The Anonymous Widower

The Good And The Bad Of A & E

The saga of my hand is hopefully now finished.

But it does illustrate the good and the bad of A & E in the NHS.

The damage happened near to my surgery and the nurse patched it up.  She also checked my tetanus and found it was up to date.

But possibly because of my Warfarin, the blood started to seep around the plaster and in the end, when I started dripping blood all over a Victoria line train, I got out at Warren Street station and I went to A & E at University College Hospital. They did a stronger patch but even that fell apart, probably because I type too much and the damage was on the point of the knuckle.

So it was back to the surgery and then on to Boots, where I bought a large traditional plaster to put over the lot, and some white cotton gloves to protect the whole package.

I still have a scab on the back of the hand and now because of the success of the hospital bandage, I wear a wrist support to take the pressure off my wrist and the knuckle.

The treatment, I got was generally good and quick, as who would complain at forty minutes in A & E for a minor injury.

But as I live alone and couldn’t patch it up myself with one good hand, it needed trips to get medical help.

So are we seeing more people going to A & E because so many of us now live alone? And is A & E geared up for it?

But the real problem that A & E has, is the lack of a joined up database with my GP. The nurse at the surgery checked my tetanus status, which I thought was good, but of course, I couldn’t remember the date. The nurse in the hospital asked and I told her it was good. but she had no means of checking.

Incidentally, one thing that saved time in A & E was that I’d been an in-patient at the hospital and I was already registered.

Those who object to a large joined up NHS patient database, are probably the people, who complain loudest at the wait in A  & E.

But how much time and effort would it save?

November 10, 2013 - Posted by AnonW | Computing, Health | Hospitals