"ED nail treatment"

I had stubbed a finger and the nail was 3/4 off. It was too sore to finish removing so went to Northam Hospital to get help. I hoped they may be able to remove it so it would not be ripped off. The doctor came in and said that they would do nothing but glue it back down. The doctor got out this purple glue, put it on top of my nail and proceeded to stick their gloved thumb to it. The doctor tried to pull it off but that did not work. Then they tried cutting it off with scissors. That left a piece of rubber on my finger so they decided to try getting it off with a needle. And stuck the needle into the finger making it bleed. They then forced a splint on which was too small. They then said they were referring me to a podiatrist to see what they would do. The glue did not stick and the too tight splint was lifting the nail causing more pain so a few hours later I was back at ED asking for something else to try. They tried putting gauze inside the splint to have a cover over the nail, but they could not get more than a single layer in. So they then wrapped a large bandage around my finger and over the even tighter splint. I was told that was all I could get done by them.

I had to take it off because the finger had gone numb and cold. My finger was white and had the impression of the splint in it. I was not able to get an appointment at the doctor so I ended up buying sterry strips from the chemist and sticking it down as a temporary hold until I got a call from the hospital.

When I had not heard anything I rang the podiatrist which is where I recall ED were insisting that they had sent the referral. They said they did not have it and put me through to the ot dealing with hands. I recall they said they did not have a referral for me. They were as surprised and confused as I was as to why they would refer me to podiatry for a finger. They looked it up and said that they had referred me to podiatry but it had been refused. Nobody told me that before this clinician did.

They were not able to help without a referral, and I still could not get in at the doctors. Out of frustration a friend and I have attacked the nail and managed to get it off, with much pain and some bleeding. I was left thinking this is the only solution as the hospital had told me to not go back expecting any different treatment because that is what they do for it.

In my opinion, Fawlty Towers has nothing on this ED. I felt I was not treated as a patient looking for a treatment solution to a painful finger. I had a doctor glue themselves to me. Then they stuck a needle into the finger causing more pain. Then it seems to me the doctor obviously either does not know the difference between a hand and foot or has no idea that a podiatrist treats feet, not hands. And to put a splint on that is obviously to me too tight, especially when it is obvious that it is going over a joint affected with rheumatoid arthritis made me wonder whether they were a fully trained doctor. I felt the whole thing was a farce. Then when I returned because of increased pain I was made to feel that I was a nuisance interrupting their work.