"Ruptured bicep tendon and feeling of substandard care - lost in the system"

I sustained an injury at the gym and completely severed my left bicep tendon. I was unsure how bad the extent of the damage was at the time. It was a Friday afternoon and I presented at an emergency walk-in clinic. The attending doctor examined me but could not tell me anything I did not already know (that I was indeed injured) and merely wrote up an ultrasound referral. I realise now that, as I understand it, they should have sent me straight to ED to schedule emergency surgery.

Since it was the weekend, I could not even get the ultrasound until the following Monday. I had this done but the point was made no results could be given to me directly, they will be sent to my GP later in the day. I made an appointment to see the GP the following day and they informed me they had not received anything! In fact, they had to ring them to obtain the results over the phone!

Upon being informed it was a full rupture the GP writes me up an emergency referral for surgery and sends me to present at Royal Perth Hospital Emergency. I do this and am processed, referred to Orthopaedic Trauma with the instructions to wait 48 hours to be contacted. When this does not happen I contact them days later and an appointment is made for the Tuesday next week. I attend this and am seen by the consulting surgeon, procedure is explained and all this goes very well. It is a relatively quick and simple procedure lasting only an hour or so. 

Procedure scheduled for the following day.

However later in the evening I am contacted by a nurse who explains unfortunately more severe trauma cases have come in and now my surgery is cancelled and not to come in as I will not be seen. I am now on a pending list and will be contacted regarding rescheduling. This does not happen and any time I contact them the nurses simply repeat the same information (Don't call us, we'll call you), even informing me that no one there bar one mysterious person even has knowledge or awareness or access to this pending list, but that they can 'pass my concerns on'.

My concerns at this point are that surgery should ideally be done as soon as possible following injury, to avoid later surgical complications or even permanent deformity. 2-3 weeks at the most, which I confirmed with the consulting surgeon. They simply tell me the doctors are aware of this, but no one contacts me as the days go by and I begin to believe that no one here really cares enough to worry about a case which is not immediately life threatening. That is absolutely how it feels as a patient. This process is clearly getting nowhere, what do I have to do to get some adequate care when it is needed?

At the time of writing this story, a full 2 weeks have passed since the initial injury with still no care and I am beginning to panic slightly at this point. I ring Charlie Gairdner's to explain my situation and they actually tell me they have many patients coming over from RPH in the same situation, and that since they are not a trauma hospital and are larger, there is much more chance of being seen. This sounds like good news.

I decide to go back to my GP to get a new referral for CGH. My usual GP is not in so I have to see another doctor. They are unable to process it due to printer/copier difficulties, so I return an hour later expecting to pick up my referral and head straight to CGH. The receptionist has been instructed not to hand it to me, not sure why but I confirm they have actually digitally sent it over as well. In my opinion, the doctor I saw is behaving strangely and telling me outrageous things: apparently it is illegal to even physically hand me a copy of my referral! Never heard this one before, ok no worries, I say I'll just head over the CGH directly. They seem to freak out and says, "No, it's  illegal for outpatients to present at the hospital, and if you do they will call security and have you arrested!" During this conversation they also inappropriately calls me "darling" in a tone I feel suggested they have really done 'so much' for me, which is strange since my feeling right now is more like they are actively trying to prevent me from receiving care.

I ring CGH to clarify things after this bizarre experience and am reassured to just come right away, somone will definitely see me. I present at CGH and am seen by a nurse who in my opinion is completely useless and tells me "I'm lucky to even be seeing them", but there's nothing they can do for me. Because it's not life-threatening emergency, they won't even look at it. Because it is the weekend there is no one to process my case. When I ask them what I should do, they tell me "go home and forget about it(!), enjoy the sun because I can't." 

At this point the most I can hope for is to call back on the Monday and hope there is someone who will actually care enough to actually line up surgery. However now it is getting into 3 weeks since injury and I'm beginning to worry about possible complications/permanent deformity.

Just what do I have to do to receive adequate, competent medical care when I need it? Why am I made to feel like I am the one at fault? Why do I feel like I don't even deserve to be treated or cared about? In my opinion, it is clear no one cares in the system, and I think it is glaringly clear the system is completely incompetent. I think dogs receive faster, more adequate care than I do! I am not a number, I am a human being! Do I have to beg to be taken seriously? Feel rotten!