Girl suffers six-day dental ordeal

Katie Brown had two teeth broken when she was hit by a car, but had to endure an agonising wait to have them replaced.

Exposed nerves left the Pocklington youngster unable to eat or drink during that time, meaning she lost half a stone and even passed out, as she was sent between two hospitals and three dentists. She was even left sitting outside a practice in her dressing gown.

York Hospital could not do the work because they have no dental facilities, while two dentists were unable to administer a general anaesthetic. The treatment was eventually carried out at Leeds Dental Institute, six days after the accident - but even then Katie had to suffer in agony without a general anaesthetic.

Katie's mother Louise and her grandmother Mary Bennett, of Stamford Bridge, today hit out at the NHS over the delay.

Ms Brown said: "I find it very hard to believe that any child, or adult for that matter, who needs treatment for their teeth cannot have it done while they are in hospital. They can do heart operations and they are wonderful people. If they were not fobbing us off, and it's genuine that they could not do anything, then it needs changing. It's absolutely ridiculous."

Ms Brown said there was a "gap in the service" at York Hospital, and said there should be a dentist on call for emergencies.

She added: "That she couldn't be treated at the hospital is just wrong, even without general anaesthetic.

"If it was within the first 48 hours at least it would have been sorted out there and then and she could have been eating and drinking."

Mrs Bennett said: "This could all have been done five days earlier. It just seems so wrong. It was a week since it happened.

"Maybe the dentists had to work on instructions from above, but that does not ease the trauma to Katie."

York Hospital chief executive Jim Easton said he could not comment on specific cases, but denied the hospital had a gap in its services. He said: "We provide the normal range of services that you get in a hospital, so of course we provide accident and trauma services, but we do not provide general dental services.

"In terms of the general range of services at the hospital, I do not believe that there is a particular gap and that we are lacking any service we should have."

Anne Botterill, speaking on behalf of Selby and York Primary Care Trust, said it was national policy that dental practices could not administer general anaesthetic.

Deon Falcon, spokeswoman for the Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT, which covers Pocklington, said: "People do not necessarily need general anaesthetic if they are in an emergency situation. It sounds like she had awful injuries. Children are often sent for general anaesthetic, as are people with learning difficulties, because they cannot handle the stress."

Katie's six days of agony

August 3 - Katie is struck by a car in Pocklington. She has two broken teeth, and is taken to York Hospital, where she is kept in for two nights as she is being sick.

August 5 - Katie is discharged. Her mother Louise is told to arrange an emergency dental appointment. The soonest available is the following evening in Hull, but they have no way of getting there.

August 6 - Ms Brown calls Katie's own dentist in Pocklington, but is told to phone back the next day.

August 7 - Katie sees her own dentist at 1.50pm. Ms Brown expects her daughter to be given a general anaesthetic, but it cannot be administered outside hospital. Katie, who has not eaten since the accident, passes out and is taken back to York Hospital.

August 8 - Doctors at York Hospital say they cannot remove the teeth. Katie is taken by ambulance to a practice in Acomb, but it cannot administer general anaesthetic. When the surgery closes at 5pm, Katie is left sitting on an outside wall in her dressing gown and slippers with her mother. The dentist arranges for Katie to see a colleague of his in Leeds.

August 9 - The broken teeth are finally removed and replaced. Katie returns home and is able to eat again, having lost half a stone in a week.