£60,000 obtained for undiagnosed wrist fracture

Julie Crossley, a medical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, has obtained £60,000 for Mr J, whose wrist fracture was not diagnosed when he was x-rayed in his local hospital in 2011. He was discharged on pain medication with no further advice or a follow up appointment.

Mr J struggled with the pain for some time and eventually returned to see his GP several months later. He was then referred to a physiotherapist who saw him a few weeks later who gave him exercises to do. Unsurprisingly, this did not help the undiagnosed fracture. Mr J returned to see his GP again in 2015 and was referred to hospital for a further x-ray. This time the wrist fracture was identified, as was the fact that it was not healing. Mr J underwent surgery, but this was not successful.

Mr J continues to struggle with some aspects of daily life and now has restricted employment options.

Julie Crossley comments: “It is shocking that a common wrist fracture took over four years to diagnose. On his initial hospital visit, Mr J presented with swelling and tenderness in his wrist and should have been advised to return to the hospital for a follow up x-ray 10-12 days after the initial tests were done. This would have likely shown the fracture and Mr J would have probably made a full recovery.”