Anyone up? I’m so fucking angry (NHS) and need to vent

[Grrrawwwrrrrr]

My poor younger DB is still sat in a hospital waiting room waiting to be transferred to the “right” hospital.

Six months ago he had his first seizure. He’s been passed from pillar to post and as a result is still not taking any medication.

I took him to A&E this morning after he had a seizure that left him unconscious for over an hour (he lives alone since our DM died). He woke up with partial paralysis.

We were told on arrival at A&E that the wait was five hours. He was eventually seen and told he had to be admitted. I wasn’t allowed to take him the 20 minute journey in my car in case he had another seizure. He was told to wait for an ambulance transfer.

He’s now been waiting SIX HOURS for a transfer after a five hour fucking wait to even see a doctor. I had to leave to get back to my DC after sitting in A&E all day and then waiting four hours for an ambulance.

He also has autism so he’s vulnerable. But they’ve just left him alone in the waiting room for hours and are being shitty with him when he asks for an update.

I’m so fucking angry.

Oh OP I'm so sorry this is happening, it's disgraceful.

I’m so sorry you must be so worried i hope he gets the care he needs very soon. Wish i could say anything more helpful

Sorry to hear your brother is unwell - where are they transferring him to?
Please contact your MP - the healthcare staff can't work any harder than they are there needs to be more staff and facilities.

I work for the NHS. We often have waits of over 12 hours for patient transport. It’s rubbish. Please don’t blame us though, we’re working as hard as we can. It’s years of the bloody Government underfunding which is causing this.

I hope your brother gets sorted out soon.

Thank you I’m just so upset and frustrated that I can’t be there. I feel awful that he’s on his own.

He’s only being transferred to another hospital in the city that has a neurology department.

He’s still waiting. It’s past midnight. He’s been waiting around on hospital since this morning.

As good as most NHS staff are, they’ve not been great with him. He’s been told “he’s not an emergency so he’ll just have to wait” and when I told him to just ask for a bed there (at 23:30) he was told “it doesn’t work like that, how many times do I have to tell you?”

This is not OK.

maybe you should complain formally via PALS. Its no staffs fault, but if its not reported it wont be visible. Underfunding is really starting to hit now (i work in the nhs) and managers need to know, so it can be escalated upwards.

@Spartak

I don’t blame the staff for the wait. I’ve seen first hand today the frustration at the lack of resources (from triage and the doctor). It’s really upsetting.

It is the staffs fault for being so bloody rude. Can you get any child care and take him to the hospital yourself? Does he have the capacity to discharge himself from this hospital? This isn’t ok, he is very vulnerable I would absolutely complain to pals

There has been a bit of a bed crisis where I work (very touristy part of the West Country so our population swells hugely over the summer) over the past fortnight. At one point there were no beds available spare, we were shipping people out over 50 miles if they were well enough to travel to make space for those that weren’t.

From a cold hearted point of view, they will be looking at the fact that he’s safe where he is at the moment and therefore fairly low down the list of priorities. Hopefully they’ve been able to give him something to eat and drink while he waits though.

@PerfectPenquins

They wouldn’t let me drive him in case he had another seizure - because I couldn’t have helped him and would have needed to call an ambulance

He can’t leave (or so he’s told). But I’d rather watch him here all night at home than have him waiting there on his own!

Thanks again @Spartak - funnily enough they told him he was safe where he was! He hasn’t eaten since I got him a sandwich at 2pm though

Patient transport was the weak link in my dad's treatment recently. The same issues around coping with an 'event' meant a 30 minute car trip was a 4 hour wait. It's frustrating in retrospect when the event doesn't happen.
Hope he's sorted soon

No advice but very sorry to hear of this. Your DB deserves better

That's awful OP. So sorry to hear that. So frustrating. Can you ring a n e and explain that you're concerned as you had to leave him and point out that he's not eaten since2? Also mention drinks as the last thing they'll want is for his electrolytes to be out too. Complain to PALS too. Hope he's ok.

Sorry know thats not the main issue just a suggestion to help with the situation as you can't do much else for now through no fault of yr own.

That's shocking OP! I think I agree with others, get mp involved, or anyone that will listen.

I do appreciate how much stress the staff are under, I used to be a nurse, but there is no need for poor attitudes and they do have a duty of care for your brother.

I think I would be tempted to make a formal record in his notes and transport him myself, yes there is a risk but it's not right that he will be left on seats got 24 hours at this rate! Good luck op, hope they move him soon!

This is horrible. I don't know what hospital he is in but if he was in ours he would have been horrified and terrified with the events that go on in the hospital here. I was there and it was horrendous with drunks, druggies and general rather weird people. There were many police cars outside but don't know why. I am not very young but that fair opened my eyes.

Your poor brother! My husband is Epileptic and our son has autism, I would be beside myself with worry! I think that this needs to be pushed, lower blood sugars could possibly trigger another seizure! Not to mention the fact that post seizure is very debilitating, my husbands head feels like it has been put in a vice and he is utterly exhausted! Your poor brother will be scared and confused too. I would see if someone can sit with your children and go and sit with him overnight. Or at least until patient transport or an ambulance is able to take him to the other hospital.

I would also find out the details for PALS and let them know that you have a scared, vulnerable autistic brother who just had a seizure that morning, has not been provided with a bed or any food or drink for over six/ however many hours. Tell them he is being treated disgracefully! That staff are being rude and dismissive when he tries to communicate with them.

If you don’t have anyone to watch your brother, could you see if another family member/ friend of your brother could go with him as an advocate?

Hopefully once he has treatment/ medication your brother will not need to bother with A & E unless his seizure lasts longer than x amount of time. My husband has been seizure free for six 1/2 years on medication (God please let that continue). We are very wary of our son taking seizures later on, autism and epilepsy are often comorbid conditions and with a Father with autism our children are already three times more likely to develop epilepsy (our daughter had a seizure as a toddler but it never happened again- as above, please God let her continue to be seizure free.

Can you pop back with some stuff for him? Clean clothes, food etc the poor bloke