An avid 54-year-old runner who claims she waited four months to learn that she had fractured an ankle has filed a second complaint with Lakeshore General Hospital (LGH) about what she says was a lengthy delay in receiving her X-ray results.
Beaconsfield resident Nabila Oubouchou said she was initially told that a shortage of radiologists had caused the four-month delay to confirm her fracture. But after filing a second complaint last week, Oubouchou said the hospital ombudsman’s office told her the problem was that the radiologist’s report hadn’t been transcribed until months after the X-ray was taken.
“I went to the hospital on Nov. 18, and I’m told the radio (X-ray) was read on Dec. 6 by the radiologist,” said Oubouchou. “It wasn’t transcribed until March 12.”
The mother of three first filed a complaint with LGH about the attitude of the emergency room doctor who saw her when she arrived at the hospital with a severely swollen ankle last Nov. 18. Oubouchou claims she was initially told there was no fracture, denied a doctor’s note and sent home without treatment.
On March 29, four months after her initial hospital visit, Oubouchou said she got a call from the same ER doctor, who told her that the specialist had detected a small fracture and that the delay was due to a shortage of radiologists. When she called the ombudsman’s office to file a second complaint about the delayed results late last week, Oubouchou said she was told the problem was with radiology transcription services.
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“I complained again about the fact that it took too long,” Oubouchou said. “They (the ombudsman’s office) said the delay is much beyond the limits set by the government.”
Oubouchou, an IT consultant, is hoping to get back to running this spring and claims she’s speaking out to shed light on the radiology problem. Several patients have since reached out to her with similar stories, she says. Oubouchou believes that she may have never received her updated X-ray results if she hadn’t filed her initial complaint.
“I would have never known about the fracture if I hadn’t complained about the doctor’s behaviour,” Oubouchou told Global News. “I’m so mad. It seems everybody is hiding behind the system.”
LGH has not yet responded to Global News’ request for comment.