Hospital made a mistake

[Happymam6710]

My daughter (age 9) broke her left wrist at school on Tuesday. We were told that she had a buckle fracture and for this type of fracture she needed to wear a splint for 4 weeks.While being seen by a doctor he sent for a nurse to go and get a splint. The nurse fitted the splint in front of the doctor. Yesterday we went to my friends house and her little girl who is the same age as my daughter noticed that my daughters splint was on upside down. My friends daughter had the same injury a few months ago which is how she knew. So metal part was on the top of her wrist instead of underneath.

After googling it we took a trip back to same hospital who confirmed that it was on wrong and they had given her a right handed splint for her left arm. I asked if there would be any long term damage with her wearing it incorrectly for nearly a week. The nurse said hopefully not but she could not say for certain.

I'm really annoyed about it to be honest. The nurse apologised and said that if I wanted to make a complaint I could. I said that I don't really want to because it's the NHS but also worried about it not healing properly. What do you think I should do? If we hadn't of seen my friend today she could have been wearing it wrong for the next 4 weeks.

Normally the rigid metal strip goes underneath the wrist but it’s on top instead. Imagine wearing a rubber glove on the opposite hand. I’m sure the fracture will heal but also that it’s been made more uncomfortable/ awkward than necessary.

Id complain just so it doesn’t happen again.

You don’t need to frame it as a complaint. You’re giving them feedback and a chance to avoid a potentially worse mistake.

I don’t understand not complaining about the NHS, I would complain about bad service regardless of the organisation. I’m an NHS nurse.

If people don’t tell us, we can’t reflect and learn from our mistakes.

I don’t understand not complaining ‘because it’s the NHS’ this is one of the (many) things wrong with the NHS. It’s seen as some kind of god/religion that we can’t complain about even when the service is often absolutely shite. It’s not free - we all pay for it. Yes, many of the staff are wonderful but they are not saints when they make it mistake it needs to be addressed or else mistakes happen again and again.

If I was doing a maths exercise in school and I made a mistake in it, the teacher needs to point out my error to me, otherwise I won't be aware. It's a missed learning opportunity.

The nurse who fitted the splint incorrectly might have made other errors in her shift or maybe none other at all. The mistake still needs to indicated to her so she can learn from it. It's not necessarily being punitive, there needs to be improvement so it's the correct procedure to say something to that end.

The exact same thing happened to a patient in the fracture clinic I worked at. It had been put on in A&E.
I submitted a datex (report to management) and also informed A&E nurse manager.
Please complain to PALS. This should not be happening.

A friend suffered terribly as a result of a mistake in hospital. It drives me WILD that she hasn’t made any kind of complaint - it could be my relative who suffers from the same error next. She’s convinced that because she suffered an injury as the result of a mistake, they’ll just lie to avoid paying compensation. But right now, no one knows there was a mistake!!

The exact same happened to me. The level of incompetence is unbelievable.

Don't look at it as a complaint, look at is as feedback to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
I hope your DD heals well

Thank you so much for your replies. I have written an email via pals. I also rang fracture clinic who are doing an xray on her tomorrow morning to check for any lasting damage. I appreciate that everyone took the time to reply to me.

Surely it's more feedback than a complaint. I would definitely say something, nothing can improve without feedback being given when mistakes are made.

I said that I don't really want to because it's the NHS

Are you confusing making a complaint with claiming compensation?