"Expeditious and efficient treatment"

I arrived at Kingston Hospital A&E on a very busy Saturday afternoon (with what turned out to be a complicated wrist fracture), the waiting area was completely full with patients and escorts and I expected to be waiting to be seen for some time. The receptionist, however, realised more than I did at the time that I needed to be seen soon and had me escorted through to the treatment area as soon as she had taken basic personal details. I was assessed by the A&E consultant on duty within 15 minutes, she quickly administered a anaesthetic block to the injury site, arranged for x-rays, reduced and immobilised the fracture assisted.by a nurse and had it re-x-rayed, all within a further 30 minutes. As it then became clear that surgical intervention was needed, she arranged for a review with the orthopaedic team, no more than 30 minutes later this had happened and I was given the option to have the operation the following morning (Sunday) and to either be admitted overnight or return the following morning for surgery.