Decision Report 201406619

Summary

Mr C attended the hospital's minor injuries unit, having injured his knee while playing football. He complained that the nurse practitioner (a specially qualified senior nurse) whom he saw did not assess the injury adequately. We took independent advice from our medical adviser, who considered that the nurse practitioner had acted appropriately. For example, her diagnosis of a sprain of his lateral collateral ligament (one of the four main ligaments in the knee) was appropriate based on her findings; she arranged follow-up with a physiotherapist for the following week; and she gave appropriate advice about the use of pain relief, ice and crutches in the meantime. Mr C considered he should have been x-rayed, but the adviser explained that there were no grounds for x-ray, and that x-ray would not have shown damage to his ligaments or cartilage.