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Care Opinion

Hip replacement

Posted By PleaseListen

"Hip replacement"

About: St John of God Midland Hospital

(as a relative),

After nearly a week long stay, St John of God Midland sent my parent home with a fractured femur, which they had diagnosed as a minor muscle tear. After repeated requests for a MRI because the pain was extraordinary, they declined each time confident that their X-Ray and CT scan was good enough. They would not investigate further to find the 'minor muscle tear' because they had determined that this would not change the course of treatment (i.e. pain suppressants, rest and physiotherapy).

By not finding the muscle tear, they based their diagnosis on the location of the pain and my parent's general mobility.  They ignored their claims that this was a hip issue and that they might need a hip replacement. My parent repeatedly told them that the pain was excruciating and kept asking for a MRI.  They have also experienced a hip replacement on their other side, but they continued to ignore these claims.

Even worse, my parent met with the Physiotherapist in the hospital, who gathered the details and then decided to do some exercises with their leg.  It's hard to imagine what my parent went through as the physiotherapist pummeled their hip and bent their leg backwards and forwards.  My parent told me this was a horrific experience and left them in agony.

My parent stayed over a weekend and did not even see a doctor for the entire weekend.  Nothing was happening except pain relief. They sent them home with three days of pain suppressants (no prescription) and a plan to get physiotherapy.  That was it.

After weeks of sheer pain, my parent asked to see the doctor and wanted to pay for a MRI themselves.  They were desperate because they weren't improving.  After paying for the MRI, the doctor put them straight into an ambulance and off to another hospital.  The next day, they had a hip replacement because the fractured femur was right next to the femoral artery and they were at major risk of life.

St John of God Midland failed to listen to the patient and should expect an inquiry into what could be considered to be a breach of duty of care.

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Responses

Response from Janet Jones, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance, St John of God - Midland 4 years ago
Janet Jones
Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance,
St John of God - Midland

Submitted on 15/10/2019 at 10:40 AM
Published on Care Opinion at 10:43 AM

Dear PleaseListen,

Thank you for bringing your relative’s recent experience at our hospital to my attention.

I apologise for any concern and distress caused and would appreciate the opportunity to look into the issues you raised.

To do this, l will need your relative’s name and would be grateful if you could contact our Patient Experience Coordinator on 9462 4901 and provide this information.

Please be assured we will complete a full investigation into this matter and look forward to hearing from you so we can commence our review.

Thank you and kind regards,

Janet Jones

Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance

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Response from Natalia Marais, Patient Experience Coordinator, Quality and Risk, St John of God Midland Public and Prive Hospitals 4 years ago
Natalia Marais
Patient Experience Coordinator, Quality and Risk,
St John of God Midland Public and Prive Hospitals

Submitted on 18/10/2019 at 4:52 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 5:15 PM

Hello Please Listen

Thank you for contacting us and providing the information which will allow us to review the care provided for your family member at our hospital. As discussed, we will be in touch once we have completed our investigation.

I am aware that your relative has returned home and wish them the best with their ongoing recovery.

Kind regards

Natalia

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Update posted by PleaseListen (a relative)

It took 6 weeks for SJGMPH to investigate and provide a response. The letter written by the Director of Medical Services was, I believe, a rehash of events mingled with a few empathic comments and apologies. In short, I felt it was poorly written, stated nothing noteworthy and despite the apologies, was decidedly absent of accepting any blame. And I quote...

"...while I understand that you may not be satisfied with our response, please be assured that your parent would not have been discharged home from SJGMPH if there had been any suspicion of a fracture."

I think we can be pretty confident that there was no suspicion of a fracture. I think this is called a misdiagnosis. A further quote...

"Prior to their discharge, your parent's pain was well controlled and they were noted to be mobilising independently with their Zimmer frame"

The patient had a fractured femur and under the care of SJGMPH, continued to complain about the level of pain asking for a MRI on several occasions, which was denied. The doctors failed to perform further evaluations based on radiological testing in the context of the patient’s medical history and the level of pain.

After weeks of severe pain, the patient obtained a referral to get a MRI and even paid for this out of their own pocket. This led to a correct diagnosis and fortunately, we were able to avoid a potentially catastrophic outcome.

I believe SJGMPH failed to listen to the patient, and provided no effective treatment and this caused the patient to needlessly suffer continuing pain.

Response from Dr Sayanta Jana, Director of Medical Services, St John of God - Midland 4 years ago
Dr Sayanta Jana
Director of Medical Services,
St John of God - Midland

Submitted on 6/12/2019 at 1:17 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:18 PM

Dear PleaseListen,

Thank you for your correspondence. I deeply regret that you did not find our response satisfactory and I am disappointed that we were unable to fully address your concerns regarding your parent’s recent experience at our hospital.

We strive to provide a high standard of patient-centred care and l am sorry that we did not meet your expectations. I have asked our Patient Experience Coordinator to contact you to address your concerns outlined in your correspondence.

Kind regards

Dr Sayanta Jana

Director of Medical Services

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