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Ankle Injury

Posted By uniformxp54

"Ankle Injury"

About: NHS 24 / NHS 24 (111 service) NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde / Flow Navigation Centre Vale of Leven General Hospital / Minor Injuries Unit

(as a parent/guardian),

My son injured his ankle playing ruby. His ankle became badly swollen and was painful to touch or when he put pressure on it when he tried to stand. That afternoon and evening we had him lie down on the couch, raise his leg and we applied ice to his ankle. If his ankle had not gotten any better we wanted to take him to A&E or a Minor Injuries Unit.

That evening I called the Vale of Leven hospital to find out whether I should bring him there, although we live close by, the person I spoke to suggested I take him to one of the bigger hospitals in Glasgow as they thought it was nearer. It was then I realised the person I was talking to was not actually at the Vale of Leven Hospital and was not sure where it was in relation to where we live, the town where we live.

Luckily I ignored theirr advice and decided to call NHS 24. They arranged for someone from the Flow Navigation Centre to do a virtual A&E video call. The person who did the call agreed that my son should get his ankle X-rayed and asked if we could get to the Vale of Leven hospital for an appointment at 1pm. As this was only 15mins away, we left immediately.

Although we arrived at 1pm we did not get seen until nearly 2pm. Instead of rushing round we could have been given a later appointment. Having said that, we found the Flow Navigation Centre experience to be very good and as well as getting good advice we were sent to the Vale of Leven Hospital instead of one of the Glasgow A&E departments.

The staff at the Vale of Leven Hospital were very professional and provided a great service. X-Rays were taken and the results reviewed in quick time. They noticed an anomaly, which although they did not think was a break they said it would be reviewed by a specialist the next day and we would be contacted if it was a break.

In the meantime, the said they thought the injury was a tissue tear and just to rest and apply ice to the swollen area. They also advised getting the rugby club physio to examine the ankle later in the week

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Responses

Response from Edward Pool, Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Flow Navigation Centre, NHSGGC last month
Edward Pool
Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Flow Navigation Centre,
NHSGGC

Submitted on 20/03/2025 at 10:14
Published on Care Opinion at 10:14

picture of Edward Pool

Dear uniformxp54

Thank you for taking the time to feed back on your recent experience of seeking appropriate healthcare for your son. I'm pleased to hear that you contacted NHS24 and that they were able to set in motion the consultation with the Flow Navigation Centre and then the Vale of Leven Minor Injuries Unit. I hope the injury your son sustained is now well on the road to recovery and that things are going well for you both.

I am part of the Flow Navigation Centre and so I am particularly pleased to hear you describe your experience with this team as being very good, thank you so much for sharing that, the team will be really pleased to hear this.

I take on board your comments around the appointment time and the short wait you had when you did reach the Vale of Leven. The agreement we have with the Minor Injury Unit is that they strive to ensure patients are seen within an hour of their appointment times. There are times when the Minor Injury Unit can be under considerable pressure due to the number or the acuity of patients who self present and this can result in delays for everyone unfortunately. I'm glad that you didn't have to wait longer than an hour and that your experience of the MIU was positive.

Feedback on how the process is working is really very valuable when we evaluate and redesign our processes which we currently are doing, so I really appreciate you taking the time to share this feedback from your perspective.

Kind regards

Ed

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Response from Laura M, Patient Experience Officer, Nursing and Care, NHS 24 last month
Laura M
Patient Experience Officer, Nursing and Care,
NHS 24

Submitted on 21/03/2025 at 12:43
Published on Care Opinion at 12:44

Dear uniformxp54

Thank you for sharing your story on Care Opinion. I am sorry to learn that you had cause to contact the 111 service on behalf of your son following his ankle injury. I hope he is resting well and will be back playing rugby very soon, I'm sure he must be missing it.

I noticed a few services were tagged in your story, I reply on behalf of NHS 24. I was pleased to read that your son was referred to the flow navigation centre following your call to the 111 service, with an appointment to follow. If you would like to share more information with me in relation to your initial call to the 111 service, I can identify the staff who managed your call to NHS 24 and share your Care Opinion story with them. We always like to ensure that staff see positive feedback to reinforce how valued their care is when people call our services.

You can contact me by email at Patient.Experience@nhs24.scot.nhs.uk

Kind regards

Laura

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