"They showed genuine care and empathy"

We took my 3.5 year old into the Alex after he had jumped from a window ledge in our lounge and appeared to have a strangely shaped arm and he was screaming a scream we had never heard before. We were quickly checked in at A&E reception and were triaged within about 60 seconds. The two triage nurses were very nice and tried their best to settle a distressed little boy. After cutting away his long sleeve, they instantly recognised a possible dislocation of his elbow. They quickly printed off a slip to take to x-ray and walked us there themselves. We only had to wait 5 mins (which seemed like an age - but to be fair it was because of another patient that they needed to help).

The X-ray nurse was very good and talked nicely to our son and was very considerate to his pain whilst trying to manoeuvre his arm and x-ray plates into a position to give the best picture. Not an easy task with a frightened and shocked 3 year old. He did this quickly and then personally took us to the minor injury unit.

There we were met by some more lovely nurses who were already aware of the injury to our son and gave him some Nurofen. A paediatrician was soon with us and quickly got son a morphine nasal spray which obviously took effect. The staff at the Alex recognised that he had a fracture and dislocation and that it was a bad injury. They identified that they did not really have the expertise at the Alex to deal with such a young child and difficult injury and quickly tried to find an alternative hospital for him to go to for an operation. This took quite a lot of time and effort and it was great to be able to hear and see the conversations taking place by some senior staff to ensure that our son would get the best treatment. Birmingham Childrens were unable to take him but they found him a place at Coventry where he was added to the top of the theatre list for the next day.

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in the care of my son. You were awesome. As you can imagine, as parents we were also shocked and scared as to what was happening but the staff constantly kept checking with us and telling us what was happening and was likely to happen. They showed genuine care and empathy that was great to see. I had not eaten anything since lunchtime and was feeling rather hungry come 22:00 at night. The nurse asked if we were OK and I just happened to mention that I might pop out and get something to eat. She then came back with sandwiches for me and my wife. The thought to do this was fantastic as I am sure it might not be 'in the rules' but the small things count.

I am so grateful that we still have an A&E in Redditch, especially when they have such great staff. I could not have imagined driving to Worcester with my little boy in such pain that going round every corner for him was agony.

The level of care we received at Coventry was also of a very high quality and I would like my thanks passing to them also. There was not a single member of staff during the whole experience that let you down. Quite the opposite.

My wife and I were so grateful for your help. Now if you can just get his elbow to heal and out of his plaster before we go on holiday in 4 weeks that would be great: )

Thank you so much