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

I was that person two weeks ago. Taken in by ambulance as a sepsis risk, but needed to eventually be put into a&e as ambulance needed elsewhere. I was just in my nightie, outrageously ill and tested positive for Covid in the ambulance. Literally sat in my nightie feeling iller than I ever have in my life. For hours.

The worst experience was when my very young grandson burned his hand and I brought him immediately to A&E. He had been dousing it with cold water at home but when we arrived the staff declined to give him any water for it until after he was seen- and it was still burning him. He started crying in the corridor with the pain and fortunately another patient gave us his unopened bottle of water and I took my grandson outside to pour it slowly over. We nearly missed being called in for triage but at least he had some relief during that time. I thought it was incredibly callous of the staff just to say there was nothing they could do when all he wanted was some cold water.

I've spent a lot of time in a and e with my elderly mum recently and while it's never great our local hospital does try. If they're busy they ask relatives not to wait in the waiting room unless you need someone to advocate for you and they also ask them not to take up seats if patients are standing. They try to get you out of the waiting room into pods as soon as they can and they bring chairs for relatives. They bring tea coffee water and biscuits round every couple of hours for those that can have them, and always offer to relatives as well. They have charging points for mobile phones, vending machines for fruit, nuts and snacks plus drinks. There are wheelchairs at the entrance for anyone to use. However it's always really busy, usually a lot of very drunk or drugged people, always a lot of police officers and usually a few handcuffed prisoners too, so the loos are always pretty gross (don't think it's easy to pee neatly if you're handcuffed) and the poor staff are run off their feet and having to cope with abusive patients.

I slid down the desk as I couldn’t stand, I was having a bad allergic reaction. At the point I was sliding down the desk to the floor - they agreed my do could take over giving the details. The triage staff came out put me on a chair with wheels & took me away 😂

it was comical that it was only after I’d started sliding down the desk they allied my do to take over 🤣

I’ve had both terrible and excellent experiences in A&E. I had to queue once when I had severe asthma from an infection and there was no urgency at all from the reception desk or triage team. I spent hours wheezing and coughing until I saw a doctor and was admitted. I spent over a week in hospital after that episode and I thought I was going to die at several points. Another time I’d had an accident and had broken bones and severe bruising. I was taken in by ambulance, whose medics didn’t think I’d broken anything but I clearly couldn’t move, and was taken to a cubicle and given some pain killers. They then asked me to go and sit on a chair in the main waiting area to wait to be seen for tests. I couldn’t even sit up so I refused. I’m also immunosuppressed and this was before the vaccines so they eventually found an empty office and wheeled my trolley in there, which was somewhat surreal. The care, when I got it, was generally very good but not always.

The issue is also nobody dealing with family members hogging all the chairs. I stood for over an hour in A&E with blood dripping from a head wound and my nose following a fall. Not one person offered me a seat and I was struggling too much to ask.

I’ve always thought it’s to discourage people from going and costing the NHS money. Seriously, who doesn’t think twice about “whether it’s worth it”.

At my mother’s local hospital you can’t even speak to the receptionist but have to log your symptoms on an iPad. If you make a typo on any of your personal details it resets the whole thing. My mother had sepsis but we didn’t know this, she was just poorly. The computer decided she wasn’t urgent. I tried to get help from a human 3 times before a passing nurse saw how poorly she was and rushed her in. She ended up in septic shock but thankfully recovered.

That's what frustrates me. Those of us that are actually sick get the metal chairs and no T.V because they want to deter people hanging around. Yet don't think about those that are really poorly, we would like to be somewhat comfortable during the 12+ hour wait... Longest wait was 72 hours waiting for a bed on the ward, 47 hours on metal chair before I got given a trolley, I was connected to IV etc, why shouldn't I be able to watch a bit of TV in that time?!

The one time I got sent there by my GP I was sent with a letter, and they must have called ahead because as soon as I handed it over I was taken straight through. The joys of suspected sepsis over a decade ago, prob wouldn't happen now though. Had a few visits with my son, and luckily all of those we were told to go straight to the separate kids assessment section

Yes to the problem of giving details to staff. I went with a serious nose bleed, no way to speak without nose actually bleeding. I hadn’t checked in so they didn’t give me anything to help even a bowl/more paper
despite the obvious biohazard and mess of me bleeding at the reception desk.

Maybe a voluntary NHS card with name and DoB and photo that would show known long term conditions and known allergies. It would all have to be checked as things do change a lot. Keep it as basic as that rather then trying to link to full Gp or hospital notes.

Chairs and clinical areas I think is deterring people, especially numbers accompanying the sick person, cost and ease of cleaning. In theory you should not be there long as it is only for very serious illness/accident but the NHS is a mess.

I did recently have brilliant treatment from reception all way through for a different illness and will sending thanks.

To put it the other way round.

A&E departments were never deigned for the people they are being expected to see today.

Peopel were either brought in by ambulance and on a trolley or were brought in (generally) having had some sort of accident or emergency - having fallen and suffered an injury, or medical emergency such as severe allergic reaction or heart attack.

Now for, far too may people, they are seen as somewhere to go because the GP service no longer suits their needs/desires AND just as frequently because 'oh i'm uncomfortable/hurting, I'm going to A&E' (It doesn't need to be many of these to fuck it up for everyone wlse who is there legitimately.

Most people do go with the right mindset but 10% overreacting and 10% using it as a GP (along with it not keeping up with needs) leads to nearly 50% oversubscribed and staff becoming frustrated too

Completely agree. DM(92) post surgery for a broken hip was sent by the GP for a precautionary scan following a fall. We were there for 6 hours, a catalogue of errors, miscommunication and complete compassion fatigue among the staff. DM was struggling to sit for that long post op and all I wanted was for her to be able to sit in a comfortable chair in a quiet area but it was an impossible request. Eventually I said I was taking her home and even then I was sent round 3 different nurses none of whom would take responsibility for her self discharge. By this time DM was visibly exhausted and her risk of another fall increasing. We were then told her scan results (even though we were told it would take up to an hour to get the results back) but were then informed she needed an X-ray of her hip. We took her to X-ray again but she needed to be on a trolley...they put her on the wrong sort of trolley. Post X-ray there were no porters so radiographer pushed her back into A&E.

The positive was that DM had someone to advocate for her but there were lots of other vulnerable patients in there alone. I worked in the NHS for over 30 years and I was appalled and saddened at the overall experience

It is a disgrace. Not fit for purpose. Totally shameful.

lots of input from hospital facilities staff, healthcare staff etc

From personal experience, I doubt healthcare staff are asked at all. Or if they are asked, it is pure lip-service

Is there a charity linked to your rare condition? I have an "alert" card and information sheet from the charity which I can hand over to paramedic or receptionist etc. Maybe there is one for you. We shouldn't need to find ways to deal with a&e being so uncomfortable though.

Like others have said maybe it's to deter people from attending unnecessarily.

My friend works in a&e and switched off one of the England Euros matches in the waiting room - he said if people are sick enough they'll wait and if not they can leave and watch the match!

I agree, though I have huge sympathy for the staff working there. I recently went to my gp with O2 sats in the high 80s after a couple of nebulisers had failed to make any difference. I refused to go to A&E for further treatment as I just couldn't face gasping and wheezing on a hard chair with people crowded in around me. Fortunately I gradually picked up. Thank god the Tories are gone and hopefully this situation will improve.

They are rubbish places to wait. I think it's a combination of infection control, things having to be robust against vandalism, cheapest bid wins, space efficiency....

If there were comfy reclined cushioned chairs they just wouldn't last.

And their phone number.

Sound a bit like the Norfolk and Norwich