"The staff has been outstanding"

Having suffered a near fatal cycling road accident in France in 2023, I was flown home to Glasgow after 10 days and started my long recovery journey. Now, my rehabilitation under the care of the NHS therapists is coming to an end but my recovery journey will continue for at least 9 more months.

With hindsight, as my initial life-saving treatment occurred in France, "ownership" of my case in the UK may have suffered. I was initially encouraged to leave hospital within 48 hours to return home far too quickly, had not settled on new pain medication and a brain injury had not been diagnosed. I suffered a chest infection 4 weeks later and having tried a phased return to work after 12 weeks, I could not cope with the cognitive fatigue demands of my job and quickly realised that something was wrong. Fortunately, I had been given a follow up contact in the Major Trauma team and this proved a lifeline, resulting in assessment and treatment by the Glasgow Brain Injury Unit, Respiratory Speech Therapy to manage a hoarse voice and ongoing Orthopaedic treatment to a broken shoulder.

Being willing and able to accept cancellation appointments allowed me to be seen by each specialty within a number of days. I had to wait 3 months for the brain unit therapy to start, but this allowed me to physically recover first, which was beneficial.

My treatment by the NHS and the staff has been outstanding and first class across GP, Major Trauma Team, Physiotherapy, Respiratory Speech Therapy, and Brain Injury Psychology/Speech Therapy/Occupational Therapy.