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Care Opinion

Fracture diagnosis

Posted By chassisgc76

"Fracture diagnosis"

About: Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital / Emergency Department

(as the patient),

I came into an emergency at Charlie's around 2am. The covid checks were intense and difficult as I had fallen on my wrist and was not allowed anyone with me.

I recall I was one of only 2 people in the emergency room and despite that I was still in there for 2 hours.

It took nearly an hour after triage to be given any pain relief and then I continued to wait alone in pain for quite some time.

The triage nurses were lovely though and tried to calm me.

After X-rays I was brought through to a doctor who said they suspected a small break in my hand, the nurse suggested a cast but the doctor said a splint would do. I was then put into an XL splint that I felt was far too big and didn't help to keep my hand still at all.

Around 5 days later, I went to my personal doctor who told me I had a fracture in my ulna and needed to get in with a fracture specialist asap.

The following day I received a follow up call for the a&e doctor at Charlie's saying my X-rays had been reviewed and they told me I needed to be in a cast.

Unfortunately my fracture clinic appointment wasn't till about 10 days after the original injury.

Here I was told that I needed to be in a cast asap and sent for more X-rays, this was when I found out I had a further radial break in my wrist and informed there was a chance of surgery being needed.

With all of this info only being discovered over a week after the initial injury, I believe there was a definite level of neglect when I presented with my initial injury and was sent away with an ill-fitting splint.

With this being my dominant hand and causing me to be out of work due to the injury, I am disappointed that more care wasn't given and that there seems to have been errors in reading my X-rays.

I'm very disappointed with the way my injury has been seen to and I'm very concerned my healing has been prolonged by the incorrect care given. I feel an injury like this on my dominant hand not properly seen to for 10 days is going to cause me long-lasting damage, not to mention the rehabilitation after the cast being removed. I don't feel the care I was given was in any way acceptable.

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Responses

Response from Janet Zagari, Executive Director, Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group 2 years ago
Janet Zagari
Executive Director,
Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Health Care Group

Submitted on 25/03/2022 at 3:54 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 3:55 PM

picture of Janet Zagari

Dear chassisgc76,

Thank you for advising us of your experiences of the treatment you received for your fractured wrist when you attended the Emergency Department (ED) during the early hours of the morning. I acknowledge the distress and potential impact that this has had on you and appreciate that you have taken the time to share your concerns with us so that we can improve our services. As Care Opinion is an anonymous platform, we will try to respond to the concerns you have expressed about the processes in place.

It is not usual to wait two hours for pain relief and I apologise for the delay. Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital has implemented a fast track area within the ED which is separate from other areas of the ED where many other patients would have been receiving treatment. Fast track is staffed by medical staff, nurse practitioners and advanced practice physiotherapists with the aim to provide timely treatment to patients with injuries similar to yours. In the fast track area, patient x-rays are ordered and when available they are reviewed electronically by the ED Consultant. As you have shared with us, a break/fracture was identified in your wrist and a backslab was applied. A number of fractures are initially managed in a backslab rather than a full cast because this enables the support to be tightened or loosened easily to adapt to the patient’s swelling as it increases and subsides.

Patients whose fractures do not require immediate surgery or admission, are followed up with an orthopaedic specialist outpatient appointment, where the patient’s fracture is reviewed and additional treatment provided as required. When patients with a diagnosed fracture are discharged from the ED, they are usually advised about the follow-up appointment and also about consulting their GP or returning to the ED should they have any concerns. The ED also has a safety process in place whereby the final approved imaging reports from the Radiology Department are reviewed by an ED Consultant to identify any discrepancy between the initial imaging interpretation in the ED and the Radiology Department’s report. Should any discrepancy be identified, the ED consultant contacts the patient to ensure that appropriate action is taken.

Without knowing the specific details of your visit to the ED, we are unable to provide further information. I would encourage you to contact the Consumer Liaison Service (phone: 6457 2867 or email: CLS@health.wa.gov.au) to provide your personal details, so that we are able to conduct a thorough investigation and provide a personalised response.

I trust that you have since received the treatment from an orthopaedic consultant and that your wrist is healing well.

Yours sincerely

Janet Zagari

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