The Accident and Emergency Department is often the place patients first attend following an accident. Here, a proper assessment by the medical team is essential. Sadly, this is not always done competently. Many patients are often discharged home without a proper evaluation and referral to a suitable specialist for further investigations. We could provide many examples, but a small sample is given below:-
A gentleman fell in a Care Home and suffered a severe fracture of his leg. He was taken to a hospital where he was seen by an A&E specialist nurse who believed that he had aggravated osteo-arthritic changes in his knee. Had she consulted the notes it would have been found that that was not possible as he had a false knee.
A young man was taken to A&E with concerns about loss of movement in his arm. His medical records were briefly checked by the on-call doctor who noted that he had previous psychiatric problems and therefore put down the strange movements in his arm to a conscious overlay (exaggeration). He was discharged home and not reviewed again until about 4 months later. Infact he had suffered a major stroke.
An elderly lady who had suffered a fainting episode was taken to an A&E department. There she was asked to give a urine sample and left on her own to do this. She unfortunately suffered a further faint, fell and sustained a severe fracture to her leg.
If you think you have suffered due to A&E negligence please contact us. We can appraise the case for you over the telephone and this will not cost anything.
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