British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)

- The Rovers Return (https://britishexpats.com/forum/rovers-return-111/)

- - NHS (https://britishexpats.com/forum/rovers-return-111/nhs-883281/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downton Gabby (Post 12078294)

Thanks for that explanation. I must say that given the facts about your wife's condition as you certainly saw it at the time, especially the fact that she hit her head, it sounds very irresponsible for them to take 1.5 HOURS to get to her. You could have driven her to the hospital way faster, I imagine.

Yes, but walk-ins at A&E tend to drop down the triage list compared to ambulance arrivals who have already been triaged, She was never in a life threatening condition and what turned out to be an hour and a half at home might be considered preferable to two hours in the A&E waiting room.

Obviously, the hour and a half was less than ideal and very frustrating at the time, but really made no difference at all to the outcome.

In the ideal world.....

I've had a fractured elbow. Horribly painful. On the bright side, you get to be stoned on morphine legally.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Editha (Post 12078317)

I've had a fractured elbow. Horribly painful. On the bright side, you get to be stoned on morphine legally.

I hope you regained full movement despite the morphine. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078243)

+1

On Friday, we had our first A&E experience since our return to the UK.

We were out for a walk along the Quayside in Newcastle when my wife tripped on a curb and fell awkwardly on to the pavement, hitting her head and (as it turned out) fracturing both her elbows. I got her home OK (we'd parked the car about a half mile from where this happened) and someone who'd seen the accident offered to look after her while I went to get it. Canny, the Geordies.

I decided to call 999 because she was obviously in great pain and suffering from probable concussion.

Bad news:the ambulance didn't arrive for an hour and a half.

Good news: I followed the ambulance in my car but it was rush hour, so the blue lit ambulance out paced me and then I had to find a parking space. I arrived at A&E probably 25 minutes after the ambulance. When I got there she'd already been triaged through A&E, had X-rays done and read, been admitted and had casts put on both elbows for the night.

Yesterday she spent about 5 hours in the operating theatre/recuperation room and emerged back to the ward, very groggy and sleepy, but fixed up (I hope) with a good number of titanium bits in her elbows.

She'll be released tomorrow afternoon after a care package has been put in place. With luck she'll be fully functional again before Christmas.

Thank you NHS.

That was quick service through A & E, and I know the difficulty trying to keep up with an ambulance. I tried that some years ago in Adelaide after my mum suffered a heart attack, but I had to back off because of the speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078323)

I hope you regained full movement despite the morphine. ;)

Not completely, no. But my elbow joint was very smashed up, probably worse than your wife's. The operation to put it back together lasted an hour and a half. At the time I was told that I would only be able to move my elbow joint for a few years, and then it would seize up with arthritis, so I was refused physiotherapy on the grounds that it wasn't worth it for such a bad break. I was also told I'd be in chronic pain.

That was 38 years ago. I did get some pain for the first few years, but not much, and it hasn't troubled me for decades now. I got back 80% of the movement. I still don't have arthritis. I used to send the surgeon progress reports every few years.

^ Hmmm. Thanks (I think).

I'll just keep my fingers crossed then.

I hope your wife makes a full recovery soon!

Quote:

Originally Posted by michali (Post 12078714)

I hope your wife makes a full recovery soon!

Me too. :blink: I'm off to collect her from the hospital in an hour or so.

It's going to be an "interesting" rest of the year (at least).

Fracturing both elbows at the same time is tremendous bad luck. She's going to need lots of nurturing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078716)

Me too. :blink: I'm off to collect her from the hospital in an hour or so.

It's going to be an "interesting" rest of the year (at least).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Editha (Post 12078737)

Fracturing both elbows at the same time is tremendous bad luck. She's going to need lots of nurturing.

Well, it turns out they want to keep her for another night after all.

I will do my very best (which won't, of course, be good enough). :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078243)

Wonderful! :heart: the NHS! Hope the missus is feeling better.

Here's how it would have happened here in the USA.

When you called the ambulance they may have told you to drive her to the hospital yourself. If they did agree to come, you could then look forward to a $500 bill.

Arriving at the hospital, you might have waited up to three hours for your wife to be seen (on a good day). Then it would have been hours later to have all that done that she had done in 25 mins. Then, even with good insurance - the hefty hospital bill arrives.

But wait, there's more. For about 6 months after that you will receive various and sundry bills from the surgeon to the janitor. You will spend numerous hours on the telephone disputing some of these charges, whilst on the other line you will be trying to convince your insurance company that you have paid your premium (I have the cancelled cheque!) and that they should cover more than a Q-tip.

You will feel like you are in a vertiginous hell-hole that can last up to a year. Only then will you emerge, at best, without your holiday money, at worst, bankrupt.

I feel better now - thanks :teeth_smile:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078243)

Sorry to hear about Mrs. Novo's accident, hope she is on the mend and feeling better soon. :starsmile:

Quote:

Originally Posted by curleytops (Post 12079606)

Sorry to hear about Mrs. Novo's accident, hope she is on the mend and feeling better soon. :starsmile:

Thanks all. She's still in hospital but will be discharged tomorrow. :fingerscrossed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 12078243)

Glad she is in recovery now N

I see a rather large claim in your future and many freshly taken pics of the offending kerb stone and SO lying in bed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by magnumpi (Post 12079947)

Glad she is in recovery now N

I see a rather large claim in your future and many freshly taken pics of the offending kerb stone and SO lying in bed.

Thank you MPI, I hope you're getting better too.