"Poor A&E care and follow Up"

This is written on behalf of my grandmother, who attended A&E at the end of January with new severe back pain. She has osteoporosis, has broken vertebrae before, and has had operations to fix them.

Despite her history, A&E staff declined to x-ray her back, even just to check. Instead, they were convinced that her pain was due to constipation (despite the fact that my grandmother stated her bowels moved regularly, and she is definitely not confused). They insisted on a rectal examination, which my grandmother reluctantly agreed to. While exposed and vulnerable on the bed, another staff member walked in on the examination to change the curtains and the nurse practitioner had to ask them to leave. My grandmother, as well as still being in pain, was mortified.

Unsurprisingly, the examination found she was not constipated, and after seeing medical staff, she was told she had been referred for an MRI scan and was discharged home. The nurse practitioner told her that if she didn't hear anything within two weeks, to phone - but didn't give a name or a contact number. Naturally, when she heard nothing and called A&E, no one knew anything.

Still in severe pain, she contacted her GP who commenced her on gabapentin, which did nothing to help. She contacted the MRI department through switchboard, who told her that she would have to wait to be put on a special list, due to having a pacemaker. My grandmother understood, and waited, hearing nothing.

She has struggled as her quality of life has gone down, her staunch independence fading away. This is changing her life for the worse, and she urgently needs some kind of treatment. I can only hope someone please responds to this story with some advice over what to do next, before she is unable to recover.