Delay in telling cyclist about broken bone

What happened

A doctor in the Trust's emergency department arranged an X–ray. He thought Mr J had injured some muscles in his neck, and sent him home. Mr J was still in pain, so he went back to hospital a few days later. Doctors examined him again and found he had broken bones in his back. They gave him a brace to wear, and he went to the Trust for further treatment. He had more scans, which showed that his fracture was healing well. One scan showed that he also had a broken bone in his neck. The Trust told Mr J about this at an appointment some three weeks after the scan. Mr J was unhappy about his treatment and complained to us.

What we found

We partly upheld this complaint. Mr J's fracture was difficult to see on the original X–ray, but the Trust had appropriate systems in place to review the X–ray and recall Mr J. In the event, he came back to hospital before staff had a chance to recall him. Overall, the care Mr J received in the emergency department reflected established good practice.

Although it was appropriate for the Trust to arrange an appointment to tell Mr J the result of his scan, three weeks was too long to wait to tell him he had another broken bone. The fracture was stable and did not need active treatment, so there was no danger that Mr J could have suffered physical harm as a result of not knowing about it. But he was clearly upset that the Trust had not told him about this broken bone.

Putting it right

The Trust apologised to Mr J for the distress he experienced.