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

I avoid a&e at all costs in my home town/nearby city (Midlands) and have driven elderly relatives and children miles away to keep their wait times to a minimum. Filthy hospitals, cramped waiting room with people often having to stand, and waiting times of 20+ hours common.

I have to say though I was really impressed with Scarborough a&e (had to take my elderly mother while we were on holiday for a severe allergic reaction). It was clean, plenty of seating, and she was triaged/seen within an hour!

I was only half joking when I told relatives that next time I'll be driving them to Scarborough as it will take less time overall!

So you’re choosing to ignore the well known medical bankruptcy and debt many face in the USA due to massive add ons after the very expensive health insurance itself-annual deductible,copays,coinsurance, out of network charges…..or the fact people work silly hours for fear of losing their jobs and thus their health insurance. Millions of Americans remain uninsured or underinsured, leading many to avoid or delay necessary medical care due to high costs. You’re choosing to ignore this and how hard it be is to get cover for existing conditions. Or how ridiculously expensive drugs and treatment are. How insurers require prior approval for treatments, which patients and doctors say intentionally delays vital medical care. Doctors are coming out and claiming insurers are pressurising them as they’re going into surgery to delay or cancel much needed treatment. You’re choosing to ignore how prevalent coverage denials are.Roughly one in five working-age adults with private insurance report are denied a claim for care recommended by their doctor. Administrative delays and denials often lead to prolonged physical pain, anxiety, and preventable disease progression.

Then there are the well documented problems with Medicare……

The United States has worse health outcomes and lower life expectancy than almost any other high-income country,

I give thanks daily for out not perfect but universal healthcare.

Pharmacist won’t see over 65 year olds as a UTI ‘could be more serious’-so they have to wait days to see a gp. Bonkers.

Easier said than done. My pharmacist won’t prescribe because I get regular UTIs. They won’t prescribe anything that you’ve been given before. The Walk-in has the same MO. They’ll only prescribe if it’s a one-off, but not if it’s a regular problem.

The GP won’t prescribe without seeing you, but won’t have any appointments. I used to be able to drop a sample in to reception and they’d dip it and send a prescription. Not any more. They just tell you to go to A&E if they can’t fit you in. And when you do go to A&E they give you a bollocking for “leaving it so long” that you’re in agony and peeing blood.

Our A&E waiting room is also the treatment room. There are people on drips sat in this area getting their treatment.

They triage, then they’ll call you through, then put any drips in and send you back to the waiting area with drip.

we have had 6000 new homes built in the past 5/7 years but no additional a&e provisions. Much the same as most areas, the developers build but the medical provision isn’t expanded

Yep. Our GP usually prescribes broad spectrum antibiotics after a positive urine dip and then re- prescribes if necessary when lab test results come back.

Sorry to hear this - I too waited over 30 hours in A&E for a bed a couple of years ago. Pretty miserable feeling terribly ill sitting on hard chairs under very bright lights!

Average wait times of US ER is 3,5 hours
Average wait in uk A&E is 5 hours

considering USA gdp on healthcare is 18% whereas uk is 11.4 you’d think the gap of 90 minutes would be a lot bigger

Not if it is for the elderly parent. Pharmacists can only prescribe for UTIs for age 16-64. Older people have to be seen by a dr.

But if you have decent medical insurance in the US, you are in a much better position than you would be in the UK. That’s a fact. I am terrified of one of my kids falling ill and needing emergency treatment. Several people have died recently at my local A&E whilst waiting in the queue for the triage nurse (which is often out of the door). I paid over £40k in tax and NI for this wonderful service last year. Fucking disgraceful. From a personal point of view, my family would be much better off in the US when it comes to medical treatment.

I was describing to my US boss the awful experience that one of our colleagues had recently with her teenage son when he needed emergency treatment from the NHS. My boss was open mouthed when she heard about it. It really was dreadful.

That said, the US system wouldn’t be the one if my choice. I have family in France. Theirs is far superior to both the NHS and the US.

My daughter dislocated her knee which popped back in so we were apparently not an emergency and waited 10 hours to be seen. Told all okay. 6 months later has had major surgery to reconstruct her knee after things were missed. While waiting saw one man who was sent by 111 for an inhaler, one elderly man who had randomly appeared at someones house and no idea where he lived so sent to a&e and a prisoner in handcuffs. Lucky to have the nhs but its not fit for purpose.

Where would you magic up these private staff? Currently private is still NHS doctors which means non paying wait longer than the moneyed. They need a policy change to employ all the newly qualified.doctors coming through that can't get jobs.

You need to do a bit more research. You’ve ignored half of what I said and the same issues and complaints are there with gold schemes. Most US family and friends know are hugely jealous re our our system.

I sat with my DH in A & E for 25 hours. He has cancer in his spine. I thought it would kill him. I asked for a bed or a recliner repeatedly. No.

This country is fucked.

The nhs is in a bad way.
A relative got sent in tge other day because their leg had swollen to twice its size and was hot and painful.
They waited several hours for blood to be taken then got told to go home and come back the following afternoon for a scan to check for a blood clot.
They got a phone call a few hours later to say comeback immediately.
Turns out it was cellulitis and very bad.
They waited 12 hours on a chair for a bed, had iv antibiotics in the waiting room. Has a scan the next day which thankfully ruled out a clot.

Its not just a&e. Its the whole nhs

Another relative has a 6.5cm pulmonary aneurism and after first being told it was urgent and needs surgery ASAP, then spent almost a full year being passed between hospitals while being told all the things they cant do while waiting, has just been told they won't operate but will monitor it. So now they are scared and stressed out that this aneurism could burst at any moment and have been told to just go on as normal and come back if they start coughing up blood (im really simplifying that bit, they got a list of stuff but it was just so dismissive)

And these are just 2 examples of at least a dozen from my own family alone.

I am disabled as a result of inaction by the NHS. I haven't worked since 2017 and am about to sell my house to fund the rest of my life as best I can. I have spent over 30k trying to get well and am giving up now.

If you can pick and choose what hospital you’re seen at, you don’t need to be in a&e.

I downloaded an app recently which told me the waiting times at all my local hospitals, which was really useful.

I was really sick last week. Migraine that became so severe I vomited 17 times. By the time I went in I was severely dehydrated and sitting in the waiting area heaving into a bowl. It took 5 hours to have a canula put in, another two hours before any fluids were put through it, sitting on the floor the majority of the time. I was given anti sickness iv when they saw me in a heap on the bathroom floor. From arrival to going home it was 11 hours.

I once had the misfortune to have to
go on New Year’s Day and there was a sign at reception ‘wait time, 24 hours!!’

Again, very sorry you felt unwell, but it’s not really an emergency is it?

Gosh that’s awful!

I asked the triage nurse where the loo was. She said “it’s over there but I’m not taking you nor is anyone
else” (I was in a wheelchair due to not being able to put any weight on one leg). I ended up having to hop on one foot to the loo in front of all the other patients. It was utterly humiliating. I did complain. The consultant in charge of A&E phoned me up and apologized profusely.

If you’re that unwell they’ve treated you with IV fluids, where should you go?

Similar situation. I went in by ambulance as I had a massively swollen face and shortness of breath. We waited about 9 hours until my bloods were taken and it was found sepsis was just about to kick in - after that I was on a drip within about an hour and in for the next 10 days extremely unwell, on the strongest nastiests antibiotics the whole time and no idea until I left how close things had been to a not very pleasant outcome!

Treating at home in the first instance would be better. Rehydration sachets are available from boots for a fiver and would do the job. IV fluids are nothing special