"left waiting in A&E after little sister lost consciousness "

It is difficult to comment about your opinion without having specific details about your sister’s attendance. Having said that we would apologise that you considered your treatment at Arrowe Park to be less than acceptable.

All patients are assessed by an experienced nurse soon after arrival and are triaged into a colour-coded category. Arrowe Park uses a nationally recognised triage system based on the history of the injury or complaint and the clinical condition of the child on arrival to the department; this then indicates how quickly a child needs to be seen by a medical practitioner. Understandably you and your stepfather were extremely concerned about what happened to your sister. There can be a variety of reasons why a child would pass out after a head injury, most of which are not serious.

It would appear from your description of events that your sister was placed in the green category, i.e. patients who can wait in time order to be seen. Please be assured that all patients are seen according to clinical priority and this can sometimes seem unfair to patients in a lower triage category who see patients who arrive after them seen before them. There is also a paediatric assessment unit in the same area for patients referred directly from their GP’s. This can also give the impression that children are being seen out of turn.

If you wish to have a more detailed discussion about your sister’s attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the Clinical Manager, Children’s Emergency Department at Arrowe Park Hospital. We trust that your sister made a good recovery from her injury.