article_snippet: Shirley Johnstone had mixed feelings when the A&E doctor said the X-ray of Shirley Johnstone elbow showed no sign of a fracture.
article_snippet: I couldn’t move or straighten my arm, and felt I needed more than just paracetamol and a few days off work,’ recalls Shirley, 60, a chef from Great Wakering in Essex.
article_snippet: The pain had begun suddenly when Shirley Johnstone stretched up to adjust a showerhead.
article_snippet: At first I thought I’d slept on my arm badly,’ Shirley Johnstone says.
article_snippet: Six days after Shirley Johnstone was seen at A&E, Shirley Johnstone received a phone call from the hospital.
article_snippet: It was a mistake that, four years on, is still affecting Shirley’s life.
article_snippet: my arm was put in a cast, then a week later Shirley Johnstone had surgery to pin the bone in place.
article_snippet: But a year after the operation Shirley Johnstone developed a painful infection because fluid had built up around the fracture.
article_snippet: And three years later Shirley Johnstone still gets pain in the joint, especially in cold weather.
article_snippet: I had to have so much time off work, I was demoted and put on a lower wage,’ Shirley Johnstone says.
article_snippet: Shirley Johnstone has never had a proper explanation for the delay in spotting the fracture.
article_snippet: I’m afraid sometimes these things get missed”,’ Shirley Johnstone says.
article_snippet: Like Shirley Johnstone, Jacqui Hunt suffered after a fracture was missed in A&E.
highlights_snippet: For Shirley Johnstone, a fracture of Shirley Johnstone elbow that was missed is still affecting Shirley Johnstone life .
  