Mum was in agony for a week as 'BRI missed broken arm' (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Mum was in agony for a week as 'BRI missed broken arm'

7:30am Monday 6th February 2012 in Bradford By Claire Lomax

An investigation is under way after a pensioner was left in agony in hospital for seven days and then discharged when staff failed to diagnose a broken arm.

Staff at Bradford Royal Infirmary have been criticised after 81-year-old Barbara Ramsden was left with the serious fracture for more than a week without it being detected.

Her angry son Kevin Blackburn, of Manor Row, Low Moor, Bradford, called the ordeal “beyond belief” and is calling for a full investigation.

He said: “This is not care, it is neglect. She must have been in agony.”

The pensioner, of Mayfield Rise, Wyke, was admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary after falling in the bathroom of her home in December. She said she heard her elbow “crack like a nut” as she fell.

She was suffering with a low heart rate and was admitted to the cardiology ward, ward 22, at BRI, where doctors worked to improve her heart rate.

During her stay she complained about pain in her arm but claims her concerns were dismissed by nurses.

“I kept telling them my arm hurt,” she said. “I could not sleep with it but a certain nurse kept saying it was only bruised. It was black and really painful but they kept ignoring me.”

The pensioner who sufferers from breathlessness, arthritis and angina said she was also upset at being branded “melodramatic” after asking for a wheelchair to get to the bathroom.

“I struggled to get to the toilet but I didn’t want trouble so I did what I was told,” she said.

Mrs Ramsden was discharged from hospital on December 28 and the following day, when her son visited she was struggling for breath and still in pain. He advised her to call her GP.

Mrs Ramsden said: “They sent me home with a broken arm. I was so upset and my GP was very annoyed. He said ‘you are going straight back in’ and he said he wanted an x-ray.”

She was admitted to ward three and an x-ray revealed a badly broken arm. It was also discovered she had fluid on her lungs.

A Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: “We take all complaints extremely seriously and will carry out a thorough investigation.”