A mum has shared her outrage after her one-year-old daughter broke her leg and “suffered in pain” for 17 hours, being told “she just needs Calpol”.
On Sunday evening, Strichen mum, Sophia Antonio’s weekend took an unexpected turn when her young toddler Harley had a fall.
When her one-year-old became inconsolable, she decided to contact her local surgery – but had no idea she would be waiting 17 hours for a diagnosis for young Harley.
Speaking to the Press & Journal she said she is “utterly heartbroken” over the care her daughter received and “wants to prevent this from happening to any other parent”.
“I was in a panic, but I was a bit back and forth as to whether or not I should phone an ambulance because of all of the stories about them being so busy just now.
‘Want to prevent this from happening to any other parent’
“In the back of my mind, I did think “am I going to be wasting their time”, so I thought I’d try the local hospital first”.
When phoning Fraserburgh hospital, she was advised to hang up and phone right back but claims she received no answer the second time she called.
Describing the pain her daughter was in to be “excruciating” as she was “screaming in agony”, she felt there was nothing left to do but phone for an ambulance.
Placing a call to the ambulance service shortly before 10pm, she was assured that one would be with her within one hour and 40 minutes.
After a couple of hours went by, she says her daughter was “distraught” as she adds “I thought this is beyond them being busy now. She was distraught, I could not settle her.
“I rang back to say that I was struggling to console her and that I thought she had broken her leg.
“They then asked if I could take her through to A&E, but our car is unreliable at the moment so I couldn’t.
“There were five people in front of Harley that were being prioritized. I was then told the wait would be longer than expected, probably another hour or so, which was fine.
“I phoned back within the hour and was told to wait. At this point, it was hour three with no ambulance and I was frustrated.”
‘All she needs is Calpol’
Four hours and 45 minutes later, an ambulance came at 2.50am, but by this point, Harley had cried herself to sleep through the pain and exhaustion.
She describes the crew’s attitude to be “horrific” as she was told her daughter would be fine and that “all she needed was Calpol and some sleep”.
“I explained she was exhausted and that she had been crying non-stop since I rang them five hours earlier.
“I was told that all she needed was Calpol and bed. I asked “are you sure, because I’m never going to forgive myself if she has a broken bone”, to which I was told, “she would be screaming if it was broken”.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise for the delay in responding to the patient and for any distress caused.
“Due to significant patient handover delays at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, we had a number of crews at the hospital who were unable to get back on the road and respond to calls.
“During the patient’s wait, a clinician spoke to her mum over the phone to ensure her condition had not changed. We would invite the patient’s mum to get in touch with us directly to enable us to undertake a full review around Harley’s clinical care.”
After a sleepless night, she decided to take Harley to Fraserburgh Hospital, where she describes the care received from staff as “lovely”.
‘I burst into tears’
After claiming she and her partner had to push for an x-ray, the couple were seen and had been told that Harley had a broken leg within the hour.
“After her x-ray, the nurse then came and told me that she did have a broken leg.
“I burst into tears because I knew all along and this was now 17 hours after it happened”.
Feeling as though she had been “passed from pillar to post”, she was thankful to have finally gotten an answer to help her daughter.
Fraserburgh Hospital put a temporary cast on Harley and the family were told to head through to Aberdeen for a cast to be fitted.
A spokesperson for the Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership, said: “We cannot comment on individual patients.
“We would, however, encourage anyone with a minor injury, to call NHS 24 on 111 so that an appointment with an appropriate clinician, if required, can be scheduled for them as soon as possible.”
Around 22 hours later a cast was finally put on Harley at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Cast fitted 22 hours after initial call
Sophia is now encouraging parents to “push if they feel that something is wrong”, as she continues “don’t feel guilty for trying to relieve your child’s pain.
“It was heartbreaking. She couldn’t tell me what was wrong as she is so young. It makes me sick to my stomach as she is a baby.
“I couldn’t stop crying as I had this overwhelming feeling of mum guilt, but I knew deep down it wasn’t my fault.
“If I could turn back time, I’d have fought my corner a little more. I want people to be aware, that it’s never just a worried parent. If you think something is wrong, even if it isn’t, just check.
“We should never be made to feel that we are wasting time.”
