Slip and Trip - A & E delaying treatment leaves Mrs N in chronic pain

On the evening of 11 March 2021, Mrs N slipped and fell outside on her decking at home. She immediately experienced pain in her left foot and ankle.  As she was unable to move and was in a lot of pain, she called 111 who sent an ambulance.  The paramedics advised her to attend the A&E department at St Mary’s Hospital, Isle of Wight for an X-ray.  

Mrs N underwent an x-ray of her left foot and ankle and was informed that her there was no evidence of any fractures. She was discharged on the same day with crutches and advised to take painkillers with no advice of what to do if her symptoms worsened or a follow up appointment. She experienced severe pain after going home. The following day her left foot started to bruise and turn purple. Her foot was swollen, and she could not walk on it or weight bear.  

Within the next 2 weeks her foot had turned completely black. She was unable to tolerate putting socks on and was unable to weight bear on that foot at all. Mrs N contacted her GP due to her ongoing symptoms and on 9 April 2021 her GP had telephoned her after reviewing the x-ray taken at St Mary’s Hospital and confirmed that navicular bone (a bone in the midfoot) was fractured and that she should go back to the A&E department ASAP.

Mrs N was referred to the Urgent Care Centre on the same day. The plan was to provide her with a walking shoe and for her to be reviewed in the fracture clinic.  However, she was not given a walking shoe until a week later.  

On 12 April 2021 Mrs N had an out-patient appointment at the fracture clinic and was provided with a walker boot.  She felt that the treating doctor was very dismissive of her symptoms and the fact that she still required crutches to walk.  

Over the following few months Mrs N continued to experience pain and restriction in mobility and activities of daily living as she continued to rely upon crutches and the walker boot.  She went on to receive physiotherapy for two months and was informed that the injury would take a long time to heal.  

For a year following the incident Mrs N was unable to walk long distances due to ongoing pain in her ankle and foot.  Her day-to-day activities were also restricted as she needed to spend time elevating her foot.  Mrs N still experiences a painful foot, with symptoms worse in the winter and she has been left with a lump on the left side of her foot which has been present since her injury.

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