The parents of a four-year-old girl whose earring became stuck in her ear say she has been left 'traumatised' by the way she was treated in hospital.
On Monday (October 7), Lola-May Hancock was taken to Kings Mill Hospital by her worried parents after her earring became stuck in her ear.
The earring was stuck at an angle which meant that they couldn't remove it.
Her step-dad, Leon Blackwell of Hucknall, said: "We couldn't get the earring off so we went to the doctor who told us to go to hospital.
"We had an appointment with ENT and the doctor there couldn't remove it so she sent us home with a pair of blunt scissors and told us to do it ourselves. We had already been trying that for a week beforehand.
"We went back to Kings Mill after the weekend because she had spent most of the weekend in discomfort."
When the family arrived at hospital they said they were met by a "rude and unprofessional" doctor.
Mr Blackwell said: "She told us it was an inappropriate referral and said our daughter wasn't in any pain she was just experiencing anxiety.
"She then went on to say that if it was her kid she would have pinned 'it' down by now. At this point we were gobsmacked by her remarks.
"She then looked at Lola's ears without wearing gloves and without washing her hands. One doctor held her head, while the other doctor started pulling and tugging on her ear. They did this for a while until blood started trickling down her face."
The family said they tugged at her ear until she started bleeding which left their daughter "traumatised".
After doctors at Kings Mill had tried to remove the earring, the family decided to leave the hospital and drive to the Queen's Medical Centre.
At the hospital they said they realised that the earring had been pushed half way into their daughter's ear leaving half of the butterfly clip inside her earlobe.
Lola's mum added: "They caused her injury that was not there before and in the process caused my daughter a lot of trauma.
"The experience was totally different at QMC. They gave her gas and air and it had been removed in 10 minutes.
"They didn't make us feel like we shouldn't be there and they were kind.
"She was in so much pain after we left Kings Mill she cried all the way to QMC."
The family decided to complain about their experience to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and are still waiting for a response.
A spokesperson for Sherwood Forest Hospitals, which runs Kings Mill Hospital, said: “We are sorry that Ms Blackwell feels that she and her daughter have been treated inappropriately.
"As a Trust, we take our values and the way we conduct ourselves, both with patients and our colleagues, very seriously.
"We would like to invite Ms Blackwell to make contact with our Patient Experience Team (01623 672222) so that we can look into the issue for her, and respond appropriately.”
