To love A&E despite the wait?

I think YABU. Why do you love it?

A 9 hour wait sounds mental. I waited 1.5 hrs and all I needed was just a couple stitches. So glad I left the UK 😬

Times i’ve been to A&E - acute pancreatitis x 2, very unwell, seen immediately both times despite it being packed. Never went back to waiting room after triage, and appendix rupture. So no, I didn’t love it; but was appreciative of the fact I was treated urgently and given pain relief.

Couldnt say love it exactly! So busy (not their fault obv) wait for hours !

Having seen A&Es in France vs UK, I often think that residents of Kent would be better off getting le shuttle to Calais in an emergency

I agree but I wonder how much of it is depends on where you live as well. I’ve always been seen pretty quickly and I’ve found they’re really good with young children. We are in a small town in the north. My 72 year old mum lives fairly rurally and she was seen quickly and admitted recently too so I think my family have been very fortunate but I know not everyone is. I do really appreciate everyone who works in A&E and within our NHS and is doing the best they can.

@HotTiredDog If that's true then it's even more bizarre you think 9 hours in A&E is reasonable. Whenever I've been unlucky enough to need care abroad (fracturing my ankle was one extremely memorable occasion!) I was seen and began treatment within 30 mins.

UK emergency healthcare is just... awful.

My local hospital has an adults A&E and a child's A&E completely separate from each other.

I have had mixed experiences. I have had bloods taken, been admitted and been in theatre within 3 hours for an obstructed ureter. I have also waited 12 hours in A&E recently with post-surgery complications when I really should have been seen elsewhere - the ward I was discharged from refused to review me, gp could only send me to A&E, consultant that performed my surgery was in theatre all day - I was eventually seen by a nurse practitioner who couldn’t help and I ended up readmitted a couple of days later anyway.

I think it’s partly down to luck whether or not you get seen quickly and by the right people!

If you are really poorly it’s an absolutely awful environment to be waiting in.

same @Anarchy99im so terrified of needing to use a and e I just wouldn’t go. It’s mostly the elderly who are left in pain and with no one to advocate for them. With people living longer maybe we need to invest in medical centres focused on older people with specially trained nurses

I disagree, OP. I think 9 hours is appalling. The UK has awful emergency care, long waits, exhausted, burned out, uncaring staff (in my experience). I dread having to go there for any reason at all.

What I cannot understand is how anyone can justify long waits in often dirty overcrowded hospitals. It's clear to me you haven't lived in any other countries OP - it would blow your mind to see how good emergency healthcare can be.

I'd love to be able to pay for a private A&E! The NHS is an absolute disgrace.

We need more of everything but the first thing is a joined up communication system. I got sick of having to explain to a nurse what meds I was on, her English wasn’t great so we couldn’t understand each other very well (not her fault, she did her best) then explain to every medical person that came to see me what the issue was, then explaining to my GP a couple of days later…

I honestly think that if I am ever sent to A&E by my GP again, I will take my chances and not go. If that has a negative outcome then so be it. I can’t even watch news items on corridor care without shaking

the problem is that so many of the people complaining just don’t need to be there. Time after time people say they waited x amount of hours, gave up and went home. When an and e is used properly it’s great but popping in with a sore throat slows everything down. We need better mental health care, more ooh gps, 111 doing more than telling everyone to go to a and e etc

They don’t. When they are triaged they will of course take into account the fact that as babies and children they can deteriorate more quickly but they don’t automatically get seen before others.

Babies and children automatically get priority though

@Vinvertebrategoing to A&E was when my DD’s MS was picked up after three years at another hospital doing test after test and head scratching.

I have experienced Spanish and UK A&E.
In the Spanish one I was seen by a doctor within minutes (there was no one else in the waiting room). Treated with various drugs, x rayed and discharged about 90 minutes later. The place was shabby and run down, much like a British hospital and there was no English spoken and my Spanish isn't great but that's my problem not a criticism. This cost me nothing as is paid for under reciprocal agreement.
I've been to a UK A&E several times.
Once with DS after an accident, he was treated and blue lighted to another hospital within an hour.
Once by ambulance taken straight into majors where they dealt with me efficiently but then I waited hours for a bed to be admitted.
Once during covid when I was sent in by a doctor but had to spend hours on a trolley.
More recently again sent by my doctor, triaged and sent to the SDEC. Lots of tests and discharged after three hours.
No complaints really, maybe I was lucky in the timing. It's a small DGH near the bottom in the rankings.

Our local Urgent Care is ok and takes patients who aren't quite at A&E level such as minor illnesses and injuries.

Good point! Although I was there alone, so the power balance was very much against me. I felt so dismissed and trampled upon, I would not have plucked up tbe courage to say something like that. I went home and thought about it for a couple of days and discussed it with others and then decided I had definitely been badly treated. I am single but I suspect if I’d had a partner or DC with me, especially a male, I would have been treated far better. It’s a sad state of affairs. I am polite, always thank people etc.

This is what everyone forgets. If you’re not seen immediately, you will be supported but it’s a good sign.

i have kids under lots of specialists and things go wrong now and again so we’ve been in a&e too many times… mostly there has been quite a wait but one time my then 11 month old had sepsis and she was on an antibiotic drip within 20 mins of arriving.

9 hours is so long. We had an ankle x-ray faster than that for dc tg