10 February 2013

Hello again, it’s me, Peggy

I attended the Rotherham District General Hospital A/E on 16 August 2008 due to having a painful Right foot (Sound Recording Ref; DW_A3830)

I saw the A/E doctor, Dr Reddy? He advised me that I had suffered a fracture of a bone in my Right foot and he showed us this in x-rays and explained same. He referred me onto Fracture Clinic with an appointment made for Monday 18/8/2008, and recommended no POP Cast due to the possibility of DVT, and no weight bearing.

At the RDGH Fracture Clinic on 18 August 2008 (Sound recording Ref: DW_A3833) I saw Consultant Mr Tambe. He reviewed my x-rays and diagnosed Osteoporosis and a fatigue fracture. When he was asked about a previous diagnosis of the narrowing of the joint space in my Right ankle he said he hadn’t ordered any x-rays of my ankle only my foot. Now he had the x-rays on his computer screen and I was aware that the A/E doctor had x-rays taken of my Right ankle. Why should he lie to me?

Contrary to the A/E doctor he recommended POP Cast, and no weight bearing for at least 3 weeks.

I returned to the RDHG on 08 September 2008 (Sound recording DW_A3922) and the consultant suggested my pain was due to an old fracture – (DW_A3922 position. 3.10) where he had the pop cast removed and recommended no pop cast (pos 4.30) because it could make matters worse – he instructed for a fibreglass expandable slipper to be fitted for next few weeks, and suggested I let everything just settle down because it was a complicated problem but he did not explain in what way it was complicated. He mentioned the controversial diagnosis RSD and recommended  partial weight bearing and to weight bear when possible.

I was advised by a solicitor in 1996 that he had often come across the term RSD (regional Pain Syndrome) as used by medics when they either don’t want to inform the patient what is actually wrong with them and/or if in fact they don’t’ actually know what is wrong.

I have also learned since that RSD is a very controversial diagnosis, and a book on RSD and Orthopaedic knee trauma was written by Mr Phillip Fagg at the Bassetlaw Hospital. It was first used on me by Professor Dandy in Newmarket Hospital when he discovered I had entered Mr Majumdar into litigation in 1989/90, and again by Mr Verinder in July 1993, when at that time he had the LAT VIEW x-rays of my Right knee on his illuminated display panel and the bony lesion was clearly to be seen on the medial aspects of my Right knee in that film, yet he diagnosed me as having RSD in my Right knee and failed to advise me of the bony lesion.

However, back to the RDGH (sound recording DW_A4024 + 4025) Mr Kocheta diagnosed the bones of my Right foot as being very thin (DW_A4025 position 3.30).He discharged me from his care on 29 September 2008 and referred me for physiotherapy.

Strangely, when the bony lesion was removed from my Right knee by Mr Bickerstaff on 22 November 2002, my knee became pain free in that area of my knee in a matter of weeks, and so this proves my knee pain could not have been due to RSD but that it had been due solely to the bony lesion.

I am now diversifying a bit:

It was not only me, the Rotherham District General Hospital also lacked due care when treating my 74-year-old sister when she was admitted after a fall in October 2007. They had fitted her with a replacement hip-joint, and then she was allowed to fall out of bed no less than three times in a period of 30-days. It looked like she’d been in a road traffic accident. When we visited my sister we were so shocked at the state of her that my husband did ask my sister and also the attending nurse, if he could take photographs of my sister’s plight and they both agreed.

At one time when visiting and my sister was not improving, a friend of hers who was visiting her at the same time informed me that he had overheard nurses talking about my sister and apparently they were saying a wrong size hip joint had been fitted.

When we sought answers as to what had happened to my sister they were not well pleased. We subsequently received a telephone call the next morning from Matron, who informed my husband that we had been banned from attending the hospital to visit my sister. My husband contacted the Rotherham Advertiser Newspaper and spoke to one of their reporters whom we knew from reporting on my own case.

When the reporter phoned us back on 29/11/2007 he informed us that he did not believe they had the power to stop us visiting my sister. However, he did say that he had spoken with someone at the hospital and gathered, from the ensuing conversation, that what had happened was due to them been aware of our past track record with the hospital. They used the fact that I was not my sister’s next of kin to prevent me from complaining about her care. I even had to obtain a letter from my own solicitor for my sister to sign before I was allowed to visit her again at the RDGH. The manner in which my husband and I were treated by the RDGH was appalling.

My sister, of course, never walked again and was eventually discharged into a care home where she passed away.

My husband had had cause to be referred to the RDGH in 2005 for an operation but had basically been put-off with excuses about heart problems. He was re-referred in May 2010 for the same problem which had become much worse, and, yes, he was put off yet again but not before being prescribed Liptor Statins by Dr Louis. He did this after I myself had advised him how my husband was intolerant to Statins and how previously they had made him very ill. However, he assure us that these were different but three weeks later (5 September 2010) my husband suffered what our then GP diagnosed as been a stroke. Our GP did not use the “FAST” code and order a “Blue Light” he just stopped my husband from driving and made him some routine appointments for scans at the RDGH which took place some ten days later.

When we reviewed my husband’s medical records at the hospital we found reference in the referral letter dated 24 May 2010 from Mr Lambertz to Dr Louis informing him that my husband was still around to tell the tale, and it appears fit enough for repair. “It” being my husband!

He found that he was still being put off by the RDGH from having the operation so he asked to be referred to the Sheffield Northern General. Whilst his operation had become more serious through the time delay in getting it done at the RDGH the treatment he received at the Sheffield Northern General was Gold Standard from the very beginning to the time he was discharged.

More later …..      

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