The Virtual Fracture Clinic (VFC) is a modern electronic service designed to enhance your care and speed up access to orthopaedic trauma care by standardizing treatment and reducing outpatient appointments.
Coming to a fracture clinic in the first few days after an injury is unnecessary in many cases, as no change to your treatment is required. Additionally, visits in the first few days are often the most difficult, as pain, swelling, and immobility are the greatest.
Many hospitals use the VFC service to provide better service, given at the correct time and by the correctly trained person.
It is run by trauma and orthopaedic consultants in our trust, allowing them to streamline patients to the correct treatment pathway.
We have now adapted our pathway so that you can be given an appointment at the right time when appropriate. However, if you can get proper treatment at home, you will be saved from the inconvenience of attending the hospital.
VFC applies to anyone with an orthopaedic-related injury that did not require immediate definitive management on the initial presentation to the A&E department.
A Trauma and Orthopaedics consultant will have access to your medical notes and x-rays. The consultant will review these accordingly to aid in diagnosing and planning.
They will assess your case usually within 72 hours of the presentation. You do not need to attend this appointment. Consequently, they will make a diagnosis and formulate an appropriate management plan.
A specialist nurse will either offer you a face-to-face appointment to see a specialist orthopaedic consultant in the fracture clinic on C-Level within a timeframe appropriate to your injury or discharge you from the service with proper advice.
The nurse will contact you via telephone or a letter with the plan regarding your injury.
Other outcomes may include *a telephone follow-up conversation after a certain period * booking in for an operation if needed * or referral to an appropriate specialty/specialist.
Occasionally, we ask your GP to refer you to a specialty surgeon.
Calls and text messages are typically made between 12 pm and 6 pm, but please be aware of busy periods; they may be made outside of this period. We will contact the number you have provided us via ED. These will typically come through from an unlisted number.
If we are unable to speak to you, a message will be left advising that we have called. You can contact us back or wait for a clinical letter to come through the post.
If an appointment is required, you will receive a text message or a phone call from a staff member stating date and time for your appointment.
What happens if you are unable to answer our call?
In this case, we will send a letter to the documented address with the outcome of the virtual clinic.
We will also send a letter to your GP surgery.
For any queries, please get in touch with 02392 286551. This is an answer phone; if there is no reply, please leave a message which will be picked up later during the day by the VFC sister.