To love A&E despite the wait?

Oh and they didn’t give me a form to order lunch so there was nothing for me except a manky salad which was way past its best, and the nurse who was dealing with my meds kept having to come and check which ones.

There were other issues but they might be outing

That’s great, I’m glad things are okay.

I have never had a positive experience in A&E personally - the last time I went, the doctor gave me the wrong meds initially and my GP knew nothing about the visit when I went to see them two days later.

Said GP sent me back to A&E (wanted to get the paramedics to take me but I said I would make my own way in). Ended up spending the most stressful night of my life in a corridor opposite the Covid ward. (Several years post covid 🤷‍♀️).

If something happens again, I will be refusing to go, I would rather take my chances

Ime they see who needs to be seen & they see them fast. The only times we've not been seen within 30 mins

And yet people have died waiting to be seen…

This

Yes. You got seen. But it wasn’t free. We are taxed for it and it’s incredibly poor in terms of service and experience in comparison to the treatment in other countries. We’ve been sold this ‘amazing NHS’ rubbish as part of our culture but when you go away and see how other countries do it, we are leagues behind. It’s embarrassing and pathetic.

Elderly relative was taken to A&E this week with suspected sepsis from a UTI. She spent about 6hrs on a trolley in a corridor & despite repeatedly asking for a drink of water she wasn't given anything to drink the whole time.
She thankfully didn't have sepsis but required antibiotics, but the hospital pharmacy didn't have them in stock so she was sent home with a prescription after all pharmacies had closed..

Emergency care is ultimately far more shit in the UK than in any comparable country. (I can personally vouch for France, Switzerland and UAE). Terminally ill DM was put in a cupboard when I complained politely about lack of infection control. She’d been sent there by her oncologist for - ironically - neutropenia, and required hospitalisation.

The NHS version of A&E is probably acceptable if you’ve spent your entire life living in a cave and are unfamiliar with modern healthcare and its efficient delivery. Otherwise, it’s like a fucking field hospital without the war.

A&E is staffed the same regardless of time or what day it is, however it’s unpredictable with the volume or acuity of patients which is what makes the difference. The volume of patients is at least double to what it was when I first started working in A&E, staffing has increased for this. We now get so many more trauma cases particularly stabbing and shootings than ever before. It’s rare for a day to go by without a patient requiring a cracked chest and open heart massage due to their injuries. This takes up a lot of staff, resources and space which will affect other patient journeys. Staff are just good at being subtle when these things happen so others in the dept would not realise what is going on.

im sure I speak on behalf of all A&E staff when we say we are always glad when the most urgent of patients are dealt with straight away, we just wish we could do this for all patients and the staff hate the waiting conditions as much as the general public. We too have to deal with this on the other side with ourselves as patients or our families.

We do need to appreciate A&E as we are in danger of losing what we have. There is a reason why no private A&Es exist in the UK, it’s simply not a profitable service. I worry what will happen if services become private and people require health insurance.

No. I was sent straight there by my GP with a letter that I needed urgent attention.

A member of staff checked me in chatting about how much she hated working there, people come in regularly looking for attention. Three hours later I was lying on the floor weeping and pulsating with pain, the door opened and a nurse yelled at me to get back up.

I've had three different types of cancer and the last thing I want is unnecessary attention from hospital staff.

They mixed up my name with a similar one, I knew it was an error, knocked on the door and explained it was me but they sent me away.

Ten hours later I drove home unseen and barely able to focus on the road. I needed to get back as I had nobody to mind DC.

I hate A&E.

Yanbu.

Took DS in gasping for breath with croup. Got him in the door. The staff clocked him immediately & it was action stations, kid can't breathe, there was no waiting, he was seen & got steroids in minutes.

DD as a baby - went in getting grey/working hard to breathe. Seen fast.

Ime they see who needs to be seen & they see them fast. The only times we've not been seen within 30 mins:

1. first occasion: i arrived in an ambulance & was left a bit unattended for 2 hours, by which point there was blood pretty much everywhere. The consultant went berserk that i'd been left bleeding profusely after a miscarriage for too long & was v apologetic & got me sorted v quickly
2. second occasion: realised afterwards we probably shouldn't have been at a&e. I'd been sent there by 111.

When you need to be there, generally you get seen & sorted fast.

I would say (and sorry to all the doctors/nurses) that the difference in care if you arrive on a weekday vs a weekend is a bit scary. It should be the same staffing 24/7.

easier to love it when you’re not the one in pain.