I crushed my finger on Tuesday in a silly accident. Popped a plaster on and hoped for the best, but by yesterday evening it bore a strong resemblance to ET’s finger so I thought I’d better get it checked out. Quick trip to the pharmacy, they advised 111. Called 111 this morning, got through almost straight away, was sent to urgent care.
Went to urgent care this morning and waited about an hour. While I was waiting a chap came round with a trolley giving out free tea, coffee and biscuits. Brilliant! Then i was seen by a lovely specialist nurse who checked for tendon and nerve damage and said i needed an X ray to check for fractures. Waited about 5 mins for the X ray, the radiographer sent the images back to the nurse and I was seen again within 5-10 mins to be told I had a fractured bone in my finger. She put a splint and dressing on and sent me on my way with another splint, some gauze and tape for when I need to change the dressing. At all times, everyone was kind, patient and explained everything to me, I didn’t feel rushed in any way and came out about 2 hours after I went in.
And ALL FOR FREE (I know, I know, it’s not really free, but still!). It just made me think how lucky I am not to live in eg the USA, where a minor injury like this would probably cost me thousands of dollars. Thank you, NHS!