NHS sends him away, so man gets vet to stitch up wounded hand

Father-of-one Tony Thomas, 51, was seen in between a cat and two dogs at the animal surgery and was able to go straight back to work.

He decided on the unusual treatment after realising he would miss work if he joined the queue at his nearest accident and emergency department.

Mr Thomas, from Todmorden, said: “I was doing the catering for a funeral last week when I slipped and fell over, I dropped a plate I was carrying and landed on it - gashing my right hand.

“I got the cut bandaged at the venue and wrapped it with a towel and then went to the local medical centre so it could be patched and finish my day at work.”

But when he got to nearby Todmorden Medical Centre with his hand dripping with blood he was told they did not deal with open wounds and he would have to go to A&E, 12 miles away.

Instead, he called a friend at the West Mount veterinary surgery.

Mr Thomas, who runs a delicatessen with his wife, said: “I was desperate so it was the only thing I could think of.

“They fitted me in between a cat and a couple of dogs, with a nurse and I got seen to straight away. They glued my injury together with surgical glue and patched it up with strips and a bandage and I was good to go.

“I cut my hand at 5.45pm and by 6pm as I was heading back to Walsden Cricket Club to the function. If only the NHS were that fast.

“I put a plastic glove over my wound and was back at work and was able to keep going until I finished at 8pm Wednesday night.

“My hand didn’t hurt while I was working but by the end it needed seeing to again, the glue had come off so it wasn’t held together very well. But it did the job.

“I don’t for a minute think the vet did a better job than a hospital could but my mate helped me out when I needed him.

“But I do have to say it was done as a favour because they know me. The vet was very clear that they didn’t want people lined up to have little injuries looked at.”

Ironically, when Mr Thomas eventually got to A&E he was seen in just 20 minutes.

He said: “They were great at A&E and I didn’t wait as long as I thought I might, it was quite quiet because it was 8.30pm on a Wednesday night.

“They re-glued my hand and put more strips on, because the wound had come open while I was finishing off work.

“They said stitches wouldn’t work because the area of my hand would be moved too much.

“They couldn’t stop laughing when I told them I’d been to the vet.”

Todmorden Group Practice manager Tracy Wilson said when Tony removed the towel there was a dressing on the wound, otherwise the practice had a policy in place to deal with an undressed wound.

“But we don’t have the facility to stitch and glue it and had to send him to Halifax. I did apologise to him that we don’t offer accident and emergency services and are not contracted to deal with things like that, “ she said.

Debbie Robinson, head of primary care for NHS Calderdale, said: “The Walk-In Centre does not offer wound stitching, so following, assessment the patient was appropriately advised to seek treatment at accident and emergency.

“GP surgeries will only offer stitching where a minor procedure has been performed on site and would also have advised the patient to attend A&E.”