Negligent A & E grrrrr

Niddlynoo

Niddlynoo

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I had a bad fall last oct, was knocked unconscious and airlifted to hospital. Once in A & E, they checked my spine, stitched my head and sent me home. No X-rays or questions asking where pain was. Fast forward til now, have been having severe hip pain on and off, go to see ortho consultant tonight and the verdict is a fractured pelvis!!!
No wonder riding was painful, walking not much better and forget the gym. Need to wait for another scan so am not happy! What makes it worse is I'm a nurse and should have pushed for a more thorough examination, but was very dazed and upset at the time!
Sorry for the rant, but I hope it encourages anyone who is unfortunate enough to end up in A & E, to be assertive and question your care x
 
Definitely worth questioning decisions. I had a crashing fall, horse landed on me too. Went to A&E, got prodded about, told it was just bruising and I was ok to go home. I asked if they thought I needed an x-ray, went off to x-ray, came back and they told me to lie down and not move-I had a fractured vertebrae.
 
Yep I'd totally agree...
I was sent home after a fall at speed (horse span and spooked in canter) with a broken leg! It seems if you do what they ask they just assume its ok even if you are in pain while doing their requested movements. I eventually booked a private physio after waiting for a week with the severe pain, they suggested I see my GP to get referred for radiograph.
When I saw the X-ray I burst into tears :(

You must have a very high pain threshold to suffer a broken pelvis!
Will you be putting in a formal complaint? I didn't but wish I did as the following year my husband was given a wrong prescription due to the same member of staff.
 
That's terrible. You would expect better service than that. I'm sure as a nurse you are well aware of how dangerous a fractured pelvis can be. Given how bad the fall was you would think that would have been one of the areas they would check as you were in no fit state by the sounds of things to tell them exactly where you hurt
 
Shocking isnt it! Ive been sent home twice with broken arms and last Jan fell off on to the road, knocked myself out and when I got to A&E they barely checked my head........... 2 days later after still not being able to see properly, feel my face and being sick another hospital scanned and I had a bleed :( Now I have permanent numbness to the left side of my face! Im all for going on that them now! Hope you recover quickly and it stops being so painful soon :0) xx
 
Niddlynoo said:
I had a bad fall last oct, was knocked unconscious and airlifted to hospital. Once in A & E, they checked my spine, stitched my head and sent me home. No X-rays or questions asking where pain was. Fast forward til now, have been having severe hip pain on and off, go to see ortho consultant tonight and the verdict is a fractured pelvis!!!
No wonder riding was painful, walking not much better and forget the gym. Need to wait for another scan so am not happy! What makes it worse is I'm a nurse and should have pushed for a more thorough examination, but was very dazed and upset at the time!
Sorry for the rant, but I hope it encourages anyone who is unfortunate enough to end up in A & E, to be assertive and question your care x
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Are you really suprised.Basic things are not done. My OH went purple after being kicked in the ribs couldnt breath etc taken by Ambulance to Chase Farm Hospital and sent home after I collected him told to give him pain killers by doctor for bruising only(I thought he was being a big baby)!. He had been xrayed. A week later he still is in a bad way and cant breath by now we hear a grating noise. I drive him to brilliant Harlow Hospital and they thought he had a ruptured spleen, torsion of kidneys etc without xray. He walked into A&E and was put on stretcher given Pethidine and he had a punctured lung with 3 broken ribs. He was admitted until his lung inflated etc etc. I am not suprised. I fell of my horse a few years ago oromorph etc am about to have a scan this week..having problems. But good luck and glad you found it out but its just not good enough is it!
 
A&E is never my problem - whenever I've gone in I've always been very poorly and rushed through Majors.

My issue is the wards! I could write essays and essays, but the best was being on a diabetic ward and prescribed no insulin for 24 hours! I kept asking for help, telling them I was ill, but they were 'respecting the consultant's notes'. Needless to say I went downhill very quickly and ended up in ICU as a result!

My mother wanted to take legal action but I stopped her. I'm a student nurse and don't want a reputation as will be on placement there. Plus, the NHS needs as much money as it can get. I'm not gonna claim for money when it could benefit someone's health and life :)
 
My sister was sent home in agony unable to use her arm with "bruising", she pestered the life out of anyone that would listen until they finally sent her for a scan, by this time her shoulder had dropped and she had a pronounced hump beside her collar bone, and no feeling in her fingers. She has severed a dorsal nerve to the shoulder and arm and is only now regaining the use of it.
 
