"A big thank you - fixing my broken wrist"

Apologies that this is a belated review. I came to A and E on a Sunday night at the beginning of December, nursing a suspected broken wrist from a fall on the last day of a holiday in Hong Kong the previous day and having flown half way across the world in a makeshift sling .

Although A and E was very busy I was seen within an hour by the triage nurse. After an XRay and assessment by the A and E consultant - in his words I had ‘done a good job’ on my wrist - he arranged for one of the orthopaedic doctors to come down , to use his expertise to try and manipulate my wrist back into position. My wedding ring and engagement ring needed to be taken off but were firmly stuck. I was resigned to them having to be cur off, but the fantastic technician in the plaster room was determined that she could get them off using a technique involving wrapping string tightly round my finger ... and with amazing patience she succeeded, bless her, she could so easily have taken the soft option and gone for the ring cutters. With a dose of morphine and plenty of gas and air, I then had my wrist pulled back into position and a cast put on. Both the doctor and the technician were brilliant throughout, and the subsequent X-ray showed the wrist in a good position . All in all I had been in A and E for about 6 hours, but that seemed quite reasonable to me in the circumstances.

The follow up outpatient care was also fantastic, and the cast came off after just 5 weeks. I was given a leaflet with details of exercises to help restore mobility and flexibility , as we had a long standing 3 week holiday starting the next day and so I couldn’t start any official physio straight away. Given everything that the hospital staff had already done to get me fixed up, I was determined to follow the recommended exercise regime and do everything I could to help my own recovery.

A physio appointment was arranged for a few days after we returned, and I was given some further exercises to do to help build up strength and get maximum mobility. After one further session I was signed off as being 99% fixed.....

I am extremely grateful for the efficiency and the genuine care shown throughout, and for the fact that thanks to the skill of the various professionals involved , my wrist is pretty much good as new without the need for any surgery or protracted treatment . NHS at its best.