"Poor experience with a sports injury at Southampton General "

So my sports injury was picked up on a rugby pitch. Go to A&E? mistake no 1: i was able to make my own way there 2: i had a sport injury.

Everyone in Southampton knows that when u visit A&E with a sports injury you are seen last. So into triage and the nurse says i can't give you anything strong for the pain but whilst you wait let me know if the pain gets worse and we'll get a dr to give you something.

Half an hour into the waiting i get my husband to ask for painkillers. the triage nurse said we had to wait 5-10 mins as he was busy... 20 minutes later my husband has to ask again...another 20mins and all i get is paracetamol.

So i'm finally called into minors (im the last person in the waiting room left after watching people go in and come out), sit down and its another 30min wait in minors whilst having to listen to nurse talk about previous patients they have seen. One guy had come in with banged head. The nurse turns round to her 3 colleagues and says "it was only a banged head. We should have tell him to man up and go home."

The dr comes in, says he thinks i dislocated my kneecap, and he wants an xray, then wanders off. Husband asks a nurse if we have to make our way there, she says yes. To which he asks for a wheelchair. The nurse replies "They're like golddust here...good luck trying to find one" then walks off.

So after X-ray the radiographer writes effusion seen (fluid), the dr goes off and "looks" at xray. I was never shown the xray. He gives me crutches and says i could go. One nurse who was lovely, argues with him, says the xray shows fluid on the knee and you can't give crutches without a follow-up, the patient may need physio. The dr replies "i couldnt see the fluid". The nurse says "are you saying the radiographer is wrong?" Dr then replies "besides the fluid on the knee doesn't matter."

The nurses asks what my job is, then asks the dr to sign me off for at least 2 weeks. He puts on the sicknote "knee sprain" so he has changed the diagnosis. The nurse gives me advice about speaking to my boss (i work at the hospital) and getting an appointment with occupational health as it will be quicker to get a physio appointment through them.

And that was my treatment from A&E. I left with no idea how long i should be on crutches for, and my occupational health appointment is for them to assess the knee before referring me to physio. The knee is swollen, putting pressure on the leg is almost impossible, and my boss thinks its just a knee sprain as the A&E dr put that on the form even though he told me and husband something different.

Next time i go to A&E with a sports injury i will lie and claim i injured myself in a non-sports way, and hopefully the treatment will be better.