I HAD to take my three-year-old daughter to Fairfield A&E recently after an accident at home.

She was holding her wrist and crying. It was swollen and very tender but we were assured that it was a minor sprain and we were sent home.

Five days later, after no obvious improvement, we took her to our GP who immediately sent us back to Casualty where a reluctant young doctor manipulated her wrist and grudgingly sent us to the x-ray room.

After an excessively long wait my daughter was tired, hungry and sore. A passing doctor noticed her distress and went to get the x-ray result which showed us a clear break. We then had her plastered.

Why wasn't the x-ray done as a formality on the day we took her in? Why was there such reluctance on the part of A&E staff?. Why was a distressed child made to wait so long before a simple decision was made about her x-ray result? I could see the break and I'm not a doctor!

With so much bad press surrounding hospitals they really must sharpen up their act or suffer the consequences.

A CARING MUM