• Reference Number: HEY1200/2025
• Departments: Emergency Department, Orthopaedics, Physiotherapy
• Last Updated: 31 March 2025

Your Referral to Fracture Clinic

The clinician you have seen today recommends that your injury is reviewed by a consultant-led team that specialise in fracture and injury management in the Virtual Fracture Clinic

What is the Virtual Fracture Clinic?

Your notes and, if appropriate, X-rays or scans are reviewed in the clinic within 72 hours by a consultant, a nurse and a physiotherapist who will decide the most suitable way to manage your injury and determine whether you need to attend for assessment.

THIS IS A TELEPHONE APPOINTMENT

YOU WILL BE CONTACTED IF YOU NEED TO ATTEND FACE TO FACE

What happens next?

• You will receive a telephone call explaining the plan of care that has been agreed to ensure your injury is managed in the best possible way. During this phone call there will be opportunity for you to ask any questions that are important to you and discuss any concerns you may have. You may be asked to attend the clinic for a face-to-face review.
• It is important you are therefore available on the telephone number you have provided in the next 72 hours (between the hours of 09.00am to 16.00pm). The call may come from an unknown number.
• If you do not receive a telephone call in the hours stated above, we recommend you call Tel: 01482 674378 between the hours of 8.00am and 8.00pm daily.

Why am I not being seen straight away in fracture clinic?

The Virtual Fracture Clinic has been designed to ensure that you, the patient, only have to visit the hospital when absolutely necessary. For example:

• Many injuries do not require a next day fracture clinic appointment. They have been immobilised appropriately in Emergency Care and until the healing process has started to take place there is no need for any further intervention – these patients will be offered an appointment in 2 to 6 weeks’ time.
• Many patients come to fracture clinic only to have another appointment arranged as they need to see a specialist doctor – these patients will be contacted with an appointment with the specialist doctor preventing the need for a fracture clinic visit.
• Some injuries do not require a fracture clinic appointment and can be managed by the physiotherapy team. These patients will receive a phone call from the physiotherapist and follow-up in the physiotherapy department if required

This enables you to have the correct care at the correct time with the most appropriate clinician.

Should you require further advice on the information contained in this leaflet, please do not hesitate to contact the Fracture Clinic Department Tel: 01482 674378.

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.