"Misdiagnosi of fracture"

Having fallen on the stairs at my home I was in lot of pain mainly in my left big toeand as I could not drive I had to get there by taxi and hobbled into the waiting area to be informed that there was a wait of 1.30 hours. Approx. 2.30 hrs later I was taken in to see a nurse. I explained what had happened and that I had experienced a strange grating when I moved my big toe. They examined my foot and I was taken to the ex-ray dept. in a wheelchair then returned to the waiting area for another 30 minutes where I was joined by my daughter. I went back to the nurse who showed my daughter and I the x-ray and told me my toe was badly sprained. We both pointed out what looked like a strange piece jutting out from the side of the toe but this was explained as something beginning with 's' which apparently lots of people have. I was told just to ice and elevate it and the x-ray would be sent to Lincoln hospital for verification, if there was anything found I would hear in 7-10 days. I was in a lot of pain and had to crawl up the stairs (2 flights) to my bedroom that evening. When I removed my sock I discovered my big toe and two adjoining toes were varying shades of black, very swollen both on the top and underneath. I phoned my daughter who advised me to phone 111 for advice and having heard all the details and confirmed what time of day the accident occurred I was advised to go to the nearest A&E Dept. within 4 hours. My daughter drove me to the department in Scunthorpe Hospital where I was seen by a doctor and they arranged for another x-ray which when examined confirmed I had in fact fractured my big toe they taped up 2 toes and I was subsequently seen in the fracture clinic and had a toe spike applied to stabilise the toe and enable healing. Whilst I understand the pressures on departments in the NHS this was a clear misdiagnosis which resulted a great deal of wasted time and unnecessary pain for myself. As I am 68 years old and live on my own I had to rely on my daughter to transport me at midnight to the hospital and drive me back after 3.30am which also impacted on her . Surely, in these days of increased technology, staff should be able to correctly diagnose something like a fracture, if I had not contacted the 111 service and followed their advice I would have suffered for a further 10 days of agony and probably done further irreparable damage to my foot