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My Mother who is 82 years old

Posted By sanam

"My Mother who is 82 years old"

About: Leicester City PCT Leicester General Hospital / Trauma and orthopaedics Leicester Royal Infirmary / Trauma and orthopaedics

(as a relative),

My Mum had her total knee replacement 2 years ago. Since last September, she has had a knee joint infection which appears to have been misdiagnosed by the GP and has been treated for ulcer on the skin. Her knee is severely swollen, infected with a wound in size 5cm round and 5 cm deep.

Despite several visits to her GP, she was being treated for an ulcer on her leg rather than being sent for a simple blood test or xray or ever better to refer her to the Orthopaedic department. Instead she was referred to a dermatology department who called an Orthopaedic surgeon to see it and confirmed it was severe joint infection.

If the GP had referred her to the Orthopaedic dept earlier, then my mum would not have been in pain for the last 6 months.

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Responses

Response from Tiffany Jones, Head of Communications & Engagement, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 11 years ago
Tiffany Jones
Head of Communications & Engagement,
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Submitted on 30/01/2013 at 12:38
Published on Care Opinion at 12:42

Thank you for taking the time to post a comment about your experience. We're really sorry to hear that your mum has been in so much pain. As you say in your comment, it's disappointing that she was mis-diagnosed but we are pleased that she has now been treated by our orthopaedic team following her appointment in our dermatology clinic.

There are obviously some outstanding issues with your GP and I would suggest that you contact them to raise them and get the resolution that you seek.

Best wishes,

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Update posted by sanam (a relative)

My mum was at the Royal Infirmary from 2 pm. Referred to dermatology dept who then sent us to fracture clinic. The OPD surgeon who advised to go there took notes. This was at 3:00pm. We were then told to go at 4:30pm for blood test and X-ray but the blood test unit closes at 4pm. Why does the unit not have this info?

OPD left to go home without any updates. All this time I was pushing my mum's wheelchair & no one offered to assist. X-ray was done and we were back at the clinic by 5:30. Nurse said she is trying for someone to come do the blood test. More waiting. Same nurse then asked if my mum was staying or going home as OPD surgeon did not leave any messages. How do I know? More waiting for a new OPD to come. At 8:00 the nurse herself did blood test.

We asked for pain killers as my mum was due to take these at 5:00. We were told they can't give these without a doctor. He disappeared somewhere. 8:30 they gave my mum 2 paracetamol and told here to go home and see here GP.

We'd been at the hospital since 2:00. My mum's problem has been like this since Sept. We've gone from the hospital to the GP and no one has done anything to solve her problem quicker. She has now been told that she needs two major operations on her knee. Two replacements for the same knee. This is not fair.

She also came to A&E in Dec at royal but the staff were rude and said they were going to charge her GP. They just sent her back to her GP who then sent her home. This is an appalling service for my mum who has been in severe pain since Sept. It's not fair on her.

Response from Tiffany Jones, Head of Communications & Engagement, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 11 years ago
Tiffany Jones
Head of Communications & Engagement,
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

Submitted on 31/01/2013 at 11:24
Published on Care Opinion at 11:31

I can see now that there is a lot more going on than you originally mentioned. I'm sorry to hear that you have experienced rude behaviour from our staff, that's not acceptable. I suggest that you contact our PILS service who will be able to investigate what is happening and give you a detailed response about your mum's care. You can call them free on 08081 788337.

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