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I hope you can help....... a bit long winded.
I fractured my left clavicle in 2000, attended the usual outpatients appts.
Some time on I was still having difficulty and gp refered me to a consultant - who I believe diagnosed tendonitis having done x-rays. I got referred for physio and was offered a steroid injection which I declined. Physio was so excrutiating ( almost passed out!) that I soon gave it up! Went back to gp a few times after that who offered and supplied in surgery physio - which again was excrutiating and I soon gave up! Roll on to Aut 2008 - I had a bad accident and I then had considerable pain in my shoulder. The A&E dr x-ray'd and responded with " obviously it will hurt the break never healed" !!!!! Imagine my shock. Roll on to Jan 2008 - my surgery hastily referred me back to a different hospital to see a consultant who advised an atrophic non union. He suggested from the original x-ray (2000) that it would not have united without intervention - although naturally wasnt willing to repeat it. He also advised that due to the time that had passed surgery was not likely to be fruitful and would require a bone graft from the hip etc. Heck! So he gave me 6 weeks to think about it and I went along with his wisdom of live in pain and a slightly limp arm! I also then saw a private consultant for a 2nd opinion who also advised the same. Since then I really am stuck, I dont want to live on pain killers but am also a female of child bearing age that wants to have kids and be able to look after them rather than not. The NHS consultant for example said that I should get an automatic car ( left shoulder- pain changing gear), and that NOTHING would help my situation. I've been having a considerably painful few months (cold weather making it worse?)- and am somewhat scared by the prospect of getting pregnant while not being able to safely take pain killers or even cod liver oil.
Sorry self indulgent sob story - but it hurts!
P.S the only bit of my notes that I have seen stated "pt in a lot of pain but used to this"
Sorry just to add it does really affect the work that I can do also. I had to give up my much loved job of 8 yrs - 4yrs ago and now can really only do admin - and that is still painful enough.
I guess my gripe is that it appears that one or two drs along the way may not have acted with due diligance. Meanwhile I am in a lot of pain, and can no longer work in my chosen career, with no available resolution due to the amount of time that has passed since the original injury.
I am wondering if there is anywhere that I can go with this?
aayes, i\ see. Well, if the first x-ray didnt show any fracture, then i think it is bad luck, and you should take the doctors advice now , and think about the surgery. YOu can ask at the local hospital, there are procedures for "complains" , you could argue you want to see whether the first doctor was negligent. If the fracture was there at the time , then yes, further probs could have been prevented, but if it wasnt, then no-one is at fault.
Hope this helps.
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thanks
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I understand the fracture would have been there all the time, but did the xray show it at the very beggining and the doctor missed it ? I know it sounds silly, but fractures dont always show on xray, and that would have been just unfortunate. It is showed then, then the negligence was at that time , and you should be able to put a complaing to the hospital where the xray was taken.
I'm sorry I don't think you do have grounds to complain because they offered you 3 treatments and you declined one (Steroid Injection) and stopped going to the other 2 (Physio).
Are you really shocked it isn't fixed and it hurts?
I am not sure of your medical or litigation knowledge.
Neither physio nor a steroid injection will mend a broken bone. Physio has been shoown to help at the time of the fracture - but not years afterwards.
My point is that despite x-rays being taken 2 years after the fracture - no one noted that it had not healed until last oct when I went for an x-ray in a&e - at which point the a&e dr said "well of course it hurts it never healed". Then my own GP's started to rally round and speak about surgery, only the surgeons said it was too late.
Two surgeons have recently said that steroid injections and physio would not in any way help and would equate to a waste of time.
sdoc - I have just looked at the x-ray from the 2003 outpatients app re the ongoing pain that I was having - and I am afraid to say that I can see the fracture- it is also blatently apparent that the should has dropped considerably at that point etc.
I suggest that you seriously consider getting this fixed with surgery with a bone graft, yes it will be sore post op but pain relief post op these days is good - you should be offered a morphine PCAS, plus paracetamol etc. You'll only be in a few days and it should have a good chance of working.
If the fracture was plainly visible on the original XRay and was missed then I think you need expert legal advice - are you in a union, or do you have legal cover on your home insurance?
There are 3 aspects to a clinical negligence claim-
Duty of care - the dr clearly had a duty of care
Breach of that duty - if he missed a fracture that should have been clear then that is a breach
Harm following - you have suffered significantly, were given the wrong treatment (physio), and need more complex surgery as a result of the delay, loss of earnings etc.
Medical negligence is a complex area but on the face of it you have a case.
(I have worked in health for a fair number of years)
Hi Poppy Nurse, thank you very much for your response, I appreciate that you have a considerable amount of knowledge
I appreciate what you are saying re the surgery - however two consultants have advised against it - I am wondering where to go from there - cant really ask for a 3rd opinion can I ? Allbeit that the 2nd opinion was a private one.
I am not a member of a union but I will get some advice somehow - would it be worth speaking to one of these no win no fee people do you think?
I am not usually out to grab it all - not that sort of person - but am genuinly fed up of the pain and am worried about the long term implications.
If this has taught me anything it is to shout louder for longer ( politely obviously). Some Drs seem to think pts should be seen but not heard!
Sorry - I read it that the surgeons said that bone grafting was an option, if bone gafting isn't I would have thought there was some sort of metalwork that could do the trick. If the second opinion was private you could ask for a second opinion on the NHS. I would write in with your complaint and as part of the complaint ask them to get the trusts most experienced ortho surgeon to see you to try and resolve the problem.
Do you have legal cover on your house insurance? That may help.
The trouble with no win no fee lawyers is that you can't be sure that they really are experts in their field and not money grabbing gits! You need a brief who is experienced in medical negligence as it is a minefield and you want the odds on your side if you enter into the long drawn out battle that these claims turn into.
I'll have a chat with the orthos at work and see if they have any suggestions.
Doctor or Hospital Negligent????
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