"Poor communication and lack of advice"

I attended Widnes walk in centre one Saturday in March around 7. 15 am following a left leg injury from nearly a week prior. I have osteoarthritis already in my left knee and went due to my knee being very swollen and my thigh muscle was tight and the swelling was getting worse. I saw a lovely nurse called Julie who I can not fault and was very thorough however I was sent to a& e with? Clot and for possible soft tissue scan as they was also worried about the degree of my injury.

I went to a & e to then be told that they don’t do soft tissue scans till Monday and that I would be sent for an X-ray to check for fluid ( which I couldn’t fathom as my knee obviously had fluid due to the injury plus osteoarthritis so it wouldn’t make anyone any more the wiser ). I then saw another nurse who looked at the X-ray and said nothing had been noted about osteoarthritis and that there was a bit of fluid on the knee. Basically the X-ray was pointless.

I then had a physical exam which then made the nurse more alarmed at how bad the swelling was and then bloods were taken and I had an ultrasound booked for the next day to check for a clot. The bloods were to check for clotting levels and I was given clexane incase it was a clot. In my eyes the X-ray and bloods and physical exam could of purely all been done in the walk in centre and if the nurse in the walk in centre had known that the soft tissue scan would not be till Monday then I wouldn’t have been sent.

I then went to my ultrasound scan in the morning at 10. 20 the lady told me that there was no clot and I would then need to go upstairs to ward 1b to see the doctor as they will try to figure out what else it could be. I went upstairs expecting some kind of physical exam from a doctor. I was led by the doctor to a chair, I explained the full background of my osteoarthritis arthritis and a fluid shift from my knee to my thigh post injury then all the swelling   to just be told I don’t have a blood clot and I can go home. I didn’t get any physical exam or any explanation as to what the degree of my injury could be and how long I could expect the swelling to ease off. I asked about soft tissue scan and the doctor basically asked me why would I need that. I explained in case I had some kind of tear, minor/ major or no tear so I know. they said they'd worked in orthopaedics for 4 months and had never seen a thigh tear and it’s highly unlikely. This was said without a physical exam which I can not understand. I asked about the fluid shift from my knee which disappeared post injury but seemed to go to my thigh, I asked if it would just dissolve and was told yes. Doctor said If I wanted an mri I would have to go through the gp. Advised to self refer to MCAT and if they had concerns they may book a scan.

I don’t want to get anyone into trouble but I really do think that this whole short journey was poor. I am now at home trying to rest it as much as possible but every time I walk for too long it flares up and gets worse. It’s hard for me due to having two children one is 3 year and one is 9 months and struggle to fit in time to rest.   My mother luckily has crutches she is going to bring over to help me prevent walking on the knee to aid healing. I will contact physio and go from there but I really do think that a & e could of been avoided in this instance and the doctor could have been a bit more sympathetic and informative.