"Aintree MFU / Old Swan Walk in"

After going over the handlebars on my bike, with a bleeding hole in my cheek and not being able to see due to smashed glasses, a stranger very kindly drove me to Old Swan Walk in Centre. The staff there were very efficient and helpful. I was quickly seen, they did some initial cleaning of my facial and shoulder wounds and set about getting me seen at the right place. Realising that my face would need some careful repair work they called the Maxillo-Facial team at Aintree Hospital and arranged for them to see me.

The Walk in Centre arranged for a taxi to transport me to Aintree A&E where I didn’t wait long to be checked in and then collected by the Surgical Assessment Unit where I was to be seen by the Maxillo-Facial team.

This took some time, due to no fault of the staff. It was a Sunday afternoon and there were some more serious injuries to be seen. I was finally seen later that evening and it was decided that due to the amount of swelling and skin loss, my face couldn’t be stitched that night and that I needed to be seen by the consultant the following day for a possible skin graft. I was keen to go home in the meantime as without my glasses it was very hard to do anything, even finding my way around the waiting room. The hospital was very short of beds and so they were happy to agree to me going home as long as I returned the following morning.

I was back at the hospital by 8: 30 the following morning with spare glasses which helped massively. It was midday before the consultant and his team reached me because of the number of people to be seen on the post-weekend ward rounds. He decided that my face could be stitched and talked the doctors through how to make my remaining skin cover the hole. Due to most of the team being in surgery for the afternoon and the one remaining MFU doctor having a lot of patients to get around, I still had quite a bit longer to wait.

Spending so long sitting waiting gave me a good chance to observe what was going on. I saw and heard kind, patient, compassionate care from nurses to the variety of people admitted to the unit with varying conditions and symptoms. I could also see however how busy staff members were and how tired some of them looked. It felt like the service was running partly on good will and that can only happen for so long before staff burn out. The doctor who finally stitched my face on the Monday evening did so hours after her shift was due to finish. I am very grateful that she did but I would much rather the NHS was funded and staffed to a level to deal with the volume of patients within the hours that doctors are paid to work and not relying on their goodwill.

I would like to particularly thank that doctor, (pronounced Heleen – but this may be spelled wrong) who took extreme care to stitch my face to try to reduce the scarring, who talked to me whilst working, who treated me with the care that she would want for one of her family members – despite being tired and hungry. Her kindness and dedication was much appreciated and I would like to thank her for this.

On both days it was clear how close to full bed capacity the hospital was. I could hear staff phoning around different wards looking for beds from some of the unit’s patients in order to accommodate new arrivals who had to be kept in overnight for IV antibiotics or observation. It struck me how inefficient and disruptive it is for patients and staff for the NHS to operate so close to full bed occupancy. Several times I saw patients moved from one part of the unit to another, to turn a bay into a male bay from a female or vice versa depending on who needed to be accommodated. There has to be better ways for nurses to use their time and skills than wheeling patients from one bay to another. As someone who was only injured and not unwell, for me moving between rooms was a change of scenery. For seriously unwell patients it can be disruptive and unsettling.

There was some confusion about my return to hospital to have my stitches taken out. It turned out that this had not been noted on my discharge and it took several phone calls after the bank holiday weekend to get this arranged. That appointment, in the Facial Trauma clinic in Aintree’s Elective Care Centre was efficiently dealt with. Although the clinic was running very slightly behind, the nurses kept people informed of this and updated a white board. People find it easier to wait if they know how long to expect and so the waiting area felt calm and patient. The doctor checked the wound and passed me to a nurse for the removal of the stitches. This took a while as I had a lot of stitches and the wound was very scabby having been left for longer than it should due to the follow-up appointment not being arranged automatically. The nurse was kind and as careful and caring as she could be.

My experience of care from staff in Aintree and the Walk in Centre was excellent despite the pressures they are under. I hope that they know how much their work and kindness is appreciated. I only wish that they were working in an NHS that was under less strain and pressure.