"Tests were carried out quickly with..."

What I liked

Tests were carried out quickly with little waiting time.

What could be improved

Definitive diagnosis should only be given when the consultant is 100% certain.

Anything else?

In May of this year I attended the A/E Department with my 8 year old son after he sustained an injury to his arm during a football match. My son had an x ray, which we were told showed a fracture to his humerus and a cyst in the bone. My son then had an M.R.I. A week later we went to the fracture clinic and saw a Registrar who told us that the M.R.I. was inconclusive but there may be a tumour present. The Registrar told us to go home and come back the following week after he had arranged a scan for us. I refused and told the Registrar that I wanted the scan arranging there and then and wanted to see the consultant in charge of my son.The nurse said she would sort it out for us and my son had the scan that day. We saw the consultant that afternoon and he told us he couldn't read scans, it would need to be seen by a radiologist !!!!!

We went back the next morning, 14th May, a day I will never forget, and the consultant told my husband and I that our little boy had a malignant tumour in his arm , that it was already spreading and was in the bone marrow. We were told that it was very serious and he couldn't do anything for our son , he said he wouldn't like to give a prognosis and he had already contacted the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham. When I asked if he was sure, he said," Do you understand what I am saying, your son has a malignant tumour which is spreading and it is very serious."

We were sent home and told to wait for a referral letter to arrive. Two weeks later we went to Birmingham for a biopsy and met a fantastic consultant. He told us that he was 80% certain that it wasn't cancer and we shouldn't have been told it was without a biopsy .A week later we went back to Birmingham and were told that my son DID NOT have cancer.

My son is well and healthy.

We have had no contact from H.R.I. and no apology for putting us through hell unnecessarily

Thankfully we had a happy ending, but I wouldn't think twice about asking for a second opinion next