"Child's broken arm"

Several weeks ago my child broke their arm falling from their scooter. We presented to the ED at Tom Price Hospital and on arrival the nurse was amazing.

They rang the Dr on Call who advised to get an Xray done to confirm the break. We were then sent to the Drs Surgery for them to review the Xray and confirm the break.

We were advised that my child's arm would need to be manipulated back into place, where the Dr commented they could do or send us to Perth.

My reply was if you can do it, do it here.

We then met back up at Tom Price Hospital to get my child's arm realigned and casted. My child was offered nitrous oxide during the process I believe. The Dr advised my child if the pain got too much they would stop, partway through my child was screaming that it was hurting but the Dr continued and did not stop.

We were led to believe Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH) was consulted about what the plan was regarding casting. After the realignment was done the nurses and Dr proceeded to cast.

The next day we received a call from the Dr telling us the casting had been done incorrectly and to come back (the nurses were going to ring to confirm time). After many phone calls and visits back to the ED we were told no the casting would be staying.

The day after that, another phone call received from Tom Price Hospital advising that yes indeed, PCH has advised my child's cast needed to be changed. After presenting to the hospital the Dr on Call made a few phone calls and it was decided that no, the casting would stay as it was.

A few days later, we had a Telehealth appt with Perth Children’s Hospital and they advised that my child did need to be re-casted. We proceed back to the emergency department and, as I believe Tom Price Hospital cannot do fibreglass casting, we would need to travel to Karratha Hospital to get this done. The nurses contacted Karratha and we were told we couldn’t make an appointment, we would just need to wait in the ED until it could be done.

During this time, we had multiple phone calls and visits to the ED with different doctors who all had different ideas on what should be done, even after PCH recommend the casting be changed before we went to Karratha.

In the end, the decision was made from the local Drs that casting would stay, and my child just had to be careful not to fall over.

A few days later, we drove 3.5 hours to Karratha, we waited in the ED for 4 hours before being seen. My child had their fibreglass cast put on.

Around a week later, my child had mentioned their arm was starting to hurt more so we took them to see a Dr at Tom Price who sent us for another Xray just to confirm everything was healing correctly. We were told my child's arm wasn’t straight, but the degree out was in the normal range.

More recently, we had our Telehealth appt with PCH and was told the cast could come off. We presented to ED for this to happen.

By now my child's thumb was looking red and you could see how tight it was becoming. The Nurses on were nothing but amazing and took great care with my child.

After a lengthy process, the cast was finally removed at Tom Price Hospital only to see it had been done too tight in the first place and their arm was completely cut up. My child was in a lot of pain. Along with their arm being all cut up their thumb had become infected.

We then went to the Dr Surgery and met with a Dr who I felt has been one of the only Drs who has listened to us. Unfortunately for us, they were not here for most of the issues we had. But has assured us they will continue to follow up with us. We were given another Xray for 2 weeks’ time along with antibiotics for my child's thumb.

I think something needs to be done about the Dr at Karratha who has casted incorrectly, the damage that could have been done if the cast did not come off the day it did is scary.

We have photos if you require them to see exactly the damage to my child's arm.

In this whole process, the nurses at Tom Price Hospital especially Katrina and Kylie need to be recognised for their outstanding attention to care and listen to us the whole time.

This whole ordeal has left us questioning every decision being made by our Medical staff. Being remote I believe we should be getting the same care as in Perth.