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I recently had a truly bizarre experience as the result of a minor but potentially serious domestic accident. I was sawing through a PVC pipe when the hacksaw slipped and I managed to cut a deep gash in my left-hand index finger with a blunt blade. This resulted in severely dented pride and the release of impressive quantities of blood.

Holding the hand above my head, rinsing it with copious amounts of cold water and applying pressure would not do the trick so it was off to our GP's surgery to see the nurse who cleaned it up. She said it probably needed stitches and referred me to the GP. He said I definitely would have to go to the A+E at the regional hospital 20 miles away.

You may well be wondering where the buck stops, please bear with me!

At the A+E I was triaged and got to see another doctor who numbed it, washed it out again and applied another dressing and referred me to an orthopaedic specialist.

The specialist agreed with the other doctor’s opinion that the ligaments were luckily undamaged and that it needed stitches ( ).

So I was scheduled for “surgery” the next day and booked in for an X-ray and into a bed for the night where I was immediately subject to a regime of starvation, blood tests and vitals monitoring every 4 hours!

At this point I realised how lucky I was as the poor guy next to me had both of his legs broken in several places courtesy of a fallen load of scaffolding and an enthusiastic DIYer opposite had opened up the palm of one hand in a big way with an angle grinder.

The next morning I was taken up to theatre for my “operation” under local where the orthopaedic specialist supervised an understudy, very competent, junior doctor who did the stitches whilst I chatted to a nurse about cats I think it was.

I was then wheeled in a trolley back to my bed where I was visited a few hours later by a consultant who certified me fit to go home with a scrip for painkillers but thankfully not antibiotics . They did a good job, for which I am extremely grateful and it is nearly as good as new with scarcely a scar.

What shocked me, apart from how much it must have all cost, was that I had honestly expected the “surgery” to be carried out by the practice nurse or my extremely highly paid GP. Clearly this state of affairs must have a very limited shelf life and it will be a bit of a shock for GPs when they actually will have to do a bit of actual surgery in their “surgery”, possibly without pain killers, rather than running a very expensive pill dispensing and triage service.

Say a bag of potatoes for four stitches?

A fairly small bag of potatoes for 4 stitches I would have thought.
If beyond DIY treatment, a vet could easily do this, of doubtfull legality whilst times are normal, but in an emergency ?

It does seem rather a waste of NHS money, unless your injury was worse than it sounds, an overnight hospital stay sounds very OTT.

However let this be a cautionery tale regarding taking care with tools etc.
What if the accident had happened post crash, without modern transport or skilled help to hand.
In an American doomer TV series, the main character haveing survived various disasters, dies of a small cut to the hand that becomes infected.

adam2 wrote:...dies of a small cut to the hand that becomes infected.

A few years ago a chap near us died of blood poisoning when a small cut he had on his hand got infected as he was clearing out some drains. Makes you think.

A couple of years ago I lost the end of my middle finger left hand in an accident in the garage. It didn't hurt one bit. As I came out of the garage pouring blood, a lady delivering the Yellow Pages came over, asked if I was OK then took charge - she was a nurse. Went to the hospital where my finger was shortened and tidied up and back home within 5 hours of it happening. NHS? Brilliant.

p.s. just thought - there's probably a joke in there somewhere - Yellow Pages - fingers!

Adam,

If beyond DIY treatment, a vet could easily do this, of doubtfull legality whilst times are normal, but in an emergency ?

As far as I know vets are actually more qualified than doctors and are actually allowed to treat people in this type of case. Doctors on the other hand(?) are not allowed(qualified) to treat animals.
In a post oil survival world, vets are going to be very useful people, especially as they normally have more practical experience in dealing with emergencies.

Sounds like a lot of work for just a saw cut. My missus was weed wacking with a sickle a month or so ago and managed to slice into her finger with it. Took her to A&E and after rinsing it out and sewing it up, that was all there was to it. It was an afternoon wiped out but there were no x-rays, GPs, surgeons or anything like that. Just a doctor and his trusty needle-and-thread.

I think minor stitching jobs should be delegated to a senior nurse. It's daft to have a doctor doing it in a busy hospital - their skills would be put to better use elsewhere.

Roger is talking about Ireland, I believe. It accurately describes the way the HSE (our NHS) works. It is all but broken. It has lost its way. People have lost sight of what a health service is supposed to be about.

