Broken arm - can’t get seen by NHS - help please

[BrokenarmbrokenNHS]

I don’t know how to get my dd help - please could anyone advise?

My dd has an accident at school last week (Thursday). I took her for an xray at minor injuries and they said they didn’t think it was broken. A day later we had a phone call to say it was indeed broken and dd is in a lot of pain. I think it’s the radius bone as it goes into the elbow. They said they would refer to the fracture clinic and we had a choice of 2 hospitals as we are between hospitals. So I chose the more convenient one. This was on Friday on the phone.

My DD’s elbow has now been broken for 5 days. We have been referred to the wrong hospital, but I thought I will not worry about that, I will just go to it even though it’s an hour from her school. But they will not give me an appointment. I was supposed to wait to hear from them, they haven’t called. I’ve called them directly and they say she’s on some bloody list.

meanwhile my y13 dd has a broken elbow with nothing other than a sling and is shitting herself about buggering her A levels up this summer due to not being able to write and being in loads of pain.

What am I supposed to do? Why can’t we get help? This is crazy to leave a fracture for 5 days with nobody giving a shit. I foolishly thought the NHS still dealt with emergencies. I have no idea what to do. Please help.

Aha doing her A levels at 13?

I dont expect them to chase admin but IF she did in fact need a cast, they would have been able to contact orthopaedics and be advised to put one on. So, yes A&E may have been useful to prevent potential future damage. Had minor injuries and/or fracture clinic had good communication in the 1st place, then OP wouldn't be so worried about her DD and posting "Can't be seen by NHS".

I did work in Paeds ED up until last year (nurse), the team and myself would have thought this was a reasonable presentation, based on the entire lack of communication. 111 would do pain relief but would signpost to minor injuries for any advice related to OPs query, same with GP, which only leaves A&E or minor injuries.

Expecting someone to have knowledge of what to expect after a fracture, without educating them, is ridiculous. As with posting on SM for medical advice, hence why the advice was go to A&E.

People who misuse A&E are the ones that turn up as their child complained of an earache about an hour ago and did not give pain relief, wonder why their children with a stomach bug of 2 hours is not keeping down food, or attend A&E for minor illnesses without even attempting to contact their GP or 111.

Yes, it sounds like communication about the diagnosis and its management, and fracture clinic admin was poor, however, the poster could have accessed the information required and advice on pain management and fracture clinic follow by asking questions at the time, by contacting/presenting to the minor injury again, by asking fracture clinic when she spoke to them about the x-ray report, or by contacting the child's GP. Parents can request proxy access to their children's health record on the NHS app through the GP practice, where depending on the information shared discharge letters are included in the documents section, although done practices only do this for younger children. I'm now unwatching this thread as it's becoming a vent fest for some people. OP, I hope your daughter is seen in fracture clinic soon

My son fell on his hand during phys ed at school. After a couple of days, I realised it wasn't getting better quickly so I made a GP's appointment for later that day, sent for an x-ray, got the results that afternoon which confirmed a fracture, and drove to the fracture clinic where he got plastered that afternoon almost immediately on us getting there. I have no idea why people in the UK laud the NHS because to foreigners it looks like - well I'm not sure what it looks like other than that it's a model we don't want.

She's in year 13 of school I think, not 13 years old.

Exactly! Normally mn is full of “if it’s not an accident nor an emergency then don’t go” yet for some reason on this one, the lemmings heading for the cliff edge decided that the best action. I’m still baffled. The OP had had the X-ray and the issue was with the referral.

I agree. It's also a Controlled Drug, and if OP's mother is deceased it should have been returned to the pharmacy for disposal. It's certainly not something you should have in your medicine cupboard "just in case" (Retired pharmacy technician here btw) And NEVER give morphine and codeine together; they're both opiates, and could cause severe problems.

People go to A&E because it’s the one and only place someone medical will actually see you without an appointment! It’s not rocket science. I’m not advocating going to A&E with every damned thing, but when other parts of the NHS fail to give medically necessary advice in a timely way (as in OP’s case) or when you simply cannot get a GP appointment and you’re in pain (most people most of the time) or if you don’t have a minor injuries unit near you (ours burned down ten years ago and has never re-opened) — people will go to A&E, because they’re frightened and in pain. And it’s not actually an irrational thing to do, because from their perspective it’s their only hope of getting medical advice.

When my dad (late 80s) had a painfully swollen knee joint that made him unable to walk the GP actually told me to go to A&E because it was the only way an ortho specialist would see him without a six-month wait! (I didn’t take him — he’s got Alzheimer’s and would never have understood why we were sitting in chairs in A&E for hours on end while he was exhausted and in pain. But it’s literally what we were told to do.)

The poster above who said ‘well you should have asked questions at the time’ — time machines aren’t yet available in most trusts although I’m sure Wes Streeting is on it.

Honestly — why the desperate attempts to make this the OP’s fault? It isn’t her fault. It just isn’t.

For an uncomplicated broen elbow you are in a sling for a few days and are then encouraged to move it.

OP says her DD is 18 and in Year 13 which is the last year of A-levels end of sixth form.

I'd be pretty worried about a break now TBH - it's when revsion and exam pratcise to starting to really kick in.

I am a hospital doctor and I think this situation is unacceptable. Yes, this may be a minor facture. But the OP and her daughter are not medically-trained. They should not have to be googling solutions. A good health system should be able to see a person with a broken limb, face-to-face within a reasonable length of time and offer some diagnostic advice, support and reassurance. Our bar should not be this low.