A fracture clinic is a specialist outpatient clinic—run by a trauma and orthopaedics (T&O) team—that reviews and manages people who have broken bones or related musculoskeletal injuries.
It’s typically where you’re followed up after first treatment in an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, or urgent care.
What happens at a fracture clinic?
Here’s what you can expect:
1. Review of your injury
- The doctor (often an orthopaedic consultant or registrar) reviews:
- Your x-rays or scans
- How the injury happened
- Your symptoms (pain, swelling, movement)
Sometimes new x-rays are taken to check healing or alignment.
2. Assessment of healing and alignment
They check whether the bone is:
- Healing correctly
- In the right position
- Stable enough without surgery
They also assess joints, nerves, and circulation around the injury.
3. Treatment decisions
Depending on the injury, they may:
- Keep you in a cast, splint, or boot
- Change or remove your cast
- Adjust how much weight you can put on the limb
- Prescribe or review pain relief
- Decide if surgery is needed (if so, they explain next steps)
4. Rehabilitation plan
You may be referred to physiotherapy and:
- Given exercises to prevent stiffness
- Told when you can:
- Return to work
- Drive
- Resume sports or normal activities
5. Follow-up planning
You might:
- Be discharged from clinic
- Be booked for another review in a few weeks
- Be switched to a virtual fracture clinic (review without attending in person)
Who works there?
- Orthopaedic consultants or registrars (training to be T&O consultants)
- Foundation (junior) doctors
- Specialist nurses
- Physiotherapists
- Cast technicians
How long does it take?
- Appointments often last 10–20 minutes
- Waiting times can vary, especially if x-rays are needed
