A WOODLEY resident has expressed his disappointment at the lack of support his 16-year-old son received from the police and healthcare services after falling off his bike.
Craig Gaudreau said his son was left to wait ‘freezing’ for an hour and a half after breaking his leg near Reading station, a claim which British Transport Police has refuted.
After initially receiving a call from officers to meet his son at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Mr Gaudreau was informed that an ambulance would take more than one hour to get to him – he was then asked if he could collect his son himself.
Once at the scene, the Woodley resident said he was not offered any support when transporting his son to his car.
Mr Gaudreau said: “I think it’s disgusting. My boy lay there for an hour and half. The police said that they were told he wasn’t deemed to be high priority because he was responsive. He was in agony, crying his eyes out.
“You pay all your taxes, but it doesn’t matter. They should be there within 20 or 30 minutes, not an hour and a half.”
According to British Transport Police’s logs, the boy was collected by his father just 29 minutes after they first found him. It confirmed that the officers had waited with him for the duration until he was transported to hospital.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: “Officers encountered a 16-year-old boy at Reading station at 6.46pm on April 26, with a suspected broken ankle. Officers immediately called for an ambulance which had an estimated waiting time of an hour.
“The boy’s parents arrived at the scene and took him to hospital instead by car at 7.15pm. This was a medical matter and there was no further requirement for police.”
As well as the time taken to get his son to hospital, Mr Gaudreau was disappointed by the treatment received there.
He was told that he had to source his own wheelchair to help bring his son into the Accident and Emergency department.
“They said we had to find a [wheel]chair,” Mr Gaudreau explained. “I managed to find one 20 minutes later after going all the way to London Road.
“Staff also made him stand up and weigh himself, despite his injury. When I went outside there were three ambulances parked outside, doing nothing. Some staff members were cleaning the steps while laughing.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said: “We’re sorry to hear about this accident and hope he is making a good recovery. We do have instances when some people use wheelchairs after being discharged and don’t return them to the Emergency Department (ED) ready for the next person to use, so we are sorry this family had difficulty locating one.
“We have to weigh patients to ensure they are getting the correct doses of medication- particularly pain relief. There is a chair weighing scale or scales with arms to help patients support themselves. We will look into why this was not available on this occasion.”
