• 3 days ago
A dad has been forced to spend hours waiting in A&E every other day for a dressing to be changed- because his GP surgery can’t see him.

At the end of October, Matthew Childs, a plasterer from Maidstone, Kent, was constructing a pond in his garden when he slipped and fell on a piece of rusty metal.

A spike went into the underside of his left arm, penetrating 4cm and only stopping when it hit bone.

Mr Childs’ brother, Ben, took him to Maidstone Hospital’s A&E where he was patched up, but told he would need to have the wound cleaned and the dressing changed every other day to avoid contracting sepsis.

He said: “I was discharged with antibiotics and painkillers with strict instructions that I must go to my GP every other day to have the wound re-dressed and packed.

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00I find myself in a ridiculous situation with my local GP practice. I've got a bad injury to my
00:10arm and I suffered this over a month ago. I was advised strongly to have a bandage change and to
00:17have it repacked every other day to stop infection and possible sepsis. I contacted my GP practice
00:24and they were unable to give me an appointment for five to six weeks. I tried three or four
00:30times to contact them to see if I could get a different response and didn't get any. I was
00:36told to go to A&E. They have been fantastic with their care but you can see why A&E is clogged up
00:43because if you can't get in your GP practice you just get sent to A&E which is not ideal to say
00:49the least.

Recommended