ATTEMPTS by hospital staff to patch up a young boy’s head wound turned into a nine-hour "farce" - with a cab sent across the county in an apparently fruitless search for medical glue.

Ten-year-old Joe Chapman was taken to A & E at Maidstone Hospital at 1.30pm on Monday after cutting his head while playing in the family pool with his brothers.

But when a doctor said the wound should be glued rather than stitched or covered with steri strips - which could leave a scar - a search began for the vital glue.

None could be found in A & E, or the hospital pharmacy, so a taxi was dispatched from A & E at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, to bring some back to Maidstone.

At about 5pm, the family was told to go home and return at 8pm when the taxi would have brought the glue. Back at the requested time, the family was told there was still no glue to be found.

It wasn’t until just before 10pm that doctors had to resort to covering Joe’s wound with steri strips - a procedure they had initially advised against.

Joe’s mother, Amanda Richards, of Beech Road, Mereworth, said: "I have never had to complain before but this was absolutely ludicrous. It was a farce."

A Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust spokesman said: "We are sorry that we couldn’t fix Joe’s wound immediately and that the family had to make two trips to Maidstone Hospital."

* Full story in the Kent Messenger.