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

Yes, dehydration is an obvious emergency! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sorry you had that experience that’s horrific 😞 as you’ll know sepsis is one of the biggest killers and the impending sense of doom people feel should most definitely be taken seriously

My mum actually died a few years ago and had had a brain haemorrhage and she had a 5 hour wait for an ambulance under the category for strokes, the whole situation is dire and for the majority of us nurses, not the care we are happy to be working in. I’ve also had to go down myself whilst on shift and had a 9 hour wait myself with analgesia given in that time but couldn’t go back to my shift because of how unwell I was.

i hope my post didn’t come across as no one very unwell will be waiting all that time because there is of course exceptions where people slip through the net, I just meant to op that broken bones and things will be waiting a long time whilst the most unwell patients are dealt with first when in minors or majors. Resus is a different story with different staff and a smaller amount of beds where I am. I hope your dh is doing better now as sepsis recovery can be hard too ❤️

Dehydration can be treated at home, and I doubt it was actually life threatening dehydration. My dad is prone to dehydration when unwell and has been told to treat it at home as it’s a waste of a&e’s time!

But presume they had to sort the vomiting out or the rehydration stuff wouldn’t have been able to do anything?

Most people who are suffering from dehydration are in that state because they can’t keep fluids down. Pp said she’d been sick 17 times. Rehydration sachets will do bugger all if you’re bringing them back up immediately. That is exactly the reason why they put you on an IV rather than just giving you a drink of Dioralyte.

Doesn’t sound like they tried it. It’s not a medical emergency until rehydration stuff fails. A bout of sickness is unpleasant but you’d not go to a&e if you were sick that much with a bug! People need to take a little responsibility for themselves and not just run to a&e at the first instance.

If someone is vomiting continuously, they can’t absorb any dehydration sachets they drink. Surely that is obvious?

That’s not a&e worthy. Sorry but it’s not, especially as it sounds like she was discharged after fluids.

So you go to sleep, sleep it off and rehydrate in the morning. Not run to a&e.

My dad was taken to A&E via ambulance because the paramedics thought had had a stroke. He was triaged and it was decided it wasn’t a stroke and he was probably in end stage COPD. He spent 3 days in a corridor before finally being admitted to a ward and died 12 hours later. The NHS is not fit for purpose.

What you have to remember is that seriously patients are going in by anther door and being treated. A broken limb may be painful but not death threatening. You queue for triage. Then a doctor, then X-ray. Then you wait for doctor again and then you wait for someone to do the plaster. It all takes time. Especially at night.

Maybe your Dad’s was mild. I was unconscious, severely dehydrated during an 11 day migraine. DH found me collapsed and couldn’t wake me, and called an ambulance. I was treated in majors and would have died if DH hadn’t found me. My kidneys were packing in. Dehydration is a killer.

Oh no I understand that and there will be cases where people slip through the net. I’m really sorry you had that experience and I have heard of a lot of cases like that and have had my own experiences with that including my mums death. I just replied to someone else and just meant that if you’re sitting with a bone injury, in general the wait is going to be a long time because triage is meant to pick up the patients most likely to deteriorate quickly. Parental concerns really are meant to be taken seriously because parents know their child’s presentation better than anyone so you were right to contact PALs, I hope your DS is doing better now and don’t ever feel like you failed to advocate. It’s too late now but if ever in that situation again we now have Martha’s law where if you feel like someone is deteriorating and you’re not being heard, you have the right to a second review by someone else

I was sent to A&E on Sunday by my aftercare team after an op last week, I was only a few days out of surgery and had terrible pain, symptoms of sepsis and losing a fair bit of blood.

I checked in at 15:30, triaged at 4 with a blood pressure reading of 99/56, heart rate 98 and was put into a room at 21:00, bloods taken at 21:30, consultant saw me at midnight and hooked up to IV antibiotics, fluids and pain relief then didn’t come back until 3:30. NHS is suffering so badly right now, it’s sad to see.

I would ice it, isolate it, take pain killers, go to bed and then go to minor injuries as soon as it opens. Yes it’s an accident but not an emergency. Even if the xray shows surgery is needed you won’t beat any queues by going to a&e.

A friend of mine died of sepsis after being mis-triaged in his local hospital. They paid out to his widow but money is not the same.

you can get same day private GP service now through video calls and many cities and big towns now have private GP practices. They advise you keep your nhs registration.

i’m disabled and I use a private GP now as pharmacy first won’t see me as too complicated. It’s 70 quid a time but at least I get seen.

a and e terrifies me. I know the people who work there are doing their best but dying like my friend in the waiting room is a real nightmare of mine.

Of course, some people who weren’t critically unwell become so whilst waiting.

I was in A&E this weekend and saw some truly appalling stuff. People left to deteriorate until they were critical as staff wandered around aimlessly, being rude. I was truly appalled. The treatment one gentleman got was genuinely on the threshold of being inhuman/degrading treatment for the purposes of the European Convention on Human Rights, Art 3 - and I’m not sure which side of the threshold.

Absolutely shameful.

Very different to the poster I was replying to. Of course there are outliers but the vast majority of people in a&e simply don’t need to be there.

Can’t wait until it’s privatised. The NHS is a disgrace

Its not surprising. Unfortunately waiting times can be even longer than that now. Thats just the way it is.

Wait times for ambulances can be pretty long too at times and its quicker to make your own way to hospitals.

However there have been odd times when we have extremely lucky to be in and out the door in a couple of hours.

As a doctor working in a busy hospital, I disagree with you from experience. Vomiting multiple times and being unable to rehydrate can be an emergency which requires iv fluids.

Quite normal if not a heart attack/ head injury- these are triaged and seen first no matter when they arrived.
I would point out the longest waiting time is the rest of your life- which sadly does happen sometimes.

I hope you don't work in a&e!

You clearly don’t live where I do, 26 hours this year’s record!! 22 hours on an ambulance unable to offload.
I work for the health board

I went to A&E six months ago with an adverse reaction to my medication that can lead to kidney failure. I was in and out in under 6 hours which I thought was pretty good. I think a lot depends on what time of day you go in.