How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

You could not make this up.

23 Dec - break leg in Port Macquarie.
Treated at PM base hospital... brilliant.
They ask me to come to their fracture clinic but I explain I'm on holiday.
So they arm me with every piece of paper, referrals etc to get into my own local hospital here.

I ring my hospital when I get back.
Own hospital says PM hospital have to ring them and ask if they'll take me.
PM hospital rings Nepean hospital.
PM rings me back, saying Nepean are 'unhelpful' and 'bolshy' on the phone.
I ring Nepean.
Nepean tell me the only way I can get an appt is to come to ED.

I arrive and spend half a day in ED, get plaster changed, go home.
ED give me envelope for next appt.
Ring number on card to find that Nepean have passed me off to Private ortho surgeon.
Can't get a date with him until 14th Feb... Happy Valentines day!
Plaster due to come off on 3rd Feb. :unsure:

Ring Nepean back who tell me I must go and see this doctor who will decide whether my fracture is 'too complex' for them to deal with or not, even though it's a fractured fibula. Hardly rocket science.
Nepean say I must get private ortho doctor to give me a referral to get plaster off at Nepean.
Private ortho doc says he doesnt work like that.
Nepean staff now getting bolshy with me on phone.

Can't afford private... need to get back into public health care system.
Can anyone tell me what I should do? :unsure:

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

I would turn up at your local ED when the plaster is due to come off, shout and yell in pain and insist they take it off. Totally and utterly incompetent - this is unbelievable and I would be telling them that unless someone acts and quickly, you will be consulting a lawyer because as a hospital they are obliged to offer a duty of care, you have the documents, you have the referral so there is no excuse for them to do this to you.

In fact, I would ask for an initial free medical lawyer now so you know where you stand. Failing that, I would get the press involved.

Annabel, I broke my fibula and went to a hospital near me - the nurse looked at the xray and said 'It all looks fine' and that I didnt need to see the doctor. She said my tendons were 'crunching':eek:

Several weeks later after walking on it in agony, and my toes going black, I went to another hospital who xrayed it and diagnosed a fractured fib and wondered how the nurse missed it and why she never got a doctor to look at it anyway?

Make noise, do not settle for this because the only person that will pay for their incompetence is you.

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

See your GP who can write a referral to the Fracture Clinic. Alternately your GP can call the hospital and ask to speak to the orthopaedic registrar on call for consults for that day. If the GP sends through the x-ray report the registrar can look at it and let him/her know pretty much right away whether it can be done at the hospital or if you would need to go elsewhere.

Do NOT take bolshy crap from the staff. They're the clinic clerks, not medical staff. If they start ring the hospital customer liaison department and they will sort things out. Part of my job is doing the leg work when dealing with complaints from patients and their families about our clinic or secretaries. Trust me, nobody wants to get hauled into the HOD's office for a reaming because they gave a patient a hard time. :)

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Thanks Cheetah!
I'm caught in their stupid bureaucratic stupidity and it's not fun.

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

I HAVE a GP referral from my own GP!!!!
The hospital told me that it was INVALID because I was 'out of area' when I broke my leg...
I saw the registrar in ED. They took xrays of my leg there and then so they've seen the break!
They fobbed me off with the private guy because they don't want to pay for it. It's some stupid hospital policy.

There's a customer liaison department? :ohmy: How do I find out how to get in touch with them? Thank you Dorothy!
And you're right, the staff are now pissed off with me because of the amount of times I've rung. I keep getting the same woman in outpatients and I'm SURE she remembers me. I get the feeling she's just doing it to spite me.

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Every hospital should have a Dorothy I reckon, she would put the cocky clerks in their place, especially that woman who is being horrible to you.:thumbsup:

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Did your GP phone the orthopaedic registrar or did you only see the ED reg? Get your GP to phone the ortho guy direct.

Here you go.

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Has your personal injury claim been notified to the apartment complex's insurers? Maybe your solicitor can see if the insurers will agree to pay for you to see a surgeon privately. Sometimes insurers will agree to pay for rehabilitation - may be worth a shot?

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Clearly your mistake was breaking your leg in the wrong location. Try and be more considerate next time;)

Seriously, good luck:fingerscrossed:

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Ok, back to the GP then. :eek: Fark, I'm seriously going round in circles.

That's a good idea but honestly, I want these people to give me the appt. They cannot FORCE me to go private. They just can't. And I'm not bowing down to their ridiculous rules.

That's absolutely it. Stupid and inconsiderate. :rofl: Thank you. :D

If I can't get an appt by Wed of this week I'm considering radical action...

I thought I'd email my local mp, the mp for health, and the leader of the opposition, all the hospital peeps, and invite them to watch as I stream the removal of my cast at home, over the internet...
As for the removal of the screws, that's just a bit of a cut and some work with a Phillip's head screwdriver, right?
How hard can it be?

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

If patient liaison can't or won't help I would suggest the minister for health. Ministerial complaints are dealt with as very high priority (at least in our hospital) and we're expected to give an answer to the complaint right away.

I would also consider letting the MP's offices know you will be contacting the media - and do it. Get in touch with the newspapers, TV and Today Tonight/Current Affair. The tabloid shows love your kind of story. ;)

I know when we had a complaint with a state government department last year it was being ignored until I told them we had an appointment to discuss the issue with The West (newspaper) and Today Tonight. Suddenly we became high priority and our complaint was settled within a few days. Channel 9 was very interested in our story when I contacted them. Fortunately we didn't have to resort to tabloid TV, but would have if we needed to.

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Thanks Dorothy.

Love your work. :teeth_smile:

These clerical people think they've heard the last of me. Silly. :frown:

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Can't believe the faff you've had!!

But if you need someone to do your screw removal, my rates are very reasonable!

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

Cheers matey. They're only through two bones. Few Cosmopolitans and I'm sure it'll be a breeze.

I bet the entire nation will tune in. We'll get Paris to big it up...
It could be awesome.

Then we'll post it on youtube... let's call it...Dreamy's DIY surgery...

Re: How to get a fracture clinic appt - any advice from medical peeps?
 

DON'T TELL PARIS!!!

He'll only want to wee on it, or something.