A mother has told of how she felt "forced" to take her son to hospital in London because an ambulance was unavailable.

Louise Williams, 28, from South Ockendon, waited an hour for an ambulance to arrive to take her 6-year-old son, Kayden, to Basildon Hospital after he was hit by a car and suffered an open fracture in South Ockendon.

After the ambulance took Kayden to Basildon Hospital, on Sunday March 11, he was given a back slab cast, had a cannula put in his arm and was told that he would be taken to the Royal London Hospital by ambulance for further treatment.

Louise said: “They told us he was going to be blue-lighted to the Royal London Hospital, but then after a while I was told it would be quicker for me to take him there myself.”

Louise, who said that Kayden had been at Basildon Hospital for more than seven hours, then took Kayden in her Vauxhall Astra from Basildon to the centre of London.

She continued: “As I put Kayden in the car he was screaming in pain.

“All they gave him was a back slab cast, but no good support for his leg.

“They also left his cannula in which I think was irresponsible. Kayden has ADHD and he could have pulled that out and hurt himself.

“It was a nightmare getting into London, it took me over an hour to get there.

“I’m not medically trained, I shouldn’t have been left in that position.”

Kayden is now on the mend and Louise praised the staff at the Royal London Hospital, calling them “amazing.”

Responding to Louise’s claims, a spokesman for Basildon Hospital said: “The ambulance service was reporting long delays and was not able to give a time of arrival.

"The orthopaedic doctor discussed this with the team at RLH, and both sides agreed it was clinically safe for the parents to take their son to London.

“The family were kept fully up to date with the plan for their son’s treatment and agreed to transfer him to RLH.”

A spokesman for EEAST said: “We apologies for the distress caused by this delay.

"If the patient or their family have concerns, we will encourage them to contact us so we can investigate the matter entirely.”

A Basildon Hospital spokesman said: "When this young patient arrived at A&E on 11 March he was seen promptly by an emergency consultant and then by an orthopaedics doctor, who contacted the specialist trauma team at the Royal London Hospital (RLH).

"RLH requested the patient be transferred for surgery and that a cannula should be inserted. This was done, a back slab was applied to provide appropriate support for his leg, and a request for an ambulance was made.

"The ambulance service was reporting long delays and was not able to give a time of arrival. The orthopaedic doctor discussed this with the team at RLH, and both sides agreed it was clinically safe for the parents to take their son to London.

"The family were kept fully up to date with the plan for their son’s treatment and agreed to transfer him to RLH."