I just want to sing the praises of the Royal South Hants Minor Injuries Unit.
My husband and I have had cause to use this service 3 times in the last year. Two weeks ago I fell over on the pavement near my house and injured my arm. I could not straighten it. After taking the granddaughters home to Sholing, we visited this unit.
5pm was a busy time there, but I was seen within 10 minutes and assessed. A short time later I was ushered in to see the paramedic, who referred me for x-rays. It turns out that I had broken my arm. I was checked out for head injury as my face was a mess, paperwork was completed and I was referred on to the ortho team at the General.
Excellent service and I felt listened to and well cared for – in just under 2 hours. Anyone in the SO postal area can use this service and I commend it to you. Well worth checking out the range of illnesses / accidents they can deal with, as it might save a trip to A&E at Winchester and the inevitable long wait there.
If you follow MIU on tweeter, you also know the current waiting time. I think it’s great communicating with the public this way.
Thanks for this, Hazel, and I do hope you are well on the mend.
Even a 2 hour wait is acceptable. When I broke my ankle, and the GP told me it was broken and sent me to A&E at Winchester, I arrived at 7.30pm and was seen at 1.30am and they required persuasion to x-ray it then! Had to come back later in the day as nobody was available to plaster me either. Not a good experience. Hence taking my broken wrist in August last year and arm last month to the MIU.
I visited the Eye Emergency Department at Southampton General a few times in the past two years. I also found the staff very attentive, and the care I received was excellent. Once I had to wait a bit longer (less than 2 hours), as I was later told by the doctor that someone before me had collapsed in his room, and they had to deal with the emergency first.