"Poor aftercare, consultant attitude, and communication"

To say that I am disappointed in NHSL is an understatement. My experience from start to finish has been less than satisfactory, from dealing with secretaries, nurses and Consultants, all have provided a poor service.

I was originally meant to have my surgery in November 2015, due to several cancellations and excuses, I ended up having my surgery September 2016. A few areas of concern are as follows:

1. Poor communication re: surgery dates, 'missing' letters, communication between surgeon and patient re aftercare and also surgeon and registra re: aftercare, I. e. referral to physio - I wasn't referred to physio until 12 weeks post-surgery.

2. Surgeon's attitude - was not prepared to listen to my concerns, only cared that in their opinion their surgery was successful, the fact that I could no longer bend my leg further than 90 degrees, 7 months post-op, was not a concern to them.

3. NHS physio wrote a letter to the consultant detailing their concerns, when I attempted to give them the letter, they didn't have the decency to read it and instead handed it back to me, stating that if the physio wanted to read some text books and put their name to this surgery and aftercare then they can, however they knew best - Staff nurse was in attendance during this meeting.

4. One nurse at the fracture clinic was extremely unprofessional in their approach, discussing my treatment in a public waiting area, rather than take me aside. They blamed me for turning up for an appointment that was cancelled, stating that I should have called to ensure appointment was going ahead - I have never had to do this before, if an appointment was cancelled for a Consultant, it is the secretaries job to ensure patients are aware of this.

5. I finally got an MUA at my insistence, however since I have had no further follow-up. I had this procedure as I was unable to bend my leg past 90 degrees, during the MUA the consultant had to have his registra assist him in bending my leg, when they were finally successful, they said rudely that I could see my leg can bend.

6. Post-op I was put in a straight leg cast for 4 weeks - originally to be 8 weeks - this was never communicated to myself, I was under the impression I would be in a brace and gradually have the bend adjusted by a physio - as this was what happen in my first surgery and also the advice of many other AHPs. When my cast was taken off I was told I wouldn't see physio until after December, at my next appt, the consultant asked how physio was going, I advised I had yet to be referred as per their registra advice.

7. Aftercare following the original operation in September and also the MUA has been poor to say the least. Not one member of the MDT that I experienced was giving the same advice. Another worry is that no one I spoke to agreed with the consultant's post-op care re: straight leg cast. This operation has not only effected my leg, it is affecting my professional and personal life as I am limited in what I am able to do in my job as a result.

I am now almost a year down the line and I still experience a lot of pain, stiffness and it is effecting my mental state. I was more able pre-surgery than I am post-surgery.