"Poor patient experience of A&E"

Anything else?

We experienced A&E after a football knee injury late one evening. The Unit was very busy and after sitting very uncomfortably for several hours in a chair with a very swollen painful knee that could not bend we were eventually seen, x rayed and examined and then sent home with a leg brace and crutches at approx 4.30 am with an appointment to return at 9am to attend fracture clinic. We had great difficulty maneuvering into our car and could not have managed without help from the security staff. Despite being in terrific pain we were sent home as there were no beds on the orthopedic ward. We debated sitting it out in A&E, rather than risk further discomfort and injury trying to get into the car however this was discouraged. During the xray the radiologist let the leg drop off the leg plate...an accident but so painful - then the consultant directed a series of leg lifts even though this was excruciatingly painful. A comminuted fracture was diagnosed later in the morning at fracture clinic requiring urgent surgery.,