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Kayaking accident, back injury

Posted By rugbymad

"Kayaking accident, back injury"

About: Raigmore Hospital / Accident & Emergency

(as the patient),

On a recent outwards bound course, I fell from a kayaking landing back first on a rock in shallow water. I alerted my instructor and he provided immediate first aid.

On return to the centre I was assessed by an onsite paramedic who phoned NHS24 for advice. They arranged an appointment at an out of hours service in Aviemore. At Aviemore I was provided with strong painkillers and advised to go to Raigmore for Xrays. Aviemore provided me with a letter for the A&E department in Raigmore.

On arrival at Raigmore I had a short wait before being made to lay flat on my back. I cannot fault the staff or service provided. They would pop in every half hour to inform me of what was going on and how much longer I would have to wait. From arriving to assessment, xray and leaving was less than 3 hours (which is amazing for a Saturday night) and also the fact that they provided me with a sandwich as I had missed dinner just shows the level of care which was provided.

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Responses

Response from Elaine Mead, Chief Executive, NHS Highland 9 years ago
Elaine Mead
Chief Executive,
NHS Highland

Responsible for the delivery of health care in the Highlands

Submitted on 10/09/2015 at 11:02
Published on Care Opinion at 11:26

Dear Rugbymad

Thank you for taking the time to post your positive experience of the healthcare service across Highland when you had your kayacking injury recently. It is good to hear that you felt that you were well looked after, and I hope that you have made a full recovery.

I am sure that while you were out on the water having fun you were, quite rightly, not giving much of a thought to the organisation and expertise of the teams that are there 24/7 and 365 days a year who respond immediately if you are unfortunate enough to come to harm. I think your post celebrates those professionals, some of which give their time freely, to coordinate and deliver care in an emergency in some of the most remote and beautiful parts of Scotland. I am grateful to be able to use your post to add my thanks to them for their daily work, and will be pleased to pass on your comments to the local teams.

I do hope you get back out to enjoy the waters of the Highlands again soon.

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