General Chat

Almost 8 weeks ago, my 69 year old mother in law had a fall in the street. She was really shaken up and managed to hurt her left hip and left arm/elbow. She is not one to make a fuss easily, and as it was the first match of the World Cup, didn't want to ring my husband (her son) and disturb him to go to A & E. She has another son living not too far away, but didn't want to disturb him either!! Anyway, she made her way home and got herself together somehow. She was still in a great deal of pain a few days later and made an appointment at the GP. He told her that she had pulled a ligament and this would take time to heal. He examined her through her trousers! A week after, she was no better and went back to see another GP in the Practice. Frances (my mother in law) asked if she should not have an x-ray as she was in so much pain. The GP looked at her notes and said, 'no, a ligament strain can take a long time to heal - let me look at you walk' Frances, walks accross the room, with great difficulty ' so, obviously you CAN walk' says the GP, 'come back and see me a few months if there is no improvement'. Almost 8 weeks on, Frances goes back to the GP (she has been in absolute agony since the fall), to plead with the GP to send her for an x-ray. The GP agrees, as this 'has been going on long enough now'(!!!!). Goes for an x-ray a week last Thursday and is told to ring her GP after 2 weeks for the results. The GP receptionist rings her on Monday to say they have the results and the GP wants to see her, when can she come in. Frances tells her she can come in anytime. The receptionist gives her an appointment for THURSDAY just gone. When Frances attends she is told that the hip is in fact fractured. The GP tells her she will make an appointment at the Fracture Clinic. She gives her a slip and tells her to ring after 5 working days to make an appointment. At the moment, this means her ringing NEXT thursday, to then be given an appointment god knows when. Now, I work for a GP myself and am perhaps a little biased, but I know for a fact that my GP would never in a million years have let this one slip through the net. An elderly lady has a fall resulting in her having difficulty walking - straight to A & E, no questions asked, on the off chance that she DOES have a fracture. Same lady, by some chance not having an x-ray (despite asking for one) then having an x-ray revealing a fracture - an appointment would be made at the Fracture Clinic, there and then, before she leaves the surgery, not 'ring after 5 days'!! I am well aware of the Choose & Book scheme that is now in operation, our Practice are in the top 2% for making bookings this way, but I am sure common sense tells you the difference between using this system in general, and using it for an acute event, such as a fracture. My point is this; if she had gone to A & E following the fall (and she now admits that she was silly not to), she would have had an x-ray which would discover the fracture and she would be treated immediately, 8 weeks ago. Why now, when the fracture has been discovered, has she to wait a further 7 days or thereabouts, just to get into the system. Surely time is of the essence. She lives alone and so for the past 8 weeks has been plodding on the best she can, doing her own shopping, cooking, cleaning, walking up and down stairs, the lot. She has still not been given any advice what to to in the meantime, i.e. rest the leg, stay off the leg, etc. We are really mad, but she is of the older generation who really place faith in the GP and professional bodies and are reluctant to question anything they are told. First thing on Monday, I am going to ring the Fracture clinic to find out if this is usual procedure when a fracture is discovered, i.e. to still have to wait. When I get to the bottom of this, I will definitely make a complaint. She is usually so fit and well and this has really knocked the stuffing out of her. Just wondered if anybody had any advice for me to follow, or if anybody else has been through a similar scenario. Thank you Carol

no, but please tell your mil I hope she is okay..... Barbara..xx

Hi Carol Sorry no advice really, just wanted to add that I think this is disgusting the way she has been treated. I hope things get sorted out asap, and I would deffinatly write to the GP whether this is common practice or not. They need to know what a c*ck up they have made Vikkix (Hope your mother-in-law gets better soon and is feeling more like herself)

Thanks Barbara, she is such a tough old bird and not one to complain, sometimes that doesn't get you very far, or do you any favours, does it? Thanks, Carol

What a dreadful thing to happen... To have to wait yet another 7 days (maybe even more) is just appalling. I would be so angry if this was my mother so I can fully understand your feelings - I hope she'll be okay Christine x

