"Emergency Department"

My teenager was transported to Bendigo Health via ambulance, from our rural town after an injury they sustained playing sport one weekend.

My teenager arrived at Bendigo Health in the evening and was found a bed in the Emergency Department in a timely manner - approximately 45 minutes.

After initial consultation and x-rays, it was decided that an Orthopaedic Surgeon's opinion would be necessary, as there was a visible fracture to the tibia, and displacement of the patella.

Several nurses & a couple of doctors came by and my teenager was kept comfortable with pain medication etc., but nothing was decided as far as surgery was concerned.  A nurse from the Paediatric ward came down and introduced herself, saying they would prepare a bed.

At approximately midnight, another doctor came by and said she would try to manually correct the patella & bone, under sedation, which did happen.

My teenager's leg was fitted with a back slab, then re-x-rayed.  Upon viewing the second x-ray, my husband and I both commented that it didn't visibly look any different from the first.

At 2am, the doctor said we could go home, knowing that we lived 1.5 hours away, and that my teenager's leg would be reviewed in a week.

We arrived home at approximately 3.45am.

Upon waking at 10.45am, I noticed that I had a missed call on my mobile phone from Bendigo Health, at around 8.30am.  I called the Emergency Department as requested and was told that my child's discharge notes could not be found, and they had no idea what the missed call was about, and to just ignore.

At approximately 1.15pm, I received a call from a Surgical Registrar at Bendigo Health, wanting my child to be re-admitted ASAP, as they had reviewed the injury and had my child scheduled for surgery that afternoon!

We returned to Bendigo Health that afternoon, and my child's surgery was performed.

We were very disappointed with the lack of communication between the Emergency Department and others, when I believe it was very evident that surgery was the only option to repair my child's fracture.