Ambulance denied to toddler hurt in fall

But for one Littlehampton family, what was supposed to be a stress-free session of household chores turned into frantic rush to Worthing Hospital.

When two-year-old Emma Ingham had an accident which almost severed her big toe last Tuesday (January 10), mother Mandie knew straight away to call 999 for help.

However, to the 39-year-old’s horror, she was told that no ambulance crew would be sent to take Mandie’s panicking toddler, who was bleeding heavily from her slashed toe, to the hospital.

Outraged mother-of-five Mandie, of St Flora’s Road, said: “I was so angry, I can’t tell you.

“She was pretending to clean the radiator cover, when it came off the wall and fell on top of her.

“I didn’t know what had happened at first. I scooped her up, cuddled her and carried her away when my son said, ‘Mum, her toe’s bleeding’.

“There was so much blood coming from it. I would say about a third of the skin from the top of her toe was just dangling there.”

In a last-ditch attempt to try to get paramedics to take her daughter to the hospital, Mandie visited staff at the nearby ambulance station, in East Street.

However, she said that staff claimed there was nothing they could do and that it would be best for her to take the two-year-old to hospital.

“It was a frantic 45-minute rush to Worthing,” said Mandie. “The fact that she had a partially amputated toe and that she was in the back of my car – which isn’t a sterile environment – in my eyes, is unforgivable.”

When Mandie and little Emma arrived at Worthing Hospital, alongside Mandie’s husband Jason, there was yet another shock in store for the family.

Following an x-ray examination, doctors told Mandie that Emma had crushed the bone in her big toe and needed emergency surgery to repair both the sliced skin and to splint together the damaged toe.

Emma remained in hospital until Wednesday morning (January 11), when she was allowed home but she has been told to stay off her feet for several weeks.

“It was a total nightmare. But Emma’s been a complete star. She is the bravest little girl I know and she has coped so well with everything.

“But what annoys me most is how we were treated. The ambulance service made us feel like we were making something out of nothing.

“Doctors have said to us that this could affect the way Emma walks, in later life.

“She will also need to go in to have more operations to help repair the damage.”

A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, the organisation which provides the ambulance service, said that it was looking into the incident.

The spokesman added: “The trust takes any complaint or issue raised seriously and we would be happy to discuss any concerns with the family.”