"The treatment I received after a fall."

Day 1: 

while out for my daily exercise I tripped while running and landed heavily, putting out both hands to break my fall. I knew immediately that I’d dislocated my left shoulder. Forty-plus years ago I had a Putti-Platt operation on my right shoulder so I knew what was in front of me. I walked a quarter of a mile home and my wife took me to  A&E. This is where my report really begins. 

I was seen by the staff on duty within 5 minutes of registering. I was x-rayed where it was confirmed that part of the socket (glenoid lip) had broken so it wouldn’t be as straight forward as the last time. The shoulder was reset and placed in a sling to maintain stability. I was instructed not to remove the sling until I’d seen the specialist. I was back home after 4 hours of what I can only describe as excellent medical attention.

Day 2: 

I was contacted by the hospital staff to go in for a CT scan on my shoulder. Being a public holiday I was in and out the hospital within 20 minutes.

Day 3: 

This time I was contacted by one of the orthopedic doctors to say that my case merited surgery and that I was to report to the ward in a few days to be prepared for surgery.

Day 5:

All went well and I was admitted into a single room in the ward where I was given all the necessary preparations. 

Day 6:

First thing in the morning I was seen by my surgeon who explained fully what lay ahead especially in comparison to my previous experiences. All other staff explained their role in my operation so the operation went ahead that afternoon.

I was back in my room a bit later than planned but all had gone well and I had a reasonably good night’s rest.

Day 7:

Once again my surgeon came in and explained in great detail the procedure that had to be done to repair the damage suffered in the fall. All the other staff, Anaesthesia, Physiotherapy etc came in to check me out and I was discharged that afternoon. 

Day 8:

I am a retired scientist who has always trained and kept fit so all the extra details given were much appreciated.

All the staff that I came into contact with during my treatment, from the room cleaning lady right up to the surgeon were a credit to the NHS and Crosshouse Hospital in particular. I just cannot speak highly enough of my overall treatment but thanks to everyone I came in contact with and the ones in the background I never met.