"Attendance at ED"

My teenage child was taken to Sale Hospital (CGH) ED by ambulance last month after an injury at a school sports carnival. It was believed they had possibly ruptured their ACL. My child had an x-ray and ultrasound at Sale ED. We were told the X-ray was clear. The ultrasound showed a lot of bleeding into the knee. The doctor told me that my child will need an MRI to assess the ACL.

My child was in severe pain. The doctor did give them some strong pain relief however their pain remained severe.

I was initially told to take them home, to elevate and ice their knee and to see my GP for a referral for an MRI. I was unsure at that time how I was even going to get my child from the hospital to my car and home. I asked the staff if the request for the MRI could be done by them, to avoid a doctor's visit, however, I was told that this was not an option.

Due to the ongoing pain, an allied health assistant came to ED to see my teenage child with a zimmer splint and crutches. It was clear to me that getting their leg straight to apply the splint was going to be difficult. Eventually, a physio and a second allied health assistant attended. All 3 were great and spent close to an hour trying to help. I recall the physio queried the x-ray with the doctor as I believe they were concerned about the injury, however, to my knowledge they were told it was just my teenage child's growth plate.

I took my child home via the GP, the GP came out to our car as my child was in too much pain to move. The GP wrote a referral for an MRI.

I booked the MRI at Sale Hospital. The MRI was booked for the Monday week after the injury (12 days) after the injury.

My child remained in severe pain for days. I booked an MRI at another hospital as I could get an earlier appointment which my child attended recently.

The result of the MRI and also a CT scan they did at that hospital shows a broken leg. Staff there cannot understand how this was not picked up in the x-ray done in Sale a week earlier.

My teenage child has had surgery at that hospital to repair the break. They have had to endure a week of pain for something that in my opinion should have been sorted out, or at least identified in Sale.

I cannot understand why an emergency MRI was not done while my child was in ED at Sale, and how a broken leg can be missed when reviewing an x-ray.

The staff were all very friendly, however, I feel the seriousness of my child's injury was dismissed and the overall service was lacking.