"Referral from another hospital"

On 12th December I slipped on ice and broke my wrist. I was away from home and was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. I checked in giving my name and date of birth and my correct address, telephone number and GP details were confirmed by them. I was seen swiftly, X-rayed, diagnosed with a Colles fracture and this was treated and a temporary plaster applied. I was told that I would need an urgent follow up to determine if an operation was necessary. I was offered an appointment the following day in Bishop’s Stortford but as this is 40 miles from where I live and I was now unable to drive I requested a referral to Queen’s Hospital Romford which is my local hospital. I was given a referral letter to take to Queen’s that said on the envelope that I needed an appointment within 24 hours, it also explained that the X-Rays had been sent electronically by ‘IEP’.

I went to Queen’s that afternoon, on checking in at A&E reception I was asked to confirm my contact details, they had 2 telephone numbers that were over 12 years out of date, the next of kin they quoted passed away 5 years ago and they had me registered at a GP that I have NEVER been registered with and they couldn’t find my X-Rays. I was passed around for about 2 hours while they struggled to book a follow-up with the fracture clinic. I was eventually given an appointment for Wednesday 20th December, 8 days later, when I questioned this all I got was a shrug and “That’s all we’ve got”, as far as I am aware no medically trained person has reviewed my notes.

I am extremely concerned about the implications of the obviously out of date patient data held at Queen’s which if I hadn’t booked into another hospital on the same day I would have assumed was an NHS wide failure. The A&E department and ‘Minors’ (which is confusingly signed as Majors) was in total chaos while I was there. Whilst I appreciate that the staff were working hard in difficult circumstances, with patients overflowing into the corridors, maybe if they could access up to date test results and accurate patient data then they could deal with people more swiftly and appropriately. I can now only wait till my appointment and hope that my wrist isn’t knitting in the wrong position.