"Exceptional service and treatment by everyone concerned"

I cut the top of my ring finger on my left hand when a glass shattered. It wasn't a big cut but the top of my finger was bent. My niece contacted Lagan Valley Urgent care and after I had a brief conversation with the lady on the line I was given an appointment within the hour.

My appointment was for 12.30pm and I was seen by a Triage nurse promptly. I was then seen very quickly by a lovely nurse practitioner. She examined my finger and told me she thought I had cut my tendon. I was sent to for an x-ray to check for glass or bone. This again happened very quickly.

I then went back to the nurse practitioner. She explained the x-rays to me and took photos of my finger to send to Plastics dept at the Ulster hospital for directions. I had a very short wait in the waiting area before the nurse put a stitch in my finger, another nurse gave me a tetanus injection  and a course of antibiotics I was then given an appointment for Plastics Trauma at Ulster hospital. All this happened in less than an hour and 20 mins. Exceptional service and treatment by everyone concerned.

I went to Plastics Trauma and met the nurses who took my details and advised me there may be a delay as there were two children attending. I hadn't very long to wait before being seen by a doctor. He told me what could be done and hopefully would be done that day.

I was sent off to the cafeteria for a cup of tea. Before the tea was finished I got a call to come back. I had my finger opened and the tendon repaired. My hand was put in a plaster brace, all by 12 midday. The staff at Plastics Trauma were so nice and very informative.

I think we should always praise good service and this was exceptional. What a great example of the NHS.