Text size

Theme

Language

"A genuine accident causing an emergency!"

About: Borders General Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as a service user),

I went to a "paranormal investigation" event on a Saturday night late August where the lighting was practically absent - ghosts prefer the dark apparently - causing me to misjudge the last step coming down a small fight of stairs, fall and dislocate my left shoulder. The fall itself wouldn't normally have been enough to cause serious injury & I didn't even hurt my left wrist or hand (that I landed on) but I have dislocated that same shoulder twice before as a result if seizures. Nightmare. To make matters worse the event we were attending was in the Scottish borders which is a beautiful part of the country but a fair distance from any major city & hospital. I did know we weren't far from the Borders General Hospital but, even though I work in emergency care myself, I wasn't entirely sure it had a 24hr Accident & Emergency Department.

I was in extreme pain and panicking as we were in a very remote, rural location in the middle of the night! I did not have a clue where I might be treated as, even if the local hospital had a 24 hr A&E, I had no idea what services they offered so was envisaging a truncated onward referral process. Thank God this was not the case! My partner drove us to the A&E as we were less than 10 minutes from the hospital. Of course it was open 24/7 (thank God again!) so I checked myself in and noticed the reception was quite empty save for one couple so things were now looking up! I was seen in Triage fairly quickly by Nurse Michael who thankfully was able to request an X-ray himself - such a valuable tool which, I'm sure, saved a fair chunk of time! I wasn't screaming in agony anymore as I'd calmed down somewhat now being confident my shoulder would soon be fixed.

I liked that my choice to walk to the Radiology Dept was respected as I knew that if I sat in one of those hospital chairs (which are less than smooth rides at the best of times) my shoulder would've potentially been so much more painful going over even the slightest bump in the floor! When I got back to A&E I was taken immediately to a cubicle, assisted into a gown, given gas and air & my partner allowed in. Dr O'Donoghue introduced herself soon after, confirmed my shoulder was indeed dislocated though not fractured so she hoped to be able to reduce the dislocation without difficulty. She had a medic colleague, Dr Dunsmore I believe, with her and both respected my experience (having worked in A&E for many years) so used appropriate language and were very reassuring which was hugely appreciated.

Nurse Shree came shortly afterwards to cannulate me - which he got in one attempt - and he was very very reassuring as by this time the gas and air was making me very very dizzy! I hated feeling so very dizzy as I have epilepsy and was very worried that I may have a seizure. His reassurance and care was very much appreciated. Dr Anna then explained her plan to try to reduce my shoulder using gas and air & morphine as this would avoid the need for anaesthetics to be involved. This unfortunately did not work as I was nowhere near relaxed enough. Dr Bouyer from anaesthetics came very soon (much sooner than anyone expected) and was very very thorough in my pre-procedure assessment which itself was also reassuring. Most importantly they all listened to my experience from both my own practice and previous dislocations.

I know I attended on a relatively quiet night which probably helped matters but I did not feel rushed at all which went a long way to help me and, importantly, my partner feel that I was fit to go home. I really appreciated my partner being allowed in for much of the time I was there and not feeling as though we were being rushed out the door as so often happens in A&E.

We are obviously working under pressure much of the time from packed departments, ambulance queues, waiting rooms full of patients & relatives, and hospital management pushing movement etc but this experience has made me to reflect on my own practice. Whilst we can't do anything about how busy the department is, we don't need to let our patients feel like we're doing a rushed job. Yes, we're busy, but we don't need to look/act the part! I really appreciated the time taken to explain, reassurance offered & felt genuinely involved as a decision maker in my care. Well done to all!

Do you have a similar story to tell? Tell your story & make a difference ››

Responses

Response from Alan Milne, Clinical Nurse Manager, NHS Borders last month
Alan Milne
Clinical Nurse Manager,
NHS Borders
Submitted on 28/08/2025 at 14:26
Published on Care Opinion at 14:26


Good afternoon That A&E Nurse!

Thank you for sharing your story it sounds like you had a right nightmare on your paranormal investigation event. Thank you for your amazingly kind comments about the team and the care you received when in the ED. Like all of #teamEDBGH Michael and Shree are amazing at what they do on the daily.

I will pass your thoughts over to the team and I think they will appreciate your final comments about giving great care in the challenging environment that all EDs have found themselves in.

I hope your Recovery is speedy.

Alan

That ED Nurse Manager

  • {{helpful}} {{helpful == 1 ? "person thinks" : "people think"}} this response is helpful
Opinions
Next Response j
Previous Response k