"Urgent Care needs an Urgent Overhaul"

My sibling attended urgent care at leongatha hospital after a fall and suspected a badly sprained ankle or a broken lower leg. Judging by the pain they were in (they have a high pain threshold) i assumed it was broken.

My sibling said they weren't given any pain relief prior to being assessed yet were clearly in pain. They complained about pain in their lower right leg, had a scraped knee from the fall which was clearly evident and also pain in their hip and groin. My sibling wasn't assessed in detail by the doctor on duty opting for a simple xray of the right ankle. It seemed the ward wasn't busy with only one other patient occupying a bed. My sibling's hip wasn't even looked at.

The radiologist took 3 images then said they needed the senior radiographer to review them as they saw something in there. This confirmed a clear fibula fracture. Even i could see it on the images myself.

The doctor said they will fit a moon boot - but they didn't have one and couldn't co-ordinate anyone to get one from nearby Korumburra hospital. So my sibling arranged for a moonboot to be picked up and dropped off.

After the boot was fitted my sibling was told to take 100mg of asprin daily to ward off blood clotting. They said that you can weigh bear on this injury. My sibling was then told ok here's a referral for follow up xrays in six weeks and you're free to go. They were asked to pay for crutches and the moon boot. They weren't given any discharge papers.

My sibling was given no medication for pain management despite having a clearly broken leg. They were given nothing to help with the pain. Their hip wasn't even assessed. What the hell?

They didn't sleep a minute that night saying the pain was through the roof. 

So i took my sibling to another hospital's ED. They were really surprised my sibling wasn't given pain relief after we said what had happened. As they had no discharge papers they assessed my sibling like I believe Leongatha should have. Xrays for their ankle, knee and hip following a proper assessment by the doctor on duty. They were given pain relief while they waited and after confirming the fractures (not 1 but 3).

After spending all day there (they were very busy so we just had to wait our turn) they found:

Secondary fracture of the Fibula. Missed by Leongatha Radiology.

Avulsion fracture of the hip - not assessed by leongatha at all.

Given Endone for the pain while in ED and also given a prescription for Endone and an anti coagulant to be supplied by a chemist.

The moon boot was removed and my sibling was put into plaster (a back slab) when they weren't allowed to weight bear at all. After 2-3 weeks the backslab could be removed then the moon boot fitted. This was as directed by an orthopaedic @ LRH.

My sibling suffered immense pain when they didn't need to and wasn't given the level of care or even a proper assessment by going to Leongatha. I believe it was absolutely terrible service.