1598 Another Accident Part 2 – The Return to A&E

Well, most of you already know, towards the end of the year I had a fall. It wasn’t the worst fall in the world, I fell down a step but the damage I did by falling just one step is ridiculous! If you have read my previous post, you know what is going on and what I have done but I warn you, it gets worse, and the story will be told today. For anyone who does not know what I am going on about here is a link to part 1 of this story, give it a click and read if you feel like it. (Today’s post will make more sense if you do go and ready part 1 but no pressure).

Another Accident Part 1

For those (lazy) people who didn’t read part one, the short version of the story is… I fell a step. Got sent to A&E, got some x-rays, and was diagnosed with a chipped bone and a bad sprain, was given a boot and crutches, and told to come back in 3 weeks if there is not any significant improvement.

Fast-forward to almost 4 weeks from the original accident. When the 3-week mark came around, I knew my foot/ankle wasn’t right, but I just thought it was being slow. I wasn’t convinced there was anything wrong enough to warrant a second hospital visit. With Covid-19 the NHS are giving people appointment in emergencies only and avoiding as much as possible, so I had no one to ask or query about the progress of my foot.

I was kind of stuck, I had no one to question about my foot. GPs aren’t seeing people, and there was no follow up so when the 3-week mark rolled around, I didn’t think it was bad enough to go back to A&E, but I knew it wasn’t anywhere near being better. I was hoping that giving it a few extra days of rest would be fine.

I was thinking. I’ve had two previous injuries in that ankle, so maybe it was just sulking and taking time to get back to normal. With all that in my, 5 days had passed, and we were coming up to the 4-week mark. It was NO better. There was still significant swelling, and it didn’t feel good to put pressure on it. I still wasn’t sure what I should do, there is not a lot a GP can do but I didn’t want to go to A&E unnecessarily. Later that night, I was talking to my dad, and he asked to see my ankle.

The swelling was so much that you couldn’t see where my leg ended, my foot was bigger than my leg. When my dad looked at it and we compared it to my healthy foot, we agreed that maybe I should get it checked again. It was late, so we decided to call 111 the next day. So, on the 18th of December 2020, I called 111, again.

One note, I would like to say, 111 now. Isn’t that hard work? There are about 100 options relating to The Rona before you get anywhere. I timed it; it took me more than 5 minutes to get to the option I needed. I understand the need for extra options, but I think it could have been organised better, for example, for Covid-19 press 1, for dentist issues press 2, for advice on injuries or illnesses press 3, and then go into more detail after those options. Now you have to go through 4 or 5 Rona questions, then the dentist, the children’s dentist etc.

When I finally got through and explained my symptoms, they did try to put me straight through to speak to someone but there was no one available so they said they would arrange for a Doctor to call me back as soon as possible.

It wasn’t long before the Doctor was on the phone, I would say between 45 and 60 minutes. He was very friendly and easy to understand, he asked for symptoms, he asked some questions, he got me to try a couple of things, and then the verdict was back to A&E.

I was going to say it was lucky, but I don’t think lucky is the word I would use. Sometimes, if you ring 111, they can make you an appointment in A&E. But now there is a bit but here. If 111 books you an appointment but there is no guarantee you are going to be seen at that time. What is the point of making the appointment? I would hope that it helps them to organise themselves, but it didn’t help this time. When I arrived in time for my ‘appointment’ they were announcing that there is a 3-hour wait.

It is quite fun people-watching though, many people came in with finger and toe injuries from dropping knives and cutting up their dinner. I will say, I was very impressed that the security was kicking additional people out and stopping people from sitting next to each other. It is all over the news and signs all over the waiting area that only one of you should wait unless you are a minor. I understand people are scared but people are dying, you are just going to have to be scared by yourself.

Another thing I wanted to point out for your beautiful people. The whole checking-in part of going to A&E, I’m not loving it! There are additional screens between the patients and the staff at the front desk. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need and I do think it is the safest option available. BUT (this is a big but) between the screens and everyone (mostly) wearing a face mask, it is very difficult to share the information the front desk needs without shouting. And with the shouting, the entire room of strangers gets to know your name, your address, your doctor’s surgery, your phone number and what is wrong with you. That is private information that people can use for fraud. I don’t want the entire room to hear that!

After you have given enough information for the entire room to fraud you. You take a seat in the waiting room (duh), and the person (a nurse) will call you when it is your turn, so they must triage you. For those of you who do not know what this means. They check your symptoms, get the ball rolling, and send you in the direction of where you need to go next. For me, this is where I got sent back to the ‘Urgent Treatment Centre’. I think this is new, they use to send you back to the waiting area, but I suppose they are spreading people out as much as possible.

Annoyingly, this time I picked a bad time to go to A&E, there was a 3-hour wait as I arrived, so I imagine it was about 3.5 hours by the time I checked in and got seated. The waiting area was PACKED! There wasn’t a single ‘safe’ seat available. Of course, everyone had to have at least 1 empty seat between them so there was less seating available.

I am not sure the time I waited exactly but it must have been 2 hours at least. I just know it felt like a long time. When my name was finally called, I explained what happened and what was hurting, and I was sent back to the Urgent Treatment Centre. There I saw a Doctor (after waiting some more). Now, this is where it gets a bit sketchy. I am not angry or upset about it, but it doesn’t look great for the NHS. They lost the details of my previous visit. When I explained to the Doctor I had been to A&E almost 4 weeks ago, she couldn’t find the x-rays or any notes from that day. It could have been a glitch in the system, it is unlikely, but she could have been looking in the wrong place or it was simply saved incorrectly and got lost in the void. Overall, there is not a lot I can do or say to change it, so I brushed it under the carpet, and I was sent for more x-rays.

Oddly, the gentleman that did the x-rays got me to sit at different angles from the first set of x-rays I had done. Bit odd, you would think something like this is kept consistent, but I suppose people have their preferences. Once the x-rays were done, I sat back in the waiting area to get the results. My name got called by the doctor and when I got to the room, she confirmed there was a break/fracture, and that I should have been referred to the fracture clinic during my first visit. It is a shame my previous x-rays are not available I would love to compare them, it might be that the break/fracture wasn’t visible on the first x-rays, but also the Doctor simply missed the break. Mistakes happen, we are all human.

There is nothing that can be done about it now, but it would be nice to know. There’s a chance that due to the moving around between the two visits I made it worse.

The Doctor told me to stay in the boot and continue using the crutches and wait for the fracture clinic to call. I was also told to chase it up if I haven’t heard in 2-3 days.

Unfortunately, it was the Christmas period, so it took almost 2 weeks to get into the fracture clinic which means it was almost 6 weeks since I fell by the time, I was seen in the fracture clinic. Stay tuned to find out what happened at the fracture clinic.