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.

Go to A&E today, stop prevaricating on MN. Put a PALS in about the referral.
You have no idea the damage that maybe caused if it heals badly.

Have you ever been to a fracture clinic? They’re hell on earth because they work at capacity and then some.

When we took DS2, who’d dislocated his shoulder and broken it in 3 places, it was standing room only and we got seen at 7pm for our 3.45pm appointment. If someone had reviewed his x-ray and decided he didn’t need to come in, I’d have been relieved tbh.

My daughter had this. She was advised to wear in a fabric sling for 2 weeks. Ice if needed. Take pain meds for a couple of days. Hers was rechecked after a few days and it was a lot better.
They said to do exercises 4 times a day after taking the pail killers and take sling off, sling off for sleeping too. After a week she was back to normal tbh. No sports except swimming for 6 weeks. If you google radial head feature elbow exercises then nhs pages come up. They gave us some leaflets. It basically helps keep it mobile.

I totally get people break bones all the time. The NHS doesn’t seem to get that though. Otherwise they would actually employ people to help deal with the broken bones. I have a bottle of morphine and also codeine pills anyway which belonged to my mum. I just wanted her fracture looked at and to receive proper advice.

Seems like 3rd world. Can’t understand why we don’t actually have proper facilities

Ah sorry you’ve had a rubbish experience op. What I really object to is civil servants & directors being paid mega high end six figure salaries to run these trusts and hospitals whilst doing such a rubbish job.

With all due respect, why didn't you just go to A&E instead of posting on MN? None of us can help her.

If you do want the fracture looked at again you are going to have to go back to minor injuries or A and E. Waiting over a week for an appointment at the fracture clinic isn't unusual

My dd injured herself in France not long ago - I can’t even begin to describe the difference in treatment and efficiency compared to when she broke a bone in the uk…

Not all fractures require the patient to be reviewed/seen in person in fracture clinic

All x-rays are reported by a radiologist (typically within 48 hours) and reports are compared against the management whether the patient was seen in minor injuries or an emergency department, regardless if seen by an advanced practitioner or a doctor. You would have already been contacted by the minor injuries If the practitioner had incorrectly interpreted the x-ray and different management was needed.

Give your daughter regular over the painkillers and follow the ice pack advice until the clinic call with an appointment date/time or discharge advice

They do employ people to deal with broken bones, part of that is reviewing and streaming patients. She did not need to be seen, so she isn’t being. She has been given a sling and it’s been reviewed. Being seen in person today would not change the management.

She is lucky she has a very minor injury that though painful and a little restrictive does not need to be seen and will heal in a reasonable length of time with no complexities.

The X-rays were reviewed in clinic and they will have looked for dislocations, obvious fractures and displacements. Often the screens aren’t as good as the ones used by reporting radiographers and radiologists. A small radial head fracture may only have been visible on review as they had the time and equipment needed to review it properly. This is why images are reported on, a certain number of fractures will not be visible or noticed at clinic, but are seen and managed through reporting mechanisms.

Don’t give your daughter strong medication for which she has not been prescribed. If she is in pain call your gp and get her seen and prescribed appropriate treatment.

Communication could have been better, you can certainly complain about that if you feel you’ve been mislead or miscommunicated with.

The NHS has been underfunded for years.
France has a similar population and has 5.8 beds for every 2.5 in the UK and 26% more staff.

It's nothing at all like "the third world", @BrokenarmbrokenNHS not sure why you think it's at all comparable to a developing country's lack of health care. You were seen, an x-ray was taken, it was reviewed by the fracture clinic who have phoned you to give you the diagnosis and the follow up appointment information. Clearly there was some initial confusion and the referral was handled badly, that's an error, but it doesn't mean the system is broken or not fit for purpose.

What do you think your experience of health care would actually be like in a low-income developing country?

So they’ve confirmed the type of break and said it doesnr need a cast? Radial break of the elbow is very common and generally just needs a sling for a few days then moving it.

if you’re worried call gp or go to a and e. But seems fine?

Seems like 3rd world. Can’t understand why we don’t actually have proper facilities

We do. You are just refusing to use them. Go to A&E.

But it was looked at, and a x ray taken, she just needs a sling for a few days, will take up to 12 weeks to heal. You can call your gp or go to a and e if you’re still confused. Didn’t they tell you on the phone what to do with it?

I don't know how old your daughter is but do not give her morphine or codeine without medical advice on dosage!

The communication you have encountered has been poor but this injury does not need to be seen in person immediately. As usual in the NHS, the demand outstrips the supply of staff and resources so they prioritise the patients who's injuries do need in person treatment and more urgent or frequent monitoring. Fracture clinics are extremely busy places and certainly in my trust, the staff are run off their feet.

I feel that you should have had better communication once the fracture was identified in terms of what management to continue with and what timescale to expect an appointment.

If you feel your daughter is not managing with the pain then contact your GP or 111 for advice on what pain relief she could be prescribed.

No, when they phoned me last week, they said it was broken. No indication of what type of break and no info for managing it. I only found out since posting this thread, after hassling the fracture clinic again, what kind of fracture it is and how to manage it. Nobody was goign to tell me. And some of the things we should have done, like icing it, have not been done. Because we didn’t know and had insufficient information to google with. I am not confused. I have been given scrimpy information and stonewalled.

This 100% . Your daughter needs urgent treatment. Even if you have to wait for a while, she will be seen and treated.

She’s 18.

Why do people think I’m confused?
i was given no information other than “broken” and “fracture clinic will call” - which they did not until I hassled several times and finally got to speak to someone 5 days after the break.

the only thing I’m confused about is why we don’t have proper medical facilities

I had surgery and a plate put in for a badly broken elbow. It was done the day after the break (but it happened in 1999 when things weren't so bad).

You don't think the UK has proper medical facilities?

TBF my local A&E doesn't provide proper A&E facilities.

Op - you were told that she had broken her elbow and to wait for a referral to the fracture clinic. You have to wait for a letter - that's pretty standard. If she's still in a lot of pain to the point it is intolerable go back to A and E or minor injuries and ask for some pain relief or if there's anything else they can do - there's not much more than that you can do at this point