To love A&E despite the wait?

I think we are culturally conditioned to accept the NHS and generally as a society to accept shit standards. The NHS as a whole is a shambles and A&E is the worst of all. I always felt lucky being in Scotland as A&E is probably comparably quick in comparison to England but it’s going the same way now. My dad was in in January for a suspected stroke. Wasn’t seen for about 2 hours by which time it was too late to give him the best drugs. Luckily they established it wasn’t a stroke but he was then in A&E for 6 days. Never saw a proper ward. They wanted to check him for heart conditions. He was 4 days waiting for a scan and then a further 2 waiting for a ten minute procedure to fit a monitor. He was moved to an A&E overflow where a dozen patients were sharing one bathroom and the rooms themselves were clinic rooms. It was absolute chaos and completely unsafe. The major challenge around here, and I imagine a lot of the country, is the elderly. They are filling up A&E and all associated wards. There has got to be a better system than this.

Yes, indeed.
Also easier to love A and E when your mum is found to be fine.

OP, I expect your relief about your mum is playing into your positive feelings about
A and E.

So it’s the fault of the patients then? Okay.

I have a friend who works in A&E.
The number of people who take the p* is unreal.
A lot of injuries/problems are self inflicted. A lifestyle choice.
A lot of people treat it as a family day out.
Lots of people are repeat offenders who use it as some kind of social meeting place.
Lots of people are there because their doctor has failed to deal with the problem like they should have.
Weekends/Bank holidays are different to mid week.
It does vary greatly depending on which doctor is on call.
Lots of people don’t have the basic intelligence to realise it is not a first come first served service. It is based on medical need. The less urgent your case, the longer you will wait.
All patients are directed to the notice board which clearly states the approximate waiting time, yet it is beyond a lot of them to comprehend. They will constantly ask her how much longer they will be waiting. Read the sign! It’s not rocket science.
I could not stand to do her job. Dealing with these types of people day in day out.

No, YABU and your standards are too low.

Nine hours is far too long to wait. Only 15 years ago it was very rare to wait more than four hours.

The people who staff A&E do not think nine hours is acceptable, because it isn't.

Our a and e is filthy, uncomfortable dirty chairs where you are stuck for hours no fresh air ! No windows, it's awful. .

I've been the one in pain many a time, and I agree with OP.

Your satisfaction level is likely being swayed by your mums positive outcome. People are far less likely to complain about health services when they end up cured/given a clean bill of health than when the outcome is poor, regardless of any difference in service recieved.
I agree with you that we have some excellent highly skilled practitioners, access to impressive tests and facilities and that the advancement of skills and knowledge mean remarkable things can be done. This is something to be celebrated and appreciated.
However 9 hours in A&E is very poor and so the administration and operations still leave a lot to be desired.

It’s awful.

had to take my middle DD there a few months ago. She’s had a chest infection for 3 weeks which after multiple antibiotics was finally going away. She still had a horrendous cough tho.

one night she coughed, then squealed, clutching the side of her ribs saying she felt like something popped, then fainted. When she came round she could barely breathe, saying she couldn’t take breaths and was crying (she is NOT a cryer, so I knew something was really wrong). Phoned NHS24 because it was after 7pm and they advised to take her straight to A&E

waiting time said 8 hours. She was taken in, triaged and sent to xray within about 45 mins. They brought her back to the waiting room in a wheelchair around 9pm. We were then left sitting there until after 3am waiting. Still struggling to breathe, struggling to sit and in serious pain. No one came near her for 6 hours. I went up a couple of times to ask for painkillers and the receptionist said she would find out. No painkillers came.

while we were there an elderly woman who had fallen, and had blood pouring from her head, fell again. No one came to pick her up, my DDs boyfriend and a man who was there with someone else ended up picking her up from the floor

at 3am they came and took DD into a side room. Told her they couldn’t see anything on the xray, sent her home and told her to take ibuprofen.

wasn’t happy with that but dying to get out of there by this point so we went home and waited for the doctor to open. Got a doctors appointment in the morning and when the doctor went to check the xray from the night before, it wasn’t there. He had to request it. Phoned DD hours later to tell her he had managed to track it down and had someone look at it. He couldn’t see anything but wasn’t happy due to the pain she was in and the fact she still couldn’t take deep breaths. He prescribed stronger pain killers and made referrals

she eventually got an mri and had torn her inter-costal muscle.

all of this should have been done at A&E but wasnt.

something really needs done about the care people are receiving there

When it works well it is great. Unfortunately often the staff are so stretched that it can’t work well because there aren’t enough resources to go around.

i had to go with DS yesterday with something that if not dealt with promptly could have led to the need for urgent surgery, thankfully we were seen within 10 minutes and the doctor was able to solve the issue (just!)

