Two-year-old left waiting 13 hours in A&E department at Queen's Medical Centre
A two-year-old girl was left waiting to be seen for 13 hours in the A&E department at Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) before the family gave up and went home.
The girl, who is from Nottingham, was on holiday with her mother and father in Devon when the young girl injured her ankle.
The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, thought the ankle was badly sprained as it looked swollen and bruised and was worried as her daughter could not walk on it.
The family tried to look for a nearby hospital and could not find one, so they travelled back up to Nottingham to attend A&E at QMC.
They arrived at 8.30pm on Friday October 22, and eventually left 13 hours later on Saturday 23 October morning without being seen.
The mother said: "My daughter was asleep in her pushchair, but she was not offered any pain relief, a bed, a blanket or food, and there was no communication whatsoever."
She added: "I went to the desk at around 8am in the morning and explained we had been here for almost 12 hours at that point and that nothing was happening, to be told there were seriously sick children and the waiting time would be hours and hours.
"My daughter wasn't any better off in hospital than she would have been at home - it's the worst care I have ever seen and I think the waiting time is astonishing."
The mother was on the phone to her own mother Tracey Robinson, 53, a carer from Basford, throughout.
Tracey said: "It was a very stressful time - my daughter was so stressed, I had to calm her down a few times and reassure her."
"I kept saying do not leave A&E as she sent me a video of the foot and at the time it looked broken - it looked really swollen on the top of the foot and was starting to bruise," she said.
She added: "What's the point in going if you have to just sit there for hours?"
The young girl and her mother then attended the Urgent Treatment Centre on City Link in the city centre, where they were told the girl's ankle could not be x-rayed because she was under the age of five.
The family bought the girl a bandage, and after some rest is now walking fine, but they still want the girl to be checked.
Catherine Livingston, Paediatric Emergency Department Matron at Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, said: "We apologise that the family were asked to wait for some time after initially being seen and assessed by members of our medical team.
"Emergency intervention will always be given and assessed on a case by case basis. We always strive to see patients in a timely way and are sorry that was not the case on this occasion.
"We are currently experiencing significant operational pressures within our emergencydepartment and would advise that people visit NHS 111 online in the first instance so they can be directed to the most appropriate service for their needs."