloch and was taken to the nearby Duck Bay Hotel by his family on Sunday (16 March).
His family claims that a staff member at the hotel on Loch Lomond denied them access to a plug socket to use a nebuliser – a device that converts liquid medication into a breathable mist.
Charlie’s uncle Bradley Raynham shared the incident in a Facebook post so that it “doesn’t happen to anyone else” after his sister and her fiancé spent the day “trying to do nice things” at Duck Bay Hotel.
He said: “It got to the time Charlie needed his nebuliser so as the restaurant was so busy, they asked at the reception of the hotel if they could use one of the plug sockets so he could get this. While they’re holding him in their arms they were told ‘no we don’t do this here’.
“Even after explaining the situation they weren’t interested one bit. They had to leave and get back to the hospice immediately so they could give him this, when going back they’ve spoken to the nurse there as were obviously upset.”
Mr Raynham added that a hospice nurse attempted to call the hotel to speak to a manager but was denied as “other people will be waiting to call”.
“How in this day and age can ANY place turn someone away for something like this,” he said.
TripAdvisor has temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for the Duck Bay Hotel in the aftermath of the incident.
A statement shared on Facebook signed by the directors, management and staff at the hotel on Sunday said that the incident had involved a junior staff member who “entirely misunderstood and misjudged a situation”.
“Duck Bay Marina have recently been made aware of an incident which occurred earlier today and would like to profusely apologise for what happened. The incident involved a junior member of staff who has recently joined the company, acting without guidance, who entirely misunderstood and misjudged a situation. We are deeply upset at how this incident was handled and we are truly sorry for the upset it has caused.
“It is in absolutely no way a reflection of the values of Duck Bay Marina or our hard working staff, many of whom are devastated by the incident. A full investigation will follow and the necessary remedial action will be taken.”
The hotel added that it had been in contact with Robin House and Charlie’s parents to offer a personal apology and “made amends for the incident”.
In response to the backlash on social media, Duck Bay reminded social media users that “this is an incident involving a very unexperienced young person who has made a mistake”.
“They are absolutely devastated by what has happened and how they have handled things,” said the hotel.
Following an “influx” of negative social media comments, a message on the hotel’s TripAdvisor page has been posted to filter out illegitimate reviews.
It reads: “Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing.
“If you’ve had a firsthand experience at this property, please check back soon – we’re looking forward to receiving your review!”
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