Everybody has heard a Royal Free Hospital story. Here s mine. A couple of months ago, on October 1, I broke my leg in two places. The Royal Free ambulance crew did a good job. They got me into A&E where I received some excellent service. Three quick X-ray

Everybody has heard a Royal Free Hospital story. Here's mine. A couple of months ago, on October 1, I broke my leg in two places.

The Royal Free ambulance crew did a good job. They got me into A&E where I received some excellent service. Three quick X-rays were followed by a good plaster job on my broken leg by their first class plaster technician, Tony Reed. For the next six weeks I was housebound.

A month and a half later on November 13, the orthopedic consultant said it was time to remove the cast. He told me I would need physiotherapy and gave me a referral slip to be handed in to the physiotherapy department for treatment which would start the next week.

As I was unable to walk, an kindly orthopedic assistant hand delivered my referral slip to the physiotherapy department.

I phoned physiotherapy the next day to be told they had no record of me or any referral slip. They suggested I go get another referral slip. No easy task!

With some difficulty I managed to arrange for a second referral slip from the consultant to be hand delivered to the physiotherapy department.

The next day they again said they had no referral slip and no record of me. They said try calling back the next day.

The next day it was the same story. So I refused to get off the phone until something was done.

Then miraculously, 10 minutes later, my referral slip was found. But the nightmare got worse.

They informed me that all appointments were fully booked until the end of December, six or seven weeks away. And that was that.

This now means that for another month and a half I can get no help or guidance, and no questions answered about how I can best help myself in trying to get safely mobile and moving. What a kafkaesque farce!

My advice for anyone going to the Royal Free with a broken leg is to immediately go to the physio department after the leg has been plastered and book the earliest appointment.

This should then coincide with the approximate time, two months later, when your plaster comes off, and you are most in need of physiotherapy.

K Vaughan

Parkhill Road, NW3