A MAN was left in agony for weeks after doctors at Worcestershire Royal Hospital failed to spot he had a fractured back.

Craig Walsh slipped and fell on his spine in the early hours of Friday, May 5, and was taken to accident and emergency by ambulance.

After a 13-hour wait and a series of CAT scans and

X-rays he was told he had suffered soft tissue damage, given painkillers and tranquillisers and sent home.

But the pain got worse for the 57-year-old farmer of Lucies Farm, Colletts Green, and on Thursday, May 11, he was back at A&E, where he was told he had a urine infection, given antibiotics and referred to a urologist at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.

Mr Walsh - whose farm hit the Worcester News headlines in November 2005 when it was revealed his kurobuta pigs swim in the family's indoor pool and his cows get massaged daily with Japanese rice wine - then decided to get a second opinion from a private urologist at BUPA South Bank in Bath Road, a private hospital.

But when he requested copies of his CAT scans and

X-rays from the Royal he was told that he would have to wait up to 40 days for them.

Eventually, a urological problem was ruled out at South Bank, new scans were taken, and the fracture of Mr Walsh's vertebra was found on May 23.

Mr Walsh said: "It is not at all clear how the NHS missed finding this fracture of my back. I understand that if a special corset had been fitted on May 5 it would have greatly eased my back pain. But instead of resting I was sent to Redditch for urological tests, misdiagnosed and given antibiotics and medication for problems that I didn't have.

"I was also horrified that the NHS wanted 40 days to give me copies of my test results, which caused me unnecessary grief and suffering. I have since been told by a very helpful radiologist that protocol in his department is just five days for the likes of me who needed the documents for ongoing healthcare."

A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Mr Walsh has raised several issues and although he is not happy with some of the responses he is appreciative and also grateful for the help that he received from one of our radiologists, whom he describes as a 'true gentleman'.

"Mr Walsh has written to the chief executive and has requested copies of his X-rays, which he has received and his medical records which will be sent to him in accordance with the procedures required by the Data Protection Act 1998.

"Mr Walsh has not as yet made a formal complaint but when we receive this we will deal with his concerns expeditiously and sympathetically and respond to him directly."