This story sounds quite like what happened to my hubby. He was in a car accident and hit the steering wheel hard in a collision. He went to hospital where he was diagnosed with a broken wrist which was plastered and he was sent home. Whilst at the hospital he complained of chest pain and a lump on his chest and was told it was only bruising. He asked for an X ray but this was refused. After about a month and several visits to various GP's he sought an appointment with a private Dr because he couldn't stand the pain any longer. He had a private Xray which showed he had a gross fracture of the sturnum (the bone down the centre of the chest). The top part of the sturnum had shifted forward and was overlaying the lower part by about an inch. So, back to the private Dr who said it was too late to treat because the bones had begun to knit together in their new position. Hubby asked the Dr what advice he would give if the patient were the Dr's son. Dr said he would say the same. He said that if hubby had gone to Southampton Hospital on the day of the accident he would have had an automatic X-ray and he would have had surgery within a day or so, but as he had chosen to go to Poole (slightly nearer to home though equidistant from the scene of the accident) he had picked the wrong hospital!! So......hubby suffered the pain for a few more weeks until the break had fully healed and now has a rather unusual shaped chest! Given that the private Dr wasn't suggesting surgery which hubby would have paid for, we can only think this was the right course of treatment GIVEN THE DELAY in the correct diagnosis. Maybe this is why they are not rushing your m-i-l to the hospital now?? Merry

My sympathy to your Mum hope they can help her and she gets seen to soon. No real advice but have been through a similar situation. Though this was 25 years ago. Hope you don’t mind me telling you about it. My mum had mental problems and one night went on a walkabout, fell and was found by a fireman going to work and taken home by the police. At the time my Dad was poorly waiting to go into Christies ( the cancer hospital) As she couldn’t walk the next day we phone the GP who pulled her leg about and said “it is not broke if it was she would have cried in pain” So she was left. I looked after her as best I could also looking after my Dad. He went into hospital and was sent home as they could do nothing for him. In the meantime my Dad had told them at the hospital what I was having to cope with and they arranged a nurse to come help. My Dad was taken in the local hospital where he passed away and I took my Mum home to my house. The day before my Dad’s funeral the nurse said “does your Mum not have a walking frame” I told her no she walked perfectly well before the fall. She got her to lie on the bed one leg much shorter than the other, she said her hip was broke. She phoned the doctor who said I will come tomorrow NO she said today the girl is burying her father in the morning. All this was in about 6 weeks of time. When she eventually to hospital it was too late a callous had grown and they could not operate, she never walked on her own again. And was in the hosptial for 7 weeks they would have sent her somewhere else ( old people hospital it would have killed her being there) but I said no more she is coming home. This same doctor was the one who said to me when I had gone to him to ask for help His exact words I will never ever forget. “ Your mother is senile your father has cancer only God can help you. I also had 2 children at the time one 7 one 9. I suppose we should have taken it further but with all the upset I was too tired and worn out I just got on with it. He never improved. Took another 10 years or more before enough people had complained about him and he eventually retired to save a case going further. Could write pages on this doctor and his blunders. Thing was those days you couldn't fight and win with the National Health. I would be sorely tempted to take her to A&E and see if they can see to her now perhaps say she has been awake all night in pain and seems to be getting worse. Hope all goes well Thinking of you all. Germaine x

Carol, I can hardly believe the way that your mil is being treated. My aunt (94) fell a week ago, was taken to A&E, kept in and operated on for a broken hip the following day. Joy

Thank you for all your kind advice and your replies. Part of me was thinking to take her to A & E and say the pain is getting worse - I am sure they would have to do something, rather than leave her. I will ring her tomorrow and ask how she feels about this. She is very independent and every other year stays in Australia for 4 months with her daughter. Luckily, she went last year, as god knows what kind of problems this would have caused her - she usually travels during October/November. She has worked all her life, only retiring when she was 60. My father in law died when he was just 51 and I know she misses him terribly. They had made such wonderful plans of what they were going to do when they both retired - sadly he never made it. Once again, thank you for all your kind messages. The more I think about it, the harder I find it to believe that any professional could be so hard hearted. As I mentioned, I work for a GP and myself and the rest of the staff always treat the patient as we would want our own mother/father/sibling/child to be treated at all times - somehow I don't think this has happened here. Best wishes Carol

thats awfull if i was you i would take her to AnE and tell them how much pain she is in. my son hurt his leg and we took him to the hospital they said he had torn his ligerment and gave hime crutches . a week later he tripped and his hip snapped in half if they had done the xray sooner they would have seen what was going to happen , so if i was you MIL i would be realy carful that she dont trip or anything hope everything goes ok Rosex

Carol, I do hope that mil will agree to be taken to A&E tomorrow, I really think that the sooner she is seen, the better. Very best wishes to you both. Joy

Carol I do hope there has been an improvement in your MIL's health. Mau (((XXX)))