I got kicked in the face, split my forehead and broke my nose and only received anti biotics. Didn't have a single painkiller nor advised what to take for it.

I was distracted by the nice Doc and panicing somewhat anyway. But still.

But a fractured pelvis!!! I can't even begin to imagine that :( Hugs.
 
Just to balance out the thread: I was rushed to A+E last week after having grand mal seizures and I am 100% happy with how I was treated.

I spent 3 nights in intensive care and then a night on the labour ward before spending a further 2 nights on a maternity ward.

I loved intensive care! I couldn't move because I was wired up to so many different machines and had drips in both arms but two of the people looking after me were horsey so we had plenty to talk about!

In my time there I had numerous brain scans (they found it!!) and ultrasound scans (for the baby). The staff were pleasant and brought me lots of cups of tea. The only one that irritated me kept insisted on putting tubes up my nose to boost my blood oxygen level - I'm asthmatic so I'm used to minimal oxygen and the tubes were cold and uncomfortable so I kept ripping them out. She kept putting them back when she thought I was asleep. :rolleyes:

But all in all a fairly good experience in a horrible place.
 
Don't laugh but I.............. Fell over a speed bump, was in agony so went to A&E was checked over, X-rayed and nothing wrong, given pain killers
After a few weeks still couldnt walk so got revered back to Hosp and turned out had broken ankle, diagnosed from my previous x-ray. Grrrr......
N&F
 
BeanyG said:
Don't laugh but I.............. Fell over a speed bump, was in agony so went to A&E was checked over, X-rayed and nothing wrong, given pain killers
After a few weeks still couldnt walk so got revered back to Hosp and turned out had broken ankle, diagnosed from my previous x-ray. Grrrr......
N&F
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sorry but I just pmsl!!!! - a speed bump? every time I say it I laugh!!!!
 
I know that feeling well went in after a horse threw himself over on top of me... consultant picked up my legs and dropped them, I didn't scream although it bloody hurt so was sent home!! Collapsed that evening after the shock wore off - I had fractured my back in 3 places and ruptured a disc. Sometimes the treatment offered is shocking imo, I could have been paralyzed from that.
 
From experience I know you do have to be really firm in A&E and demand an x-ray. I've had doctors telling me I have a low pain threshold, it's just a sprain etc. Funnily enough I've always been right. The annoying thing is I now have problems in my wrist after a doctor refused to take me seriously for nearly a month. :(
 
My mum had a high speed fall on New Years Day and was knocked unconscious. She should have been taken in an ambulance but it was easier and quicker to get her ourselves. She was X-rayed but doctor said none of her symptoms (retrograde amnesia, unconsciousness, dizziness) were consistent with concussion...

Makes you bleedin' wonder doesn't it! Makes me angry especially when they don't ask enough questions or give you a thorough going over. Grr!
 
Um, opposite here in supposedly rubbish London NHS area. Son suspected collar-bone fracture. They really could not have been better. Helped I was there to push things along possibly, bit of waiting blah, ferrying, but did keep thinking, I am so glad I don't live in the USA (while reading Red Pony, John Steinbeck - previous thread).
 
Think I must be a bit of a drama queen because I've been to 3 different A&E depts and always been happy with the treatment I've received but then again my injuries have been fairly minor (neat disinfectant in the eye, ferret trying to eat finger, kicked in the head) in that I've never actually gone in and had anything turn out to be broken (although they admitted if I had a hairline fracture of my nose it probably wouldn't show up...) and any niggles I've got are from things I didn't get checked out at the time so can't blame A&E for that! May have helped that 2 of those injuries happened on work placements so I was wearing my student vet nurse uniform which may have made me look vaguely official and the time I got kicked I sort of nearly fainted in reception which tends to attract attention!
 
