'Two-hour 999 wait' for boy who gashed his head at Mid Wales beauty spot

The family was on a day trip to the picturesque, Llanrhaeadr Waterfall when the boy tumbled in woods next to the falls.

He hit a huge rock as he fell down a scree slope, suffering a cut.

Staff at the Pistyll Rhaeadr tea rooms dialled 999 and rushed to help the family.

But workers today said the first ambulance did not arrive for two hours.

And the crew, on seeing the severity of the cut on the boy's head, then had to radio for assistance.

Eventually a Welsh Air Ambulance flew into the valley and the young patient was airlifted for treatment to the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.

Mr Phil Facey, who owns the tea rooms at the foot of the waterfall, said paramedics had said the boy, who was about 10 years old, would need stitches in the head wound.

He today said she was concerned about the delays, saying the two-hour wait was not acceptable.

"I was travelling back to Llanrhaeadr from London when this happened and my staff did what they could to help the boy.

"They provided blankets and cups of tea," he said.

"He tumbled down a slope in the woods across the bridge from the tea rooms.

"He hit a large rock at the bottom and suffered a gash to his head.

"An ambulance was called but one hour went by and then another with no sign of an ambulance.

"All the time the boy was in pain and the family – who were from Chester, and our staff were really worried."

Mr Facey said when the first ambulance arrived the crew decided that the boy would need stitches and radioed for a second vehicle to come to the scene.

He added: "Then they decided to ask for an air ambulance.

"The helicopter landed on our field and it eventually lifted off with the young boy, three-and-a-quarter hours after he fell."

"As I understand it when people ring 999 the call taker has to decide what priority the incident it and it seems that this was triaged to a low severity.

"But a boy with a head injury should surely be high priority."

Mr Facey said the system could be helped by getting a first responder or even a local doctor to respond.

"We used to have both first responders and a local doctor scheme," he said.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said he first ambulance was on scene in 90 mins, a rapid response vehicle in one hour 52 minutes and the Wales Air Ambulance in two hours and 20 minutes.

Rob Jeffery, the Welsh Ambulance Service's Head of Operations for the Powys Health Board area, said: "We can confirm that we received a call at approximately 3.02pm on Monday to reports that a young boy had fallen and sustained injuries in Llanrhaeadr.

"We sent a paramedic in a rapid response vehicle, a crew in an emergency ambulance and the Wales Air Ambulance who provided clinical treatment before the boy was airlifted to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.

"We completely understand what a distressing wait this must have been for the young boy and his family, and for that we would like to sincerely apologise.

"We will be looking fully into the circumstances to understand what happened, and in the meantime would encourage his family to get in contact us so that we can go through the details together."