"After visiting A & E yesterday with my..."

What could be improved

After visiting A & E yesterday with my son, I certainly feel the level of care could be improved. After waiting over 3 hours because of medical emergencies ahead of us (absolutely understandable), when my son was finally examined by a doctor it was for only approx 5 minutes. They only looked and did not touch my son's badly bruised and swollen ankle, and in her words said they 'thought' it was only a soft tissue injury and sprained. They did not x ray it and sent us away with a leaflet. Unhappy with this, we drove straight to St Albans Hospital, where my son was seen by a nurse and thoroughly examined. Their examinations revealed that there could possibly be a break and therefore because there is no weekend x ray facilities at St Albans Hospital, they referred us to the Hemel Hospital. An x ray there proved that my son had indeed broken his fibula and he was immediately put in a half cast because there is so much swelling because of all the walking around in each hospital which needs to go down before a full cast can be put on. The doctor at Hemel was absolutely amazed that my son had been sent away from the QE11 without an x ray as they said the severe level of swelling and bruising pointed to a serious problem. We appreciate that the QE11 was very busy this day and the staff under pressure but the level of care we received was appalling and it took us 7 and a half hours to get a correct diagnosis and thankfully we were persistent enough to achieve this especially as my son earns his living as a tennis coach.

Anything else?

We will be making a formal complaint.