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The staff were amazing

Posted By Dore736

"The staff were amazing"

About: Caen Medical Centre North Devon District Hospital / Accident and emergency North Devon District Hospital / Fracture Clinic North Devon District Hospital / General surgery North Devon District Hospital / Surgical Assessment Unit South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust / Emergency ambulance

(as the patient),

In May I had a accident involving a 1 tonne dumper going off a hillside and taking me with it in the middle of nowhere.

There was no phone signal and my colleague who was with me both of us not knowing what to do.My Colleague didn't want to leave me and fortunately a post van turned up and the postie went to the nearest house to get them to call for a ambulance.

Within 2 hours the Ambulance crew and air ambulance turned up and between them gave me the best care you could get.

They were unsure if it was a spinal injury. Arriving at North Devon Hospital, the staff were amazing. I was in a lot of pain and they took care of me and comforted my wife, who was a little distressed.

I had CT scans and x-rays and it turned out that femur had impacted my Tibia like an axe, creating a fracture and a hole in my Tibia.

The surgery was the following lunch time where they attached a plate and 9 screws.

I stayed in hospital for a week, the ward staff were fantastic - Doctors, surgeon,nurses, catering and cleaning staff and physio and pain team, all of them were amazing.

After leaving hospital I had 7 weeks of none weight bearing and leg up to bring down the swelling.

For someone who is very active and whose job was very physical this was a lot tougher than I thought it would be.

I was booked in to see the physio Launa and she was brilliant, I'm now light weight bearing on crutches, still taking pain killers, I have regular appointments with physio and on a course with hydrotherapy.

I'm not sure when I will be back to normal, but the staff at North Devon Hospital and my local Caen Medical Centre - special mention Oscar - have all been incredible and made this experience bearable.

If it wasn't for our NHS and all the amazing staff that work there, my experience would of been a nightmare and this is the reason why we should all back them and keep our NHS.

At some point we will all need the NHS and the people in it.

If we look after them they will look after us.

I believe we all need the NHS.

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Responses

Response from Ellie Salfairso, Service Manager for ED, Acute Medicine + Hfop/Frailty (Northern Services), Emergency Department (Northern Services), Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 8 months ago
Ellie Salfairso
Service Manager for ED, Acute Medicine + Hfop/Frailty (Northern Services), Emergency Department (Northern Services),
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 09/08/2023 at 11:50
Published on Care Opinion at 12:42

Dear Dore736,

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback. I am sorry to hear of your accident. However I am glad to hear of the positive experience with not only the Emergency Department but with the ambulance service, inpatient wards and your support at home post discharge.

I hope you are on the road to recovery. Thanks again for taking your time to provide us with your feedback, I will ensure this is shared with the wider team in the Emergency Department.

Kind regards

Ellie Salfairso

Service Manager for ED, Acute Medicine, Hfop + Frailty

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Response from Sami Burkitt, Patient Engagement Events and Project Facilitator, Patient Engagement, South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust 7 months ago
Sami Burkitt
Patient Engagement Events and Project Facilitator, Patient Engagement,
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Submitted on 06/10/2023 at 14:35
Published on Care Opinion at 14:35

Good afternoon Dore736

Thank you so much for providing us with feedback on the service you received, it is much appreciated! We are so glad to hear you were well looked after, though I am sorry that you had to experience this at all.

For confidentiality, your patient information is redacted on this platform and so we cannot find the details of your incident, we would love to pass your message onto the Ambulance crew who attended you and so, if you would be willing to share some additional information, please could you email compliments@swast.nhs.uk with your name, date the ambulance arrived, address and thank you message, we will then ensure this is passed onto to the relevant crew.

Thank you again for taking the time to feedback and we hope you are recovering well after the accident!

Kindest regards,

Sami
Patient Engagement Team

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