Man sent away from A&E with suspected broken leg

Chris Mullen says he feels sorry for NHS staff who are working in "trying circumstances"

A 70-year-old man said the NHS was "falling apart" after he was sent away from an accident and emergency department with a suspected broken leg.

Chris Mullen, from Kendal, in Cumbria, was driven by a friend to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) on Monday after being told there were no ambulances to take him.

When he arrived he said he was told to either go home and come back the next day or wait a minimum of eight hours, because it was so busy.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust (UHMBT) said the A&E department was "managing extremely high levels of demand".

Mr Mullen said he had been experiencing "sharp pain" in his leg after a fall on Monday.

He used crutches to get to the department at 22:00 GMT, but said his leg was not examined and he was not offered an X-ray because staff were so busy.

"I thought this is a bit crazy, 111 has told me to come to you," he said.

"It was one of my biggest worries that I had a broken leg.

"It was concerning that no one had even looked at it and decided it was okay to leave it.

"The staff are doing their best in very trying circumstances but it would appear the system is falling apart."

The A&E department Mr Mullen attended was his nearest as Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal operates an urgent treatment centre only.

After getting an X-ray at WGH on Tuesday, Mr Mullen said it revealed he had suspected torn quadriceps.

The trust, which runs Lancaster Royal Infirmary, said it was working hard to make changes to improve patients' experiences

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, about a "terrible bottleneck" at the Lancaster hospital.

The Liberal Democrat MP said his "constituents deserve" better and has called for more to be done to address "immediate work" needed.

He said the government announced works for a new hospital in Lancaster would not be allowed to start until 2035.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it was investing £450m in urgent and and emergency care across the country, including rebuilding the RLI.

Dr Helen Skinner, chief medical officer for the UHMBT, said the hospital was "currently managing extremely high levels of demand and our top priority is keeping our patients safe".

She said: "We recognise the significant pressures on our services and understand that we are not always able to see patients as quickly as we would like.

"We are working hard to make changes that will improve the experience of our patients and reduce waiting times.

"While we can't comment on individual cases, we would urge anyone who is unhappy with their care to contact us directly so that we can look into it."

'NHS under stress'

Mr Mullen said he was not sure if he would need an operation.

"If and when I get the operation, which might not be until after Christmas, it will then be three to six months recovery time," he said.

"You don't know these things until you encounter them, you know the NHS is under stress but in all the times I have been to A&E in my life I've never know anything like this."