Charity-funded clinic lends a helping hand to fracture patients

Charity-funded clinic lends a helping hand to fracture patients

01 August 2024

Charity-funded clinic lends a helping hand to fracture patients
Patients being treated for hand fractures at St Mary’s Hospital’s A&E are starting rehabilitation sooner thanks to an Imperial Health Charity grant.

The grant, awarded through our Innovate at Imperial programme, has helped the team set up and run a pilot specialist fracture clinic. The Enhanced Pathway for Closed Hand Fractures (EPiC) was codesigned with patients to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of treatment on offer.

So far, the impact has been incredibly positive, with patients reporting less pain, better movement, and requiring fewer follow-up therapy sessions. The average waiting time to receive a face-to-face appointment has also decreased from 29 days to 6.3 days for patients referred from emergency care.

The clinic was set up after a team of therapists noticed delays in patients receiving specialist care for hand fractures, which account for 19% of all admissions to A&E. This was resulting in longer recovery, more appointments, and disruption in returning to day-to-day activities.

"The new clinic allows patients to start the rehabilitation journey more quickly"

Katia Fournier, EPiC Clinical Lead

Katia Fournier, EPiC Clinical Lead, said: “As therapists, we tend to see patients more often and for longer appointments than Hand Surgery Consultants, so we get a privileged insight into the impact of hand injuries on a patient’s life.

“The new clinic allows patients to start the rehabilitation journey more quickly, with the therapist providing assessment, advice, exercises and splinting during the first appointment.”

The team now hope they can make the clinic permanent, to support even more patients’ recovery. 

This project is funded by Imperial Health Charity as part of our Innovate at Imperial grants programme, which aims to provide opportunities for permanent staff at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to explore innovative ways of improving health and social care. Find out more about the programme on our website.

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