An eight-year-old whose parents feared he had a serious internal injury after a bad fall in a children’s playground had to wait over an hour for an ambulance to reach him.
Relatives of Taylor Burns, from Streatham Common, made six distressed 999 calls after the fall in the playground in Windmill Drive, Clapham Common, on August 11.
He smashed his head on a concrete surface after falling off some railings at 6.15pm.
His parents and aunt, who held his neck and body still to stop him aggravating any injury, said he was screaming in great pain and almost slipped into unconsciousness as they anxiously waited.
Now his parents have slammed the emergency services for taking so long to reach him, and questioned if there is a lack of ambulance crews operating in the capital.
Taylor’s dad Sean Burns said: “I am absolutely staggered that in central London there was no ambulance crew at this time to deal with a young child who clearly had the potential for a serious internal injury to his head, brain, or neck.”
The target for the London Ambulance Service (LAS) is to reach 75 per cent of patients in life-threatening condition within eight minutes.
An LAS spokesman apologised for the delay and any distress caused, but said information given in the first 999 call suggested Taylor was not in an immediately life-threatening condition as he was conscious and breathing.
He said: “We sent the first available ambulance crew and according to our records they arrived at the scene at 7.22pm.”
He said Taylor’s family could contact its Patient Experiences Department for more information.
Mr Burns also criticised Lambeth Council, who run the playground, for “a gross neglect of health and safety” there.
He said: “I am astonished the council have left an old original concrete ramp leading into the sandpit as it is, and not applied a softer shock absorbent surface.”
A Lambeth Council spokesperson said: "We're sorry to hear about this incident.
"All of our playgrounds are subject to rigorous safety checks and this particular playground was fully risk assessed in July.
"We have already carried out a further check to make sure that the play area meets safety standards."
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