Our Client, Mrs A, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, had a minor fall whilst at her daughter’s home. As Mrs A was in considerable pain and unable to stand, her daughter telephoned for an ambulance.

Upon being taken to hospital, and following assessment, Mrs A had her hips x-rayed for potential breaks. Her daughter was advised that her mum had suffered no break to the hips but would be kept in for a few days as she was unable to weight bear, stand or transfer from chair to bed without pain.

Mrs A’s daughter visited her on a daily basis and noted that there seemed to be no improvement in her condition. She had provided the hospital staff with a copy of her mum’s LPA for Health & Welfare on her admittance.

A few days later, her daughter received a telephone call and was advised that Mrs A was medically fit for discharge. She raised her concerns at the fact that her mum’s condition had improved only marginally – she was now able to stand using a walking frame, and was still in considerable pain, particularly when transferring into bed. The daughter refused to give consent for Mrs A to be released home.

On her daily visits, our client’s daughter continued to voice her concerns to staff at the hospital but, despite this, received a further 2 telephone calls to discuss Mrs A’s release. 

As Mrs A was continuing to have difficulty, her daughter spoke to the doctor on the Ward and insisted that further tests were done on her mum before she would consent for release.

Because Mrs A had an LPA for Health & Welfare in place, her daughter’s request could not be ignored and, somewhat reluctantly, a CT scan was organised for Mrs A.

The CT scan confirmed that, whilst it was correct that Mrs A had suffered no hip breakage, she had however sustained 3 pelvic fractures as a result of the original fall which had gone unrecorded.

It had taken 9 days for Mrs A to receive the correct diagnosis; the additional CT scan had only been made at her daughter’s insistence, because she held the LPA for Health and Welfare for her mum. Had she followed the original advice given, to take her mum home and encourage her to walk, a further fall could have led to more, potentially catastrophic, damage to Mrs A.

Following the new diagnosis, our client was reassessed and ultimately transferred to a local nursing home for 6 weeks rehabilitation care, paid for by the NHS, where she received daily physiotherapy to help her regain her mobility.