Last Tuesday, a young girl fell while riding her bicycle and was left with a wound on her right foot. Her mother took her to Faro Hospital, where the child was soon discharged, two days later returning to the hospital with a foot necrosis.
Coincidently, the friend of this young girl had a similar experience three years ago. She fractured her tibia and injured her heel when she fell off her bike. That same day, she was evaluated by health professionals and sent home, since the orthopedics service at Faro had no physician on duty. The mother was asked to travel with her daughter the following day for plaster placement.
A month later, when the cast was removed, the girl had necrosis on her heel.
Eugena Rosa, the girl's mother, explained that “on April 21 2020 my princess was admitted to Pediatrics at the Hospital de Faro with a fracture in her tibia and a small wound. Yes, I say small because as it was, it was nothing. On that same day, it was not possible to put on a plaster cast, as there was no orthopedics, but the nurse who saw my daughter immediately said that the girl would have to have a dressing even after putting the plaster on”.
“We went back the next day to have the cast put on and I told the doctor what the nurse had told me. The doctor stated that it was not worth doing the dressing as it was a 'small wound'. That night my daughter did not sleep because she was in pain. The next day, we went back to the hospital, where another doctor again said there was no need for a bandage, and put the cast back on.
"After a month, we came back to remove the cast. My daughter over the course of a month had complaints, but nothing special. Imagine my astonishment when the said doctor removed my 'princess' from her cast and she had a black hole in her heel. I questioned the doctor who revealed that the girl had necrosis, but for me not to worry and put 'betadine' at home”, said Eugena.
“I left the hospital in a panic. I called my husband about the situation and he told me to go to my family doctor. I did. When I showed the doctor and nurse my daughter's wound, they couldn't believe their eyes. My daughter had severe necrosis. She was put on medication to treat her foot and, after that underwent physiotherapy. All this because the said doctor told me that it was not worth putting on a bandage. I already went to file a complaint and showed the nurses who were on duty, including the nurse who had attended to us on the first day, and they were shocked”.
The mother says that what they did was “medical negligence” and that she filed a complaint with the hospital, including the nurse who had attended on the first day, and with the Medical Association as well.
Source https://postal.pt/
