Think I've just seen the longest a&e wait time ever

I’m a nurse and that’s usually an everyday occurrence! My trust was on the news about a year ago for the worst waiting times in the uk though. Don’t forget though that problems are triaged so if you are critically unwell you’re not going to be waiting 13 hours

It can be that amount of time but I would say it's unusual - especially as it's a weekday evening.
(I've spent many hours waiting in A&E with my Parents).

I believe there is a NHS Wait Time app that gives you real-time wait times?

You never truly know how long it can be (if it's the same as my local Hospital, you can be fast-tracked through after seeing the Triage Co-ordinator). Also, if any children arrive in A&E they are seen ahead of everyone else (as they should be) so that can impact your wait too; but at midnight, I doubt that's the issue.

If it's a 'Student Night' at the pubs/clubs where you are, that may be a factor too.

Hope you get seen soon.

My oh had an accident at work and went to an and e with a rod of metal sticking out of his eyeball. Was left in the waiting room for 7 hours and was told it was going to be at least another 4. He walked out, I was horrified when he came home and we saw it. I absolutely hate people who say if you’re well enough to walk out of a and e then you weren’t unwell enough to be there in the first place. But he just could bare it anymore. He came home and drank a bottle of vodka to numb the pain and sleep for a bit. Luckily his friend came and drove him a few hours later to another hospital a couple of cities away who could see him immediately

Is there a minor injuries clinic near you instead? We have been to ours with various breaks over the years (including a wrist recently) and they can put a splint on and get the next appointment with orthopaedics. The wait times are much shorter.

Mum was an expected patient to A&E, waited 5 hours in the waiting room, then 28hrs in A&E before they found her a bed

One lad had been there 72 hrs

And the saddest thing? We were grateful that she at least had the privacy of a cubicle and a bed rather than a trolley for her time there. Our A&E's are now wards, bunged with patients on trolleys who can be there 3 or 4 days before getting a ward. And Im grateful that they at least could do the tests she needed from there, but if I wasnt there, there was no nursing. No one to help her to the toilet, change wet sheets, change her - because the nurses were just swamped

Im sat here with a UTI - proven with urine sample last Monday - GP appointment - 29th of this month

I took my dh to aand e last week. Arrived at 10pm. I arrived home the following day at 6pm. He was in a chair on a drip until 6 am the following morning so 32 hours !

He was in for 3 nights. He never got a proper bed but a makeshift trolley thing in a small side part of the entrance to the ward. The staff were amazing and very thorough but the wait Time was beyond shocking .

22 and 24 hours for elderly mum on two occasions.

@Greenismyfavouritecolournow I don’t know how you did that, I was delirious when I got home. You’re made of strong stuff!

@nairobi9 I hope your friend gets treated very soon.

If you have a UTI, can’t your GP send you a prescription without seeing you? Pharmacists can usually prescribe for UTIs, I’ve ordered the meds online and picked them up later that day before.

How are you driving and messaging us OP?
Presume the patient isn't driving with a broken hand!

It's awful but I can't say I'm surprised. I phoned GP for an appointment for dh and got told nobody could see him, they will ring when he can get an appointment. So people are going to a and e instead and clogging that up too.

I thought our local hospital wasn't too bad but a friend of my mum's was there on the worst night they'd ever had-sat on a plastic chair waiting for two days after having had a stroke. Never got a bed the entire time.

When my parents have been severely ill they've not been able to face A&E so didn't bother (and this was before wait times got so bad) if you're that ill it must be absolute hell. I feel so sorry for people can't believe this is Britain in the year 2026.

I waited 12 hours when i broke my ankle in 2000. Long waiting times in a&e are par for the course, especially these days.

I don't go if my pancreas flares up. I just can't face it. I take whatever meds I have and knock myself out and hope the pain resolves by itself. I went once, but it was terrible and I returned home for pain relief. My pancreas is permanently damaged because of my actions.

agreed, see a pharmacist.

Is there another option for that person? If I break my foot do I have to sit in A And E or could I go to doctors or somewhere else? I think half the problem is people don’t know what to do and everyone’s in an and e and maybe they don’t need to be. I don’t know but would be good to know really x

No
It’s not damaged because of your actions
It’s damaged because of the state of the NHS

Not your fault at all.

Im in NI, pharmacists can not prescribe here

I got bit by a Clegg a while back , my arm trebled in size, was red and hot. Went to the pharmacy- directed straight to GP - got told to take photos and send in and Id get a telephone appointment . Heard nothing till the following lunchtime when I was informed, the GP couldn't tell much from the photos and I was to make an appointment - the soonest was 10 days

The NHS here has completely collapsed

We cant get a timely appointment, when we do get one, we are sat in a state of the art building - alone. No one else is waiting, and this is a surgery that boast its the biggest in NI with 14 GPs

13.5 hrs to be seen by a dr is extreme. In my dept minors is a separate wait time to the rest of A&E as it is run by minor injuries nurse practitioners not A&E drs who will see unwell people.

those people above waiting for wards for 3 days….this is sadly also the norm however these people will be having their treatment in A&E it’s just they are physically not on the ward so this is not the A&E waiting time that OP is referring to.

The NHS here has completely collapsed
We all know the NHS is not fit for purpose, but who do we trust to modify it to as effective an organisation as possible.

My dh had a 12 hour wait with sepsis.
When he finally got to see a doctor, things moved fast, he was admitted for the best part of 2 weeks.

The triage nurse was an absolute bitch, despite him telling her he felt like he was dying, classic sepsis 🙄
I should have complained really but I was just grateful he made it out alive.

I don't live in the UK, and things like this make me worried to ever return.

I know it is free at the point of use, which is amazing, and where I live it isn't free (people have a type of national health insurance which covers most things, but you still pay a small amount)

But I would rather pay a small amount - low enough that it isn't a barrier for anyone working (and for those who aren't able to pay, there are special programs to help), and get to see a doctor within 10-30 minutes, rather than have it free but have to wait hours...