Mr Ali Esmaeili 2022-08-27 Person 5 5 0

I attended day surgery at the Royal Free on 27 July 2022 for reduction of a spiral fracture of the ring finger of my left hand. I had attended plastics the previous week, where the decision was taken that surgical reduction was needed without any attempt at a closed reduction under local anaesthetic in clinic. Needless to say, I was very apprehensive of the potential for needing general anaesthetic given previous problems with g.a. That and concern that it was by this point 10 days since the injury, so concerned re what could be done and frustrated that clinic insisted it needed to go straight to surgery, based on the X ray alone and without any attempt to reduce in clinic. Straight away on meeting Mr Esmaeili at the start of the day, he demonstrated great empathy and respect for how I was feeling, taking the time to get to really understand me, my concerns and the history of the injury. When I told him that no attempt to reduce the fracture in clinic and my frustration around that, he immediately was willing to attempt a closed reduction under local anaesthetic whilst of course being absolutely transparent and addressing empathetically that this was not a guarantee. After his first procedure, he returned to the ward and successfully reduced the fracture under local anaesthetic, avoiding the need for me to have to go to theatre for more invasive intervention. My finger is healing well now and continues to do so. I highly recommend Mr Esmaeli and remain extremely grateful of the time he gave me and his wonderful expertise.