To wonder why A&E seems to be designed to be the worst possible place you could possibly be when ill?

If you’re so sick that you can’t sit or stand in the waiting room, they tell you to go home and call an ambulance. So you can lie in the ambulance outside while you wait. Ridiculous and a total waste of an ambulance - basically using it as a bed!

I've never been to an a&e that didn't have chairs. If they made them nice then people might go more unnecessarily (like people who cba to see or even register with a gp, not people who genuinely should be there).

I was once in A&E (told to go during an appointment with my GP) and a chap in the queue behind me was having a fit in his wheelchair and fighting for breath.

The TWO nurses checking people in were doing such a good job of pretending the queue didn’t exist, it was only when we all started shouting at them that they looked up from their envelope stuffing to see someone close to dying six feet away from them.

Agree the conditions are really bad. Would like to see if people take longer to get discharged the longer they have waited on A&e chairs. If you were looking for an environment to make people sicker sat on hard chairs potentially sharing a drip stand would be it.

I always feel the chairs should be numbered to avoie the ammount of staff searching for patients. I once collapsed while waiting, ended up with a 17 day admission. Staff dient know who i was as had no nameband and people had gone home as was worried a 10 hour wait through the night would just make them sick. be

I agree but I doubt anything will change. The whole vibe is'why are you here?'!!

Comfy chairs would be set on fire/stolen/used as a weapon in our a&e

Last time I went to A&E there was a woman lying for the floor covered in her own vomit, still vomiting now and then, and staff kept coming and standing over her asking her to get up and sit on the chair (which she clearly couldnt) I felt awful for her.

A & E is now so crammed you can go in with a broken leg & leave with covid or a stomach bug, there doesn't appear to be any form of germ control.

Glad you’re happy with it , and I truly mean that. And yes there are many people who struggle in the US, And there are many more that are happy with their care.

But sometimes I think things could be tweaked for a very minimal cost to make the patient experience far more tolerable

With respect, you’re asking to rearrange the deck chairs on the titanic. 4 hour wait times should be a busy Friday or Saturday drunk fest. Granny should not be in a chair with stroke symptoms for 10+ hours or thinking it’s better to stay on the floor at home with a broken hip for 20+ hours! (The response time for my neighbor at 1 am on a Friday night from an ambulance was under 10 min. He had pain meds administered immediately and from what we heard was treated immediately in the ER and admitted to the hospital within 5 hours. )

You should not feel grateful for a plastic chair for an 8+ hour wait to be seen by a doctor. You should feel outraged.

Free healthcare that you can’t use isn’t better than expensive healthcare that everyone gets (but you may have to figure out later how to pay for) IMHO.

I thought this was an ER/A&E design topic? I’m just sharing my perspective.

If a walk in you pass security (bag check and metal detector) and go to a window. You check in and the take your name. Triage is next which is its own room where you have vitals taken, immediate treatment and more detailed information taken. Then you wait until you are called, (current wait 88 min). Most ER’s have an A and a B side … B side being for non-emergent things (sprains, cuts, sore throat, etc.) A side for gun shots/stabbings, car accidents, strokes, heart attacks, etc.

If you are brought by ambulance (most response times averaging 6 min) you will be brought to an exam room or waiting room depending on your symptoms.

As I mentioned, free valet parking for the ER, so there can be a little bit of a wait there if it’s busy. Wheel chairs available for use in the entrance if you need one. The chairs are soft-ish and I’m sure seating gets a tight on really heavy nights. It’s been clean every time I’ve been in. Soft lighting. Visitors also get checked in with a picture name badge/sticker identifying you to a patient if they are already in an exam room otherwise you get that after they’ve been taken back. Visitors in the exam room are limited.

Then you’re brought back into an exam room. Each room is private, depending on what you are there for you’ll get painkillers, they’ll bring ultrasound machines, to the room when possible, otherwise you’ll be brought to different areas for Scans and X-rays. At some point someone will come in to see if you have insurance, get details, etc.

