The family of Samara Watts was disheartened with hospital staff last Monday after they took their daughter to the emergency rooms suffering a badly swollen arm following a fall in the shower.

Samara’s mother, Melissa, said despite her attempts to request an X-ray, the doctor assessing Samara at the time insisted she had a sprain and was fine to return home.

Four days later an X-ray to Samara’s arm revealed a crack in a bone, which required a back slab cast.

The director of critical care at Dubbo Base Hospital, Dr Randall Greenberg, has apologised to the Watts family for not X-raying Samara’s arm and has urged the family to return to the hospital if she required any further treatment.

“I just wouldn’t like to see another baby turned away from the hospital if they had broken a bone and needed an X-ray,” Mrs Watts said.

“When I took Samara to hospital on the Monday, the doctor would have seen to her for no more than five minutes.

“He felt her arm and told me it was a sprain and she was fine to return home,” she said.

Mrs Watts said Samara’s arm continued to give her grief during the days following her visit to hospital, before coming to a head one day while she was at daycare.

Mrs Watts said she was called by the daycare to come and pick Samara up as her arm had become worse and she was in a lot of pain.

“I took her to the medical centre on Thursday and they gave her an X-ray right away and told me that her arm was broken,” she said.

“I just couldn’t believe it, I felt so sorry for her.

“Here was this poor little girl who was told she only had a sprain and the whole time her arm was broken.”

Samara was given pain relief for her injury and Mrs Watts said she had been doing well since.

Dr Greenberg has apologised to Samara and her family for not conducting an X-ray on her arm when she first admitted to hospital on Monday.

“It is very difficult to detect fractures in children of that age, but fortunately Samara’s injury will heel,” Dr Greenberg said.

“No adverse effects will come out in the future from her injury and we sincerely apologise to the Watts family,” he said.

anna.yeo@ruralpress.com