Last updated on April 6th, 2017 at 02:12 pm

Not actual client image

Hospital doesn’t examine wrist fracture properly

Mr M, who was 32 years old at time of accident, fell onto his wrist whilst playing football.  Though he was in pain after the accident, he assumed it was a sprain and left it for a couple of weeks.  As it became more painful and started to affect his job as an engineer (which involved heavy lifting), he visited his local A & E department.  His wrist was examined (but not x-rayed) and it was confirmed that the injury was a sprain.  Mr M also saw his own GP who advised a splint for work and encouraged him to exercise his wrist.

Second visit to hospital fails to recognise wrist fracture

Unfortunately, Mr M’s pain continued and he visited A & E again a couple of months later.  On this occasion he requested an x-ray and, although the nurse objected, he insisted and the x-ray was carried out. Once again he was advised that the injury was a sprain and that he should take anti-inflammatories and continue with his exercises.

The pain continued to get worse and Mr M’s GP advised cortisone injections as he thought it was a ligament strain.  Mr M had 2 such injections, neither of which worked.

Wrist fracture found too late needs surgery

Around 14 months after accident Mr M was still in pain and he visited his GP again.  He was referred for another x-ray that showed an un-united fracture to scaphoid bone.  The specialist advised that, as the fracture had been there so long, the bone had died and surgery would be required.  Mr M had a CT scan and was put on waiting list for a bone graft and fixation.  The operation went ahead 5 months later.  Bone was taken from his hip and grated onto his wrist, where a screw was also applied.

Mr M had a plaster cast on his wrist for 8 weeks and he then underwent physiotherapy.  During his recovery, he had difficulty with day to day tasks and needed quite a lot of help from his family.  He also struggled with hip pain following the graft.  He still has difficulty at work and has not been able to take up the sports that he used to love.  He will never recover full grip strength and has been left with a constant dull ache in his wrist and an unsightly scar.

Graysons pursues hospital trust for compensation

Mr M contacted Graysons to see if he could make a claim against the hospital.  We took up his case and contacted the hospital trust.  The trust said that the fracture did not date back to the original accident, but Mr M is clear that he’d had no further accidents.

We pursued the hospital trust, claiming that its employees were negligent in their assessment and management of Mr M’s injury in that they:

• Failed to carry out a competent examination and assessment.
• Failed to carry out an x-ray when Mr M initially presented to A &E.
• Failed to request specific scaphoid views when the wrist was eventually x-rayed.
• Failed to identify signs of, and the possibility of, a fracture, which are likely to have been present on both occasions.

We issued court proceedings against the hospital trust but the case was settled shortly after a defence was served.

If you feel that you have not received the medical care you are entitled to by any healthcare professional, contact our experts now for a confidential discussion with lawyers who understand your situation and can advise as to whether you may be able to make a medical negligence claim.  You can read more about medical negligence claims on our website pages.