"Gratitude for excellent care"

In December 2017 I hurt my knee badly in a skiing accident abroad. It was strapped up and I returned home on crutches. As soon as I arrived home I presented myself at the A& E department of Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary. My leg was X rayed and examined and I was told that I had likely torn my ACL but that I would have to wait for an appointment to have an MRI scan.

I eventually received an appointment for a scan in January with a follow up appointment to see Mr Keating the Orthopedic consultant two days later. Initially I was concerned about the 6week delay to be seen but was reassured by the advice that it is best to allow time for a lot of the swelling to go down anyway.  

The scan confirmed that I had severed my ACL and at the follow up appointment the consultant examined my knee to assess the best approach for recovery. Mr Keating told me that a reconstruction was probably unnecessary provided I was given good support by the physio department for my rehabilitation. I was so impressed when he called for Geoff (head physiotherapist) to come from his department within the Royal and within minutes he arrived to join in on the consultation. Geoff also examined my knee to see the extent of the injury as at this point I still could not bend or straighten my knee or bear weight on my leg. He too seemed confident that he could assist me to a full recovery which would enable me to resume skiing, cycling, hill walking etc. He assured me that I would get the best care if I could attend his clinic within the Royal Infirmary as opposed to a   physio department in a community clinic as he had the added advantage of being able to work closely with Mr Keating on each case.

I agreed to attend the Royal and to my surprise was given an appointment to see Geoff the very next day and then twice a week thereafter. These appointments continued for months. Geoff was absolutely amazing at his job. He encouraged me to work as hard as I could towards recovery. There were times when I was losing belief that I would achieve it but Geoff was so patient and always knew exactly what to say when dealing with my emotional highs and lows and kept me on track.  

There were a few occasions when Geoff consulted with Mr Keating. At one point it was questionable whether or not I would be able to achieve a 90 degree bend so they discussed the possibility of doing this under anaesthetic to free off the joint. Between them they decided to push ahead with the physio a while longer whilst jointly monitoring my progress with follow up discussions as good timing for the procedure would be key to a good recovery. Thankfully I managed without it and by the summer I had a pretty strong and well functioning knee at this point.

As the months went on however, I continued to have sharp pain with certain movements. Once again Geoff consulted with Mr Keating and the possibility of keyhole surgery on the damage to my miniscus was discussed. Things were monitored until it eventually settled down further and it was agreed that unless it flares up again then it is best left alone to avoid further trauma to the joint. I continued to attend physio on an ever decreasing frequency till I was eventually signed off in November.

After almost a year of the most wonderful treatment and thorough support from the staff at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary, where the departments seemed to work so closely on my case, I have made a fantastic recovery beyond my expectations and have even donned my skis once more. I have had many experiences with hospitals and the NHS in my 51 years and have always been impressed with the level of care but sometimes I find the lack of or poor communication between doctors and departments can lead to a lack of consistency in care due to misunderstandings and also delays. This was not the case in this instance. The orthopaedics and physio therapy department at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary should be applauded for the way they work in harmony together, providing such efficient treatment as if it was just one large department. I could never thank them enough.