Not a horse related injury, but i damaged my neck in bed, simply by rolling over when my OH's alarm went off in the morning. I felt this horrid grinding, crunching behind my ear. My neck went into spasms and locked in place. I couldnt get up, couldn't dress without screaming and weeping with agony. I'd been with my OH 4 years at the time and it was the first time he ever saw me cry.
I'd done this before from a fall when I was 14, and then i'd been x-rayed, given a neck brace and a week off of school :) so I toddled off to A&E after my boyfriend had helped me dress.
Well the woman I saw was a complete b*tch. She grabbed my neck, yanked it back and when I burst into tears she rudely said.
"Why are you crying? It couldn't have hurt that much." She told me to take some co-codomol and go to work and stop wasting her time.
I couldn't sleep, sit, or move without the codomol for a week and he had to take time off to help me move about.
To this day I still suffer from pains in my neck and stiffness (kinda like when you pull a muscle)
 
A long time ago a friend where I worked had a bad headache, I fetched her some painkillers from the office, we all went home at closing time and later I heard she had gone to A & E in Mayday Hospital in Croydon asking for help, they gave her more painkillers and sent her home, no tests nothing. Next day she was found in her flat dead from meningitis, her baby & toddler were there with her for many hours crying for their mum before she was found.She was 21.
 
I have to say our a and e dept is excellent but I do feel for people who only have smaller hospitals near them I don't think the level of care is the same as big hospitals who see more and have specialists.

If you have concerns please do write a complaint letter, they can't improve if they don't know about it and they have to respond to complaints
 
I honestly find these posts very hard to believe.. What kind of NHS does England have because it doesn't sound like the one here in Scotland.
It is standard practice to routinely X ray any admission to A and E with a fall onto any surface, never mind one from a height of a horse. Any pain on movement or palpation will be X rayed just to be sure and cover the junior Dr's ass if nothing else. Any change in consciousness must be CT scanned to look for anything else occuring.

If any of these things had happened to me I would be sueing the Trust involved as things like this should not happen. Rest assured a large sum of money is ringfenced purely to pay for medical mistakes, so claims have no direct cost to patient care, and indeed will only improve it.

What I would say (as a registered nurse) is that some people are really crap at describing what is happening to their body at the time they are being questioned. ie On a scale of 1 - 10 and 10 is the worst pain you can imagine, how does your arm feel? Man with clearly broken arm says " uh... about a 4", "How does that feel?" prods fingers of broken arm to feel for pulse "Fine" is the answer, no pulse present: his arm had altered colour, movement and sensation, it would not have felt fine atall!!!!
And I'm not talking about stoicism, God knows I've met enough, but people just aren't that good at explaining how the pain feels- sharp dull throbbing, weird, grating, grinding, numb ect, its like they have no vocabulary. Information helps the DR sort you out, withholding it helps no one.
And there's no way I would be leaving A and E with the explanations given to these folk.
 
angel7 said:
I honestly find these posts very hard to believe.. What kind of NHS does England have because it doesn't sound like the one here in Scotland.
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Really? So far NHS Scotland has missed my sister's fractured ankle and my fractured skull... Refused to actually examine me properly, and diagnosed me with post concussion syndrome... in my groggy state I agreed and went home :eek: :rolleyes:
 
angel7 said:
I honestly find these posts very hard to believe.. What kind of NHS does England have because it doesn't sound like the one here in Scotland.
....
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Not true I'm afraid.

I have broken both my wrists - at separate times - and the first time, they checked it over. It wasn't stoicism or anything, I told them the pain was really bad and although I could move my wrist I couldn't use any pressure. They told me it was sprained, xrayed it and sent me home, and I was to go back in the next day if it wasnt better. Next day went in, they checked the x-rays - it was broken.

Second time, they didn't xray it, put a splint on it and sent me home. next day got it xrayed - green stick fracture.

These were 12 years ago. My brother broke his wrist a cuple of years ago and the same thing.

My other brother had a car crash at work. His boss told him to go home and he'd be lucky if he wasnt on a disciplinary for it, so he drove home. The next day he went to hospital as was throwing up, dizzy and sore head. Hospital said it wasn't a concussion, said he was fine to drive and go to work. He crashed his car on the way home.

I've given up on doctors now. The last one I went to, when my leg kept collapsing under me, told me the pain was in my head and what did I want her to do?

I'm sure there are plenty out there that do a grand job, but the ones I've met have been condescending and act like I'm wasting their time.
 
I know someone who had their broken back mid diagnosed after a fall and are still unable to work 2 years on. My own experience was a good one though when the horse I was riding reared and went over on top of me, I broke my back, hip and pelvis, I was xrayed within an inch of my life, given loads of morphine and admitted into hospital for weeks.
 