Ours is a staggeringly expensive, highly bureaucratic, top-heavy, litigation-paranoid, inefficient, time-wasting, form-filling, H&S-mad monster that no-one has the ability to control.

One of the main problems in relation to Roger's experience is this: the regional health boards were got rid of. Not abolished as such, but amalgamated, so everyone got to keep their job. Imagine.

Add in this: the qualifications required to pursue a doctor's career here are extremely high, meaning there are never enough, leading to problem three: consultants are paid WAY too much, leading to a culture of high remuneration expectation.

Add in the very high private insurance participation rates (about 50% I believe) and you end up with, as I say, something that needs kicking out and re-building from scratch.

The time was when a local doctor would put a couple of stitches in and away you go. Those days have gone (for now). This is where we are now: a friend was in hospital recently and his stomach girth was measured. The (new) tape measure was then thrown away.

But hey, Roger, don't worry, the Brits are helping to pay for it all.

On a positive note, perhaps they where concerned about a couple of potential issues that could have screwed up your dexterity for life:

Ligaments
Nerve damage
Possible infection leading to the loss of the digit or worse.

Good to know that it got fixed!

rue_d_etropal wrote:Adam,

If beyond DIY treatment, a vet could easily do this, of doubtfull legality whilst times are normal, but in an emergency ?

As far as I know vets are actually more qualified than doctors and are actually allowed to treat people in this type of case. Doctors on the other hand(?) are not allowed(qualified) to treat animals.
In a post oil survival world, vets are going to be very useful people, especially as they normally have more practical experience in dealing with emergencies.

Agree that vets can treat humans "in an emergency" but these days this seems to be taken very strictly as to what constitutes an emergency.

Vets will certainly be much in demand in the future, less pampered pets perhaps, but more need for emergency human treatment.
Veterinary medicines are not normally approved for human use, but are often the same or similar enough that they could be used in an emergency.
I know of someone who is training to be a vet as they consider this be a useful post peak/post crash job.

maudibe wrote:On a positive note, perhaps they where concerned about a couple of potential issues that could have screwed up your dexterity for life:

Ligaments
Nerve damage
Possible infection leading to the loss of the digit or worse.

Good to know that it got fixed!

Thank you

I am sure they were Maudibe and appreciate it but my lazy, complacent and I am beginning to suspect, greedy and incompetent GP should be able to cope with minor injuries rather than passing the buck....

I agree totally with emor's more general points and applaud the
selfless generosity of nice Mr Cameroon and our kind friends in Germany and Washington......

But you all froth at the mouth and chant "We Luv the NHS" whenever anyone suggests change!!!!

Roger
I hope that teaches you a lesson, hack saw blades are ten a penny(well, pound), when its blunt get rid.

And if you can, hold your work piece with your holding hand crossed over your sawing hand.

Most GPs wouldn't suture a wound caused by an injury. GPs generally do minor surgery - ie they remove lumps and bumps and stitch up wounds they made themselves! But for "accidents" and "emergencies" the A&E Dept is the correct place to go.

That's not to say that the majority of doctors couldn't suture a wound in an emergency if they had to though (except perhaps psychiatrists )

DominicJ wrote:I hope that teaches you a lesson, hack saw blades are ten a penny(well, pound), when its blunt get rid.

Post crash they probably won't be!

happychicken wrote:Most GPs wouldn't suture a wound caused by an injury. GPs generally do minor surgery - ie they remove lumps and bumps and stitch up wounds they made themselves! But for "accidents" and "emergencies" the A&E Dept is the correct place to go.

Well my question iswhy will they not do this? Is it beneath their dignity or somthing?

As to the well deserved comments about how stupid I was to try and amputate my finger with a blunt hacksaw blade I can only agree.

Having got a bit smug after safely working with a range of tools , 3 phase AC, high voltage DC, high power RF and heavy machinery over many years this was a bit of a wake up call.

One of the nurses commented on the gratifyingly constant flow of
men, and it is predominantly men for some strange reason, who present at A+E after being attacked by apparently inaminate objects such as saws, drill bits, hammers, nail guns, blow lamps, axes, chisels........ and they are just as likely to be "professionals" as overenthusiastic DIYers.

Aparrently chain saws are an increasingly popular means of self mutilation so all you wood fuellers out there look out![/i]