Hospital sends boy with broken leg home

Charlie Herbert snapped his shin playing football at school and was taken to accident and emergency by his mother Emma.

She claims her son was sent home for rest after doctors said he had "very bad tissue damage" and insisted he did not need an x-ray because his leg was not broken.

Sobbing Charlie was rushed back to the Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex, the following day when he told his mum he was in agony.

She said: "I trusted the doctor's word and took him home but the next morning he was in agony.

"It (the leg) was swollen right up and he was trembling all over and just said 'don't touch me please".

"I called the paramedics who examined the leg and said 'I can tell you this leg is broken and I can't believe it wasn't X-rayed'.

"He (the paramedic) even spoke to the paediatric ward nurse saying 'I want this child's leg X-rayed because I guarantee it's broken'."

She added that it was revealed her son's shin was broken and he is now in plaster resting for 12 weeks.

Ms Herbert, from Romford, said: "I was so annoyed because people trust anything doctors tell them yet this man sent my child home with a broken leg and advised him to stand on it.

"He could have done himself more damage, but when I questioned hospital staff they just fobbed me off and said they can't tell if a leg is broken when it's swollen. The paramedic noticed in minutes."

The hospital, which in February sent three-year-old Connor Worsfold home with a broken arm claiming it was a bad sprain, is investigating the latest complaint.

A spokesman for the primary care trust said: "We recognise that this may have caused some distress for the child and his parents and the PCT intends to undertake a thorough investigation to establish whether this could have been avoided.

"The PCT will involve the family in the investigation and keep them informed of our findings."