Bleeding schoolgirl was left waiting more than an hour for an ambulance before her dad was told paramedics were busy – and he should drive her to hospital himself
Little Caitlin Burkhill, eight, bounced off her trampoline and smashed head first into a stone wall, leaving her with a nasty cut
A LITTLE girl with blood pouring from a head wound waited for more than an hour for an ambulance, before her dad was told it would be quicker to drive her to hospital himself.
Caitlin Burkhill's parents tried desperately to stem the flow of blood as she "screamed the house down", after she smashed into a stone wall but within minutes her school uniform and the carpet was covered.
The eight-year-old's mum, Nikki, 37, and Damian, 45, called 999 three times but were eventually told the services was overstretched and they should take her to hospital.
Damian, a business developer from Chorley, Lancashire, is furious his daughter had to wait 70 minute wait and blamed NHS cuts.
He said: "I'm angry and frustrated.
"I have nothing against the paramedics or the ambulance people because they are doing an amazing job.
"But I had a young girl with a bleeding head wound. She was in shock and bleeding heavily.
"It if had been an arm or a leg it might have been different.
"But she fell from a height into a wall. What if she had lost consciousness?
"I dread to think. I'm not a medical expert and that's why you call an ambulance.
"To be left waiting for that long just isn't acceptable.
"I fear it is the evidence of the cuts starting to show."
The youngster bounced off the three-foot-high trampoline in her garden while playing on Tuesday, and "within ten seconds" was covered in blood.
While Nikki, a sales manager, applied pressure with a towel, Damian called 999 at around 6pm and asked got through to North West Ambulance Service.
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"I told them the full story - that she was only eight, that she had suffered a head trauma, and we were struggling to stop the bleeding.
"They said that an ambulance would come. They put a call out for it but they warned they were in high demand and were stretched."
Fearing she might take a turn for the worse en route, Damian reluctantly waited for an ambulance rather than driving himself, before calling 999 again at 6.31pm and 7.10pm.
"I told them she still had free flowing blood from her head still and they said appreciated my concern but they were under high pressure," he said.
The call handler for North West Ambulance Service advised the pair take Caitlin to hospital themselves as this may be quicker.
They drove to the Urgent Care Centre at Chorley & South Ribble Hospital where her 1cm wound was glued.
She is now off school recovering at home.
A spokeswoman for North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: "We can confirm that a call was received at 18.01pm on the 6 September 2016 reporting an incident of a little girl who had sustained a cut to her head.
"The category of this call was allocated as a Green 2, in which there are no national targets for response times but do aim to respond within 30 minutes.
"Following further calls at 18.31pm and 19:10 the caller was advised that the service was experiencing a significant demand and was advised to take the patient to hospital themselves as this may be quicker."
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