Usually w/in 4 hours of being admitted to the ER you’ll either be in surgery, admitted to a floor, or discharged. If discharged you’ll have someone come in and help coordinate after care if needed (finding a doctor if a specialist and making an appointment, helping with a PCP/GP appointment, helping to get medical financial aid if needed).

The last 3 times I (or someone I’ve taken) has been a walk in there was literally no wait. All ambulance arrivals have also been the same.

Medical issues have included the following: Stroke, dog bite, suspected kidney stone, severe ‘something’ that presented as very ill, painful cyst in a very unfortunate piece of anatomy.

Research into medical bankruptcy in the US.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6366487/

Should add the waiting time for being seen by specialists isn't helping

Saw gynae in April after a 6 month wait, was bumped up the list after going to a&e. MRI 7 weeks ago. Not seeing him again until November. Then they've got to have an MDT meeting etc etc
There's no other pain relief options and the only thing they can say if it gets really bad, go to a&e

When it's really bad I can't move off the floor! Last thing I want to do is be stuck on all fours in a&e

I saw a really good triage person last time
Was pacing and vaping outside---- as it was the only way I was comfortable
She came out and scanned the room and told me to go with her as I looked grey. She asked what was going on, I said I think I have cauda equina
It was maybe 5 mins later they got me morphine
MRI that evening, neurosurgeon called in, 5hr op the next morning

Most of those bills are written off and/or covered by Medicaid.

Unless you die waiting. You could br loaded in the UK but die waiting for 999 to pick up, for the ambulance, to treat your current heart attack.

I was having a heart attack I'd sell my furniture TV and bed to go private.

I'm lucky I live near a great hospital. In my home town you go into the massive major trama centre hospital and die of mrsa. You miscarry full term waiting in the maternity ward waiting room. You die while your dd is on hold to 999. You die sitting outside A&E for 10 hours in the ambulance. I wish I was kidding you. Loosing £2300 would seem appealing when your literally dieing with zero dignity right there in front of the nhs.

It's postcode lottery.

Totally agree on the standing to queue being completely ridiculous.

I don’t understand why more people don’t die in the waiting area as you are just stuck there for the day, with no staff in sight, and the other sick patients are not going to notice if someone is passed out or worse.

After waiting for a few hours you start worrying that your name has been forgotten or you missed it when you went to the loo or misheard, no way of finding out unless you join the 45 min queue again.

I often wonder what you should do if you literally cannot breathe (danger of imminent death) and cannot get sight of any staff member. Perhaps lie down across the main entrance blocking anyone getting in or out? I have read about someone having to call 999 from an A&E waiting room which is so scary.

I’m 56. I’ve had a chronic and occasional life threatening condition since I was 18. Hospitals have not changed in their poor, often contemptuous service one iota under all the governments we’ve had since then.

Someone, govt,needs to sort out gp services and provide enough capacity for people so they don't have to go to A and E because it's like one of Dantes circles of hell. Truly awful. We are one of the richest countries in the world and it's shameful.

Regarding multiple people attending with the patient, I agree for most cases but there are the exceptions where this is perhaps needed. My DD had psychosis and if she couldn't physically see someone, she thought they had died which then caused her extreme distress (as well as already leaving the house and being at a hospital). We had to all go with her (2 adults, 1 teenager) so she didn't think we had died.

I have a care plan that is logged as a document on my NHS app by my GP. I can show this document by opening the app but the care plan is also logged on my NHS record should they wish to check.

I have had varying experiences of A&E. The worst was in 2020 when Covid was about. I was rushed to hospital with serious burns. The waiting area was disgusting - cramped, crowded, dirty and no cleaning was done and it was clear it hadn’t been for a while given what was on varying surfaces. In a way I was glad my burns were so severe I saw someone quickly.

@thebillcollector 😂🤣 you actually have a good point there. It probably would be quicker!