"My treatment after fracturing a wrist"

I Sustained an open fracture of my left wrist when I slipped whilst playing golf and was seen in A&E. The attending registrar was helpful and attempted to arrange for me to be treated privately (I have insurance), but this did not happen, partly as my warfarin needed to be neutralised. I was in pain and heavily sedated when I was asked to sign a consent form for surgery and did so without thinking. I was 86 at the time and in spite of a statement during a complaints meeting with management, after a 6 months delay, by the Director of Orthopaedics at the hospital that my injury was"complex, significant and of severity", I was operated on by "the team" (no names given when I asked) of registrars without any consultant being present. I feel that this may have been an ageist decision by the person who allocated me. I feel the severity of my injury warranted treatment by an experienced consultant. The outcome is that slippage of the wrist has occurred, mobility to turn the wrist has been greatly reduced, nerve damage was so severe that I needed specialised neurosurgery after a carpal tunnel operation proved fruitless (both privately- not at Nortwick Park Hospital) and am still not fully restored some 14 months after the accident. At the complaints meeting management were not helpful and prevented any input from staff who had treated me in spite of our request for this and our offer to attend at the hospital's convenience.