Cat versus human a&e

That's too outing I'm afraid.

But I can guarantee a GP appointment same day and out of hours and the longest me or my family have been in A&E was 3 hours and that included treatment. It took a relative only 3 hours from first calling 111 to being ambulanced in, tests started and admitted into a ward. Obviously pretty poorly, but nothing critical like a great attack/stroke/breath difficulties.

I have a child under the care of about 8 departments across 2 hospitals. There are things I moan about and some could be a lot more efficient, but overall it's been ok.

And yes my cat gets 'better' treatment. But she'd also have been put down by now and if we didn't, we'd be beyond broke as even her very fancy insurance wouldn't touch the sides.

Treatment should be based on need, not wealth.

I live in China and paid the equivalent of £2 to visit a&e on Tuesday. Two hours from arrival, seeing doctor, emergency ultrasound (£20) seeing doctor again, receiving medicine (£3) and leaving.

Actually that isn't as funny as you think. Legally vets can treat humans, however, doctors (physicians and surgeons) cannot treat animals.

I work on the basis that vets like animals and people who like animals tend to be kind. I've yet to meet a rude/unkind vet. Helps that money changes hands.

If people had to pay for A&E I would guess that attendance would drop like a stone. That said, one of the reasons A&E is always so packed is that its nigh on impossible to see a GP these days

I am so sorry you lost your relative but you do realise there is private insurance and people jumping the queue all the time: from joint replacements to cancer treatment. Just because you can’t afford private care doesn’t mean others can’t if they’re willing to pay for it.

We have an ageing population with inadequate social care.

Exactly this, I think everyone is going to have to pay a little bit more.

You could always go to the vets and ask them to treat you as well? They might even throw in a flea treatment free of charge

Nearly had to take my dog to emergency vet last night.
Just the consultation was going to be £300.

I’d be curious to know what treatment your cat received for £300 and equally what treatment your friend’s mother received?
It doesn’t sound like your cat was admitted as an inpatient, given IV fluids or drugs, had investigations etc
All of which I would’ve thought would be the case for a human experiencing an issue with their heart.
I’m not even trying to be snarky, it’s just not a fair comparison for either the vet or the NHS 🤷‍♀️

YES YES YES…say this louder!

This is exactly the problem facing emergency medicine right now.

When you look at the data, most people do not spend huge periods of time sat waiting on A&E. A minority do, and that's unacceptable, but as always, people are more inclined to talk about bad experiences.

It all runs pretty efficiently in my corner of the UK, so there are pockets of good, and pockets of bad.

I think the population of cats and veterinary hospitals compared with people and A&E is the clincher here. I live in a hamlet with a population of 15 people and 1 cat. In our nearest town, there are not one but two vets. Our nearest hospital, however, is an hour away and serves 2 cities and towns/villages as far away as 2 hours. There are way more vets per cat than there are A&E doctors per person here. Because vets are huge profit making corporations who generally put making money over animals. That’s why so many people just have their animals put to sleep instead of paying thousands for care. That isn’t an option for people for obvious ethical reasons, so we have to spread care to achieve the greatest benefit for as many people as possible. There are, however, private GPs and some private urgent care centres who will gladly take your money.

Have you done the Perfect Day model? We did at Middlesex and Kings… works brilliantly if there is money to support it. Chromic underfunding is killing the NHS isn’t it.

I agree with you @catmummy22. Prefer my vet to my GP. Fully syppprt a European type co-pay system. We have private health insurance and it's no help in an accident and emergency.

I spent two hours on the pavement in the pissing rain with a broken wrist and broken back and then spent 12.5 hours in A&E, standing room only and had to listen to staff speak to and shout at other patients like shit. And they insisted my back wasn't broken despite an Xray. It was. I'd have happily have spent a couple of grand to avoid that.

There is no private A&E for humans. Are you daft?

I work in AE. People coming in with ‘broken nails’ isn’t the problem. We can redirect them to other services or we can treat them and send them home. They might have a long wait, they might fill up the waiting room but they’re don’t need admitting so they’re not the biggest issue. The single biggest problem facing AE is a lack of hospital beds meaning that patients can’t be moved out of AE, clogging up departments with patients who need to be moved to non existent ward beds. This is what puts the pressure on staff, this is what causes the nightmare of patients waiting for hours on a trolley. We don’t have enough beds in the NHS. We have premises that are too small for the populations we serve. We have a massively overstretched primary care service. We have an ageing population with inadequate social care. Fixing all that would cost money though and wouldn’t make millions for private healthcare firms.

Private hospitals don't have an A & E but you knew that already, didn't you?

Hmm, a very similar thread to one the other week.

Sorry - I voted by mistake. I agree with you OP.