Child sent home from hospital despite having a head wound so deep ‘you could see her skull’

Three-year-old girl with a head wound so deep ‘you could see her skull’ is sent home from hospital and ‘told to just take Panadol’

  • A toddler, 3, who suffered a deep laceration on her head was rushed to hospital 
  • Alice-Ann Lee was taken by her grandmother but was refused extensive surgery 
  • Alice was refused surgery because parental permission and fasting was needed  
  • Palmerston Regional Hospital said operating theatres weren’t ready for use yet

A toddler has been sent home from hospital despite suffering from a head wound so deep her skull was visible.

Alice-Ann Lee, 3, was rushed to Palmerston Regional Hospital in the Northern Territory earlier this week by her grandmother but was advised to just take Panadol, her family claim.

‘It’s not just a cut, it’s a massive gash. You can see her skull and it’s scary,’ her mother Jenna Graefling told 9News.   

  

Alice-Ann Lee (pictured) was refused surgical procedures after suffering a severe laceration to her head so deep her skull was visible

The toddler was jumping from bed to bed at her grandmother’s home when she accidentally hit her forehead on a windowsill.

But at the hospital doctors told her grandmother they could not do anything more than clean and bandage the laceration.

They said they could not do more extensive treatment without parental permission, recommended Panadol and told the grandmother to bring her back the next day, the family claim.

Alice’s parents were informed about the incident in the morning and after returning to the hospital Alice was transferred to Royal Darwin Hospital, where surgery was performed.

The toddler (pictured) was jumping from bed to bed at her grandmother's home until she accidentally hit her forehead on a windowsill

The toddler (pictured) was jumping from bed to bed at her grandmother’s home until she accidentally hit her forehead on a windowsill

The surgery would not have been possible at Palmerston Regional Hospital because the operating theatres weren’t ready for use yet. 

Top End Health Service said sutures for the laceration would have required fasting and parental consent, and Alice was better off waiting at home.

The hospital, which opened three weeks ago, is the Northern Territory’s first new public hospital in 40 years with an emergency department operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Palmerston Regional Hospital was contacted for comment.

'It's not just a cut, it's a massive gash. You can see her skull and it's scary,' her mother Jenna Graefling told 9News

‘It’s not just a cut, it’s a massive gash. You can see her skull and it’s scary,’ her mother Jenna Graefling told 9News

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