"Not particularly helpful"

arrived at minor injuries in clacton on sea with my 10yr old son. The waiting room was completely full. I spoke to the receptionist and explained that my son and I had been in a car crash. I especially needed to get my son checked over since he was complaining of neck pains. I was told there would be an hour and a half wait. I’ve asked the receptionist if it was possible to wait somewhere quieter since my son has autism. He finds it incredibly difficult to wait for a random amount of time and it would have been impossible for him to hold himself together in a safe way considering the amount of noise and people in the waiting room as well as his anxiety about the crash we had just been in.

The receptionist told me there was no where else and I was welcome to wait outside.

I didn’t think that was particularly helpful advice, she didn’t even bother to check if there was a quiet room we could have waited in.

I left and phoned my Gp (which is also run by ACE) to be told there was no one willing to see my son and we had to go to minor injuries.

It’s not possible to ring minor injuries and phone ahead so as it stands my son is still in pain, he hasn’t been checked over and I’m not sure what the safest way to get him looked at is. The receptionist at the minor injuries and the telephone hub had no good ideas and I don’t even know what to do from here. Extremely disappointed at the lack of care, compassion or even common sense.