"Communication and listening"

My child hurt their wrist playing soccer. I took them to the ED and the doctor was amazing, they indicated there was a fracture in the growth plate, put my child in a cast and told us we would get an appointment with the orthopaedic clinic who would give us the next steps.

This is where the trouble began. I believe we were the specialist's first patient and they were 45min late, they didn't know what room they were in and seemed to have trouble turning on the computer. The specialist finally got the x-ray open and said it looked good but growth plate fractures don't often show up on the x-ray. The specialist then gave us the next steps to follow. Then they looked at the cast and decided it needed to come off and we had our next plan of action.

Once it was off, the specialist looked at the wrist, touched it and gave the 3rd plan. In 15 minutes, we had 3 different plans going, from a fracture to a brace to help my child 'feel special' (it seemed they were not clear on what injury is or if actually needed) and each plan and answer less clear than the last.

When asked about returning to sport and normal activities the answer was never clear. We had to return in 2 weeks for a check but no further x-ray taken. We explained that my child was on painkillers, a min of 3 times a day because it ached and it seemed it was brushed off. 

When we saw a GP the next day for a different issue, I believe they were horrified that a 2nd x-ray was not being done and after feeling the wrist and taking time to identify where the pain was located the GP ordered another x-ray and gave a clear plan of action. 

Very disappointed with the specialist in the clinic and the lack of answers. I believe the specialist did not appear to know what they were talking about or what we should do to ensure it healed correctly.