OHs uncle had severe abdominal pain & vomiting for several days, he was waiting for a hernia op & had an endoscope booked. The night before the endoscope he started fecal vomiting & was in complete agony (if you don't know that vomiting bowel contents - very yuk). His wife took him straight to A&E at 1am. The doc in A&E told her that as he had an endoscope booked for 12 he might as well go home & wait. Good job she stamped her foot & demanded to speak to another doc. He was sent straight to theatre & given a 50/50 chance of surviving the op. The hernia had strangulated, the pressure in the bowel had got so bad the content had gone backwards & now it had ruptured. It was extremely unlikely that he would have survived until the endoscope.
 
Years ago when I lived in Surrey, the local A&E were quite open about not being interested if you'd had a fall/accident involving a horse. They felt it was a dangerous sport, which you should just give up. They would always make you wait for a minimum of 4 hours in the hope that you'd just go away. I fell backwards off one of mine, while getting on, he shot off rodeoing while I was stood with one foot in the stirrup and my foot didn't come out straight away. Horrible cracking sound and knee swelled to twice its normal size within minutes. OH drove me to A&E, on this occasion they made me wait 6 hours as it was a Saturday and all the footie/rugby injuries(not deemed by them to be dangerous sports) were seen first. They told me it was probably just bruised. In the end I insisted they get my notes out and record the fact tht I had requested further tests, xray, scan, etc and that we should both sign it, so that there would be a proper record should I decide to sue them later!! Hah - then they agreed. Both anterior and medial ligaments torn etc etc. Told me to go home and rest. I couldn't weight bear on it at all, but they wouldn't even lend me a walking stick - we had to buy one from hospital shop! Took about 6 months to heal with regular treatment from (private) osteopath. All local horsey people got wise - never went in riding clothes and said they'd fallen off ladder/bike etc - anything but a horse!
 
Well they did give me an X-ray but sent me home saying everything was fine. I wasn't happy, went private and discovered that I had a broken femur, snapped knee cap and ruptured ACL. No wonder I couldn't walk. This isn't the first time they've been negligent. So I've bitten the bullet and arranged private healthcare which is simply amazing.
 
I just wrote a long list of failures of our local A&E and the care on the wards there I've experienced as a bank nurse,a nurse with patients transferred there, as a patient and a relative but it defys belief so deleted it.

In contrast, horses I had treated at my local equine hospital and at Newmarket have had excellent professional and compassionate care.
 
horserider said:
I just wrote a long list of failures of our local A&E and the care on the wards there I've experienced as a bank nurse,a nurse with patients transferred there, as a patient and a relative but it defys belief so deleted it.

In contrast, horses I had treated at my local equine hospital and at Newmarket have had excellent professional and compassionate care.
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Completely agree with this! I think my animals have much better treatment. Unfortunately one thing the NHS boils down to is MONEY! I do training for NHS nurses and despite the fact they are qualified the skills I am teaching them are basic nursing care skills that they should be taught early on(years ago it was standard skill..now they have to do a course on it). I could harp on to the good old days etc but a lot of tutors love their 9-5 uni posts rather than being hospital based so are big fans of the nurse degree which was supposed to raise nurses professionalism. There lies the problem..more professional etc?? um??. I also think that the public think they can complain but as we all now its just lip service nothing gets done. GPs have budgets(they are not accountants or business people and its the worse thing that could happen to the NHS) and hospitals have budgets and they are seperate from each other(a lot of people think its one happy NHS body ..it is not). I have had good and bad experiences of A&E but its pot luck. When I fell of my horse no one took my observations for baseline(in case I deteriorated...). All they want to do is keep you out of hospital, hence lack of care in some incidences. Sorry you got me started........!
 
I've had the opposite! Our local hospital is great, I think I must make at least a twice yearly visit, and have probably had most of my body xrayed by now. I've had a broken elbow, wrist, fractured cheekbone, finger, done all the ligaments in my leg etc. Maybe the difference is that I'm a stubborn old cow and of the fall off and dust myself off variety and a give it a nurofen and I'll be fine, so seem to go in the day after I've actually fallen off. Normally cool as a cucumber but in agony, so they seem to take my injuries pretty seriously!
 
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