"Poor care"

A couple of weeks ago my partner fell in the garden and hurt her wrist quite badly, she thought it was a bad sprain and did not have it looked at. The next day it was clear that it was more than a sprain, I took her to A&E where she was given an x-ray and a temporary plaster put on as her wrist had been fractured. She was given an appointment for the following day to be seen at the fracture clinic and Ward D5 to have her wrist pinned and a more permanent plaster put on.

My partner duly attended this appointment and after the pinning and plastering was sent home. back at home the wrist was very painful, not unusual given that a bone had been broken, she dosed up on painkillers and kept telling herself it was to be expected and it would get better. However, after a few days the fingers were looking discoloured and the pain was particularly severe. I took her back to A&E.

The consultant in A&E looked aghast at the state of her fingers and immediately stated the plaster had been applied far too tightly. It was taken off. When the arm was exposed the wound where the pinning had been done looked very angry but nothing was done to clean or dress the wound, they  just reapplied a new plaster with a better fit.

Yesterday she had a routine appointment back at the fracture clinic to have the pins removed and plaster changed.  She was almost turned away but I insisted upon her being seen as she has been told to come back, even though the written confirmation she had been assured she would receive for this appointment was never received. It seems the appointment was not processed as she did not receive the letter nor were the clinic aware of it.

When the plaster was taken off the nurse immediately fetched a doctor to examine her arm. The first plaster that had been applied too tightly had caused the pins to become embedded in the flesh and has become infected. This meant the pins could not be removed and she was prescribed a course was antibiotics and further painkillers. The  nurse gave her a leaflet about after care and what to do if  fingers etc became swollen and discoloured. The nurse almost did not give her the leaflet saying that she assumed my partner will have already been given this, my partner said, no, she had not received the leaflet and took it. If only we had been given this from the beginning we would have returned to the hospital much sooner.

My partner is now on antibiotics waiting for the infection to clear, it seems that the whole treatment procedure will need to start from the very beginning with the repinning and setting. Two weeks of severe pain that could have been prevented, opportunities to put things right missed.