I’m so pleased your dm is ok and got the care she needed but how you can say that after 9 hours.. I’m not sure.

The last time I was in A&E my child was in huge pain and we had to wait eleven hours. It was during the night and there were two sets of police officers with drunks shouting the odds. My dd kept screaming when the pain was at its worst and the drunks were yelling.

Old people were din alone and being left to wait.

I thought the whole thing was horrific and I was ashamed and really upset that this is how things are.

I'm currently working away in a developing country and the healthcare service is better here than in the UK, especially emergency care. You pay for it but it's extremely cheap and taxation here is almost nothing so it balances out.

I was made to feel like I was making a fuss and i was a timewaster and it was just anxiety got sent home turned out to be a pulmonary embolism. Another time I apparently assaulted staff in resus (I have no memory of this) then I had a mh assessment that I was apparently fine (again no memory of this) then I was told to leave and that i was lucky they wasn't calling the police at this point im incredibly confused had no idea what had happened and was shocked as im not a violent person. Went home passed out got took back turned out I had a brain bleed. So no I don't like or trust a&e or drs

Sadly, it’s the fact there are now so many 91 year olds, often frail, with several complex co morbidities and in very poor health that are in and out of A&E like a revolving door and at the heart of the NHS capacity problems. No excuse for poor ‘care’ though.
Difficult conversations needed. Nurse of 36 years.

My Nan is currently in hospital and is being treated disgustingly, shes 91

While im glad your mother has had good care, not everyone does sadly

My experience of A&E in Spain while living there. Signed in, seen, diagnosed, treated and on my way home in the middle of Saturday night. All within 2 hours. And they spoke to me in clear English due to my woeful Spanish speaking.

And in the UK, Newcastle, waited 11 hours, problem was dismissed by the doctor I eventually saw (despite being later diagnosed as a wound infection) without any real examination.

I'm older and I live in terror of needing to go to hospital in the UK.

YANBU

I was referred to A&E by my GP on Tuesday. I got there at 2:20pm, was home for 7:20pm..... during that time I had an xray, ecg, blood tests, steroids and a nebuliser. Also got a nice sandwich and a cup of tea.

Very grateful to them x

I think people who choose to work in A&E are amazing. You cannot compare it to any other ward or speciality in the NHS. I had an urgent CT scan in radiography yesterday. The unit was calm and very well staffed. Compare that to our local A&E, which resembles a war zone. I did my nurse training in the 80s and A&E was very different then. I cannot imagine how exhausting your shifts must be.

I suspect you are a psyop OP. People are dying waiting in A&E or dying in corridors waiting for beds. Get real.

A&E isn't safe. There are more and more people acting as Doctors on rotas who are not qualified but can even get paid more than the Doctors they're not qualified to replace.

Look up the 'Every Doctor' campaign - "A doctor-led community of NHS patients & staff standing together for:
Excellent care for everyone
A well-supported workforce &
A well-resourced, publicly owned, sustainable NHS"

And this published by the British Medical Association (BMA) just last month -

"Half of hospital trusts employing non-doctors on doctor rotas
by Ben Ireland

We are concerned by the ‘haphazard’ approach to advanced practitioners staffing by NHS management
Published: Saturday 25 April 2026

Almost half of hospital trusts have been asking non-doctors to fill in on medical rotas, according to FoI (Freedom of Information) requests lodged by the BMA.

The association had responses from 85 of 202 trusts in the UK, with 41 (48 per cent) confirming they permit AP (advanced practitioners) to cover doctors’ rota gaps.

APs are healthcare professionals with backgrounds including nursing, paramedic, physiotherapy and pharmacy. While many are experienced in their base profession, working on medical roles is beyond their scope of practice.

The BMA has said using APs to fill doctor rotas is a risk to patient safety and that the FoI data showed a ‘slapdash’ approach by NHS trusts and a postcode lottery for patients.

BMA council chair Tom Dolphin said the findings were evidence of a ‘haphazard’ approach to staffing from NHS management at the trusts in question.

https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/half-of-hospital-trusts-employing-non-doctors-on-doctor-rotas

It’s truly awful.

I was unfortunate to spend over 8 hours in A&E, suffering a heart attack.

I decided that it was best to go home and take aspirin.

I asked a few times, should I maybe have some aspirin?

I was in ‘Majors’ I think, so it’s where they bring you to after A&E.

I was never going to be seen I realised as each person that came in was far more critical.

Everyone else was 80 plus.

One local nursing home had called 3 ambulances that evening.

9 hours for bloods, x-rays and a few queries answered - what's not to love about that?!

The NHS is not free and neither is it fit for purpose.