Hello everyone I'm new here and I'm just looking for some advice really, so I injured my wrist which was completely my own fault but I went up to a & e where I was told it was just a sprain and to rest it but keep using it.
5 days later I get a phone call saying its actually fractured and will need to get a cast on it, later that week I have another appointment to check how its healing and I get told because they didn't put it in a cast straight away the bone has moved to much and the gap is to big so will need surgery.
I have had surgery now which they had to put screws in but because of this I now have to have at least another 6 weeks off work, so was just wondering if its worth making a complaint and maybe getting any compensation?
regards lee
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leeapple123
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If it's compensation your after then a solicitor is the first port of call, if your doing this to just complain then a letter to the Hospital Manager.
You'll have to decide whether you want to make a complaint, or take legal action against your NHS Trust. I can tell you from a friend's quite legitimate complaint about neglectful treatment, that simply complaining just leads to a cloak of silence and/or letters to you couched in the most complicated of medical terms possible, in an attempt to justify the treatment you did or didn't receive.
If you want to sue, then it's up to your chosen legal practice to act on your behalf and you should have a consultation to ascertain whether this is likely to be a successful claim. You'd do better to choose a 'no win, no fee' firm, be prepared for it to take years, and don't expect a huge pay-out for something that's probably going to be easy for your NHS Trust to claim was not negligence but an understandable initial misdiagnosis.
I think the important thing will be what type of fracture it was etc and also the seniority of the person who looked at the X-ray. Also, did they follow hospital policy ie if it was a junior doc or NP, did they get someone more senior to check it.
Blimey, I would say so , yes. Firstly,I would find out how you get a full copy of your notes ( make sure you tell them you need all the A/E documentation, X ray reports, plaster room tech' notes,operation note, ward nursing notes- the whole works basically). You might have to pay for them.Then, once you have those, you might want to contact PALS. IMPORTANT TO GET COPY OF YOUR NOTES FIRST. Once you go to PALS they'll speak to various people (probably start with A/E staff ) and they'll probably get your notes from medical records or wherever to look at. It wouldn't be the first time that somebody then add something to your notes retrospectively once they realise you're thinking about complaining/asking for compen'.Bare in mind thatPALS will try and dissuade you from even making a formal complaint and try to resoIve things through meetings with various staff or letters, apologies etc, so perhaps call a solicitor first and see what they say. I think for medical negligence cases you need to be able to show that the error ie that the A/E Doctor or Nurse Practitioner (possibly more than one med' prof, as it's policy for NP's and the most junior docs to get somebody more senior to check -rays) misread the original X- ray lead to problems and sometimes it depends on how severe the problems were/are. How long ago did it happen and how's your wrist now?
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