"Ice skating accident"

I fell over skating at Nottingham Ice Centre at the end of October and consequently ended up in A&E at the Queen's Medical Centre on a cold winter's evening where a fractured wrist (radius) was diagnosed and treated. The long wait at A&E was to be expected but nonetheless was pretty unpleasant. The service was short-staffed but as always staff were excellent and pleasant in spite of being under enormous pressure. It would have been more comfortable if the coffee machine was working (took our money and dished out hot beige water with no coffee or milk and no way of getting money back) and the vending machines dished out the usual junk without not a healthy meal or snack in sight! My friend and I were both very hungry as we hadn't eaten since lunch and didn't get home til 12.30am (over 4 hours after arriving at A&E).

My accident experience continued with weekly visits to fracture clinic and after two weeks I was advised to have surgery on my wrist. All the staff in fracture clinic and ward and theatre staff were absolutely terrific and took very special care of me - a very big thank you to you all. After four weeks in total I was out of plaster and able to start to get back to a normal life! I have been very well cared for and continue to attend fracture clinic and regular physiotherapy. I am managing well and my wrist function is much better than I ever thought possible so soon after my accident. This has been very greatly appreciated as I have two children aged 3 and 2 and I'm self-employed (so no chance of a sick note leading to time off!).

Overall my experience has been very positive (apart from A&E!) and I am ever grateful to the NHS for excellent staff who are pleasant, efficient and caring under immense pressure.