Scotland, United Kingdom: Olive Cassidy

Health experience related to: femur fracture

Comprehensive health and social services planned around people's functional needs and delivered as close as possible to their home allow patients to recover at their own pace and reduce the stress of the hospital environment.

I broke my leg one day while I was watering the garden. The water was running onto the grass, and I slipped and fell. I couldn't move; I was lying in water and my husband, who is almost 84 years old, called for an ambulance.

The ambulance came within 10 minutes. They got me onto a stretcher, made sure that I was comfortable and helped to reduce the pain right away. When we got to the hospital, I was taken right in. I'm afraid from then on I don't know what was going on, because I was unconscious for a few hours.

When I woke up it was quite late, so they made me comfortable for the night. In the morning the doctors and nurses were kind and looked after me so well; they all called me by my first name and made sure that I was given their names as well. After the operation I was taken to another ward. All my belongings were brought in and were waiting for me. My medication was on time; everything was ok.

When it was time to discharge me, a nurse phoned my husband to make sure that I had everything I would need at home. My bed is upstairs, so she made sure that we had another bed for me downstairs, as well as all the equipment I would need – a commode, wheelchair and walking aide. When I was discharged from the hospital, they arranged for meals to be brought in to me and my husband, and for a home aide to come in and help me out of my bed. From the doctor's office they even sent a nurse to give me injections. I got all this attention!

After 6 months I felt that I could manage by myself. They showed me how to get in the shower with a step, and they also installed a handle in the shower for me. After a few more months in rehabilitation, I was allowed to put my foot down to some extent and they gave me a new walking aid. I can't tell you how much was done for me! And they gave me the telephone numbers of people who could help if we needed other things.

So I had a doctor, a home nurse, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist. It's a mixture of health and social services. When social services take over, the hospital allows you to go home so that you free the bed for somebody else who needs it. I presume that's the idea.

The thing that got me was I never needed to ask for anything; they knew what I wanted. They saw that I couldn't carry anything and was just holding on to my walking aid and my sticks. So they got me a three-wheel trolley with a wee basket in the middle that I can push when I go shopping, which I hope to do in not too long.

They even have a special bus in East Ayrshire for people like me. If you are going somewhere within the area, you phone up and they come and collect you at a set time. They give you time to do what you have to do and then take you home.

I feel so much better from the shock I was in when I fell and broke my leg. I had a very good experience and I'm still getting a good experience. I really appreciated everything that was done and I'm looking forward to getting on with my life!