Seriously injured children face longer waits in A&E if they are brought in by their parents rather than an ambulance, research shows.
The study at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children found those taken to hospital by carers typically waited an hour to seen by emergency doctors rather than immediately if blue-lighted there.
These included children with broken bones and skull fractures.
Researchers looked at under-16s brought to the emergency department between August 2020 and May 2022 by carers, without using the emergency services.
During this time, 153 children with major traumas were seen.
Little girl with mother in surgery examination. The study found those taken to hospital by carers typically waited an hour to seen by emergency doctors rather than immediately if blue-lighted there
A patient is wheeled from a ambulance parked outside the Accident and Emergency department of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on January 6, 2015 in Gloucester, England
Little boy sits in a hospital waiting room. Time waiting to be seen for under-16s brought to the emergency department varied from three to 168 minutes, according to the findings presented today at the European Emergency Medicine Congress in Denmark
Of these, 24 of them had injuries significant enough to be added to the national Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) – but none received care from the major trauma team.
The average age of the children was just over six.
Time waiting to be seen varied from three to 168 minutes, according to the findings presented today at the European Emergency Medicine Congress in Denmark.
Dr Robert Hirst, an emergency medicine registrar at the hospital who led the study, said: ‘We see many injured children brought to the paediatric emergency department each year.
‘Most are transported by ambulance which results in pre-hospital emergency services pre-alerting the emergency department to their arrival.
‘This leads to early trauma team activation, resulting in specialist services and resources being ready and prepared to see these patients as soon as they arrive.
‘However, we know there is a group of children who are brought by their carers who do not receive this rapid activation of resources.
‘This can lead to delays in the appropriate level of care being provided.’
