"Taking my daughter to A&E North Devon district hospital"

On a weds evening in March, my step-daughter was involved in a car crash, when she went into the back of another car. Her airbag didn’t go off, and she hit the steering wheel. Her injuries seemed minor, but we went to the doctor, as she was having muscle spasms and she was in lots of pain. The doctor suggested we go to A&E. It wasn’t busy, but we waited 3 or 4 hours. Eventually, my step-daughter was sent home with some painkillers. Obviously, we were very concerned about her, and kept asking if they were sure she was ok to go home – but were assured that she was. She was in lots of pain, in fact she needed a wheelchair to get to the car, she was in that much pain. They gave the impression that we were time wasters – they just didn’t want to take us seriously.

After a day or so, we had to bring her back – she was in excruciating pain and couldn’t take it anymore. This time, they x-rayed her and found that she had a broken sternum and a concussion. Neither of which they had picked up first time. She was very unwell and they hadn’t looked after her when we brought her in the first time. It seems the staff just didn’t care about her!

When she was finally diagnosed correctly and put on the ward – she was in hospital for 4 days! – the nurses couldn’t believe she had been sent home in her condition. And after all that, we never had an apology.

However, I should say that the care was great when she was finally seen properly. The doctors sorted her out nicely and the nurses were all kind.