"Child head injury let down"

We attended A&E at Victoria with my young daughter after an accident resulting in a head injury (full frontal split on her forehead). We arrived at 23.30 after direction to attend from 111. We asked to sit in the kids waiting area as my daughter is autistic and very sensitive to noise and busy environments. Whilst waiting a number of adults were taken and seen too prior to any contact with us, which I find baffling as I had perhaps naively assumed a child with a head injury would be high priority.

We were left there until someone came to give her calpol around 2am. We were told it would need to be stitched due to the thickness of the laceration. I advised that sedation would be needed if this were the case due to her ASN and was told that would not be an issue.

After more waiting a senior doctor arrived to tell us they could glue it. Without looking at the injury. After I advised they take a look, they agreed this wasn’t a viable option and stitches would be required. It was agreed sedation would be necessary as she wouldn’t tolerate stitching without. They left and returned at 5am and told us sedation could not happen as they were too busy and there were not enough staff to support. I asked if there was somewhere else we could go as she had a “hole in her head” which needed closed. To be told no. I would have to return in the morning. I had to ask for a dressing as she was still sat with the bandage I had applied at home which was saturated in blood. My daughter by this time had been left in a waiting room for over 6 hours with a head injury, no option of a trolley, bed or “quiet space”. No observations were taken at all throughout her time in the hospital. The level of knowledge or disregard for her being neurodiverse was apparent from staff except one kind nurse who acknowledged the long wait and poor outcome.

We had to return the next day to have her stitched and the kindness and compassion shown from the consultant and other staff involved was 5* however this should not have been the case, this could have and should have been resolved in less than the 12 hours it took from injury to intervention. The system is very much “broken”. I don’t expect anything to change from this but hope in some small way this is not the case for any other unfortunate family in this situation in future.