"X-ray reporting delay"

My family member had a fall.  They are a very frail person in their 80s, with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. They had a very painful elbow, with a skin tear as well. Saw GP who ordered an X-ray of their arm, to be attended at our local hospital. Central Gippsland Health.

GP stated they would ring us with the result if it was fractured.  We heard  nothing, so after a week I rang the GP, who said it hadn’t been reported yet.  After 2 weeks, I rang the X-ray department, who stated it still hadn’t been reported.  I told them that this was not good enough. And that we will need to speak to the director of radiography at the hospital if it was not reported on by the next day.

Very soon after we receive a phone call to say the arm is broken and we need to go to the emergency department immediately for treatment. We presented to the emergency department, and due to them being very busy, spent over six hours there, had a ct scan, then a sling applied and was discharged.

If the X-ray had been reported on in a timely manner, the treatment could have been received at the gp and we would not have spent over 6 hours in Ed and two weeks with a broken arm and no treatment.

If this family member hadn’t have had me to advocate for them, who knows how long they would have gone with an untreated broken arm and no assistance.