"Not fit for purpose"

I attended the walk-in centre at St Marys in early Jan after hurting my knee at work.

I got there at 6.00 pm - in agony - was given paracetamol on a pain score of 9/10. Waited & waited to finally have an X-ray. They I believe consult the on-call orthopaedics at QA Portsmouth. Then told I have a ruptured ACL & a fracture to knee . Given a letter to say my knee will be reviewed by VFC- virtual fracture clinic. I was fitted with a blue type of brace & told to rest The idea of the VFC I guess is to cutdown & maximise the fracture clinics time etc . I was hurriedly sent home ( after 10pm - their home time) in pain& told to wait a phone call and/or text after the weekend . Fair enough.

I contacted my doctors surgery the next day who did a script for decent pain relief.

I then received a text on Monday giving me an appointment two weeks later. No explanation, no further advice. I then spend ages getting through & found a helpful sister who was able to help. She informed me that it’s much better to assess the damage when the swelling had gone down , hence the 2 week review gap. A letter detailing the injury & findings was sent by post .

I attended my QA appt yesterday . As I got to the cubicle the nurse said what is that on your knee?? she was referring to the blue support- it’s not fitted properly & its not doing anything for your knee. The consultant came in & said that is rubbish & you should never have been put in that. This has set me back by 2 weeks - the swelling remains. Having an urgent MRI - with definite surgery & weeks of rehab.

I was then put in a mechanical brace.

I will be complaining to Care Uk separately.

I have read the last CQC report - the out of hours wasn’t tested as far as I could see. Maybe they should visit in the evening ??

My advise to anyone is go to QA with any suspected break/ligament damage as they have the skills to help. St Marys in my opinion is not fit for purpose & the ‘good’ rating needs to be reviewed quickly.