British Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided seeing a picture of a sick boy lying on the floor in a hospital when a journalist tried to show it to him on his phone, before Johnson seized the phone and placed it in his pocket.
The ITV correspondent tried to force Johnson to look at the boy's image lying on the ground with an oxygen mask next to him, but Johnson refused and placed the phone in his pocket.
In the end, the British prime minister acquiesced and looked at the picture, saying it was "terrible", and then offered his apologies to the families.
The state-run National Health Service (NHS) was a top priority for candidates before the December elections.
Despite the lapses committed by Johnson during the election campaign, he still enjoys a comfortable difference in opinion polls on the opposition Labor Party.
Johnson sought to turn the sparring with ITV correspondent into a positive point in his favor when he said that his government was "making huge investments in the field of the national health service."
But Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn considered this incident to show that the prime minister "does not care," adding that "a child receiving treatment on the ground is a disgrace to our society."
The boy was diagnosed with a cold and tonsillitis, and was allowed to move to the house after waiting hours at various places in a Leeds hospital in northern Britain.
Both governors and workers have promised to raise the level of funding for the country's national health services.
Opinion polls indicate that the Conservatives are 10 points ahead of the Labor Party.