2nd night in A&E

[aliasname]

DD (18) was taken into hospital yesterday for cardiac monitoring after she has had heartbeat issues for a few weeks.

She's had an x-ray, is waiting for a scan, and is on an ECG all the time. She spent last night in a chair, no sleep.

When I phoned this afternoon, they said they were still waiting for a bed for her, and some patients had been waiting 3 days! Actually I don't know if it is A&E or if its an assessment ward, but I do know she has been sitting in a chair for over 24 hours.

No visitors so its hard to know exactly what's going on, but is this normal?! So worried about her...

I hope she’s getting some rest now Op Just to offer some balance for those that are terrified…
We had cause to go to A and E with a very poorly child (twice by ambulance), and both times ambulances arrived within 3 and 5 minutes.
Seen in A and E within 20 mins and treated within the hour when we were walk ins.
Both times we were in A and E, I’d say 60% people didn’t need to be there (my friend is an a and e consultant and agrees).
So 1) if everyone got vaccinated and 2) if only those who actually needed emergency treatment attended, it would be in much better shape (funding would help a lot too).

As a nurse in a&e 24 hours in a chair is disgusting. We often have patients in a day waiting for a bed but if its 8 hours plus we have an overflow bedded area for patients and bed in central area too if thats full, even if patients are having to be nursed on a corridor they are offered beds, or if young and independent the very least a trolley. Obviously if they are old and frail they take priority. I would be asking to speak to the sister in charge and say you will be contacting pals.

@gofg

Bloody hell! I'm not in the UK but I simply cannot understand this flag waving over the "wonderful NHS" when I read some of the stories on here. The person waiting outside the hospital for nine and a half hours with suspected appendicitis

It's weird, isn't it? Like some kind of cult.

The situation is terrifying at the moment. Don't get ill everyone because you're likely in for a terrible time

@RosesAndHellebores

Yes *@Julieca* Christmas Eve/Christmas Day morning 1994. Large London teaching hospital. I object greatly to the tone of your dismissal and disbelief to be honest.

So that was under the Major government when the NHS was similarly chronically underfunded because…Tory government for the previous fifteen years.

If your local hospital closed in 1997, then remember New Labour only came to power in May of that year, so your local hospital’s funding issues will have been long entrenched at that point!

Talking of funding structures, the Tories completely reorganised the NHS between 2012 and 2018, including outsourcing large parts of it to private companies like Serco, which most people don’t realise. Many private provider contracts were handed to inexperienced private companies who tendered the lowest figures rather than those who had an actual record of service delivery. This includes the regional 111 and OOH providers, large swathes of previously GP-led primary care practice, phlebotomy, dermatology, some entire hospitals — all sorts of things.

Large parts of the “NHS” you use isn’t even the NHS any more at all; you just think it is, but it’s actually private healthcare services commissioned under the NHS name. They are profit oriented so of course they provide the cheapest service rather than the best!

But the issue is a lack of staff and beds. That is not because it is the NHS. It is because of a lack of money, a lack of staff being trained, and Brexit. You could build more hospitals pretty easily, but we don't have the medics to staff them.

@foxgoosefinch yes the private sector destroyed the internationally cutting edge eye services in Nottingham. Internationally renowned under the NHS. Now in private sector it can barely do routine type work. It cant manage the specialist work it used to do. And the government were warned this would happen if they privatised it.

@RosesAndHellebores ah so your point is nurses are just lazy and moaning about nothing?

Gotcha.

@Campfirewood

I hope she’s getting some rest now Op Just to offer some balance for those that are terrified… We had cause to go to A and E with a very poorly child (twice by ambulance), and both times ambulances arrived within 3 and 5 minutes. Seen in A and E within 20 mins and treated within the hour when we were walk ins. Both times we were in A and E, I’d say 60% people didn’t need to be there (my friend is an a and e consultant and agrees). So 1) if everyone got vaccinated and 2) if only those who actually needed emergency treatment attended, it would be in much better shape (funding would help a lot too).

Are you in London? The situation seems to be ok there

I took a friend to A and E about a month ago. She was seen very quickly and had a scan very quickly. She phoned me after 50 minutes to ask me to pick her up as she had been told she could go home but would have further tests for less serious conditions.

Hope your DD gets sorted soon.
My 'would be' Tory MP (I have the misfortune to live in Owen Paterson's constituency) was canvassing on the street of my local town on Friday and told me he was going to sort out the sorry state of the NHS services in our County if he's elected. I wished him luck with that and pointed out it was not just a Shropshire problem and neither was it a recent one! He's a Doctor FGS surely he can't believe he can sort out years of underfunding and mismanagement - or more importantly expect me to believe that he can!

How is your DD now OP?

@julieca
I understand, but I despair at our electorate. They keep voting for a party that is destroying our health care system.

I understand your despair.

Personally I would say the current issues are a bit more complex than underfunding. Covid is causing massive logistical problems for what we call patient flow. Firstly there are large numbers of staff off on a daily basis because NHS staff still have to isolate of they have Covid in their household or if they have been track and traced. They also have to isolate of they have a cough and awaiting PCR results. Every week my therapy team have several lost days due to isolating staff. Then they are the staff getting this horrible cold that is going round with loss of voice. Then there are the patients in hospital who test positive on day 2 or later( negative on arrival) that have to be whisked off to a Covid ward, but the other 5 patients in their bay have to be treated as if they might have Covid. Even if they are ready for home, they can't leave if they have a vulnerable partner or if they need carers,or rehab. They have to wait an extra 10 days in hospital.
Those that can be discharged can no longer get a long term package of care in our area, in fact they cannot even see a social worker until they are home or in a short term community bed. So there are whole wards of patients awaiting packages of care that can be in hospital for literally weeks, not needing any treatment.
The care agencies and care homes also have staff of with Covid or isolating with kids with Covid etc etc and so nothing is coming out of the other end of the hospital's and that is why there are queues in A&E as there are no beds. Not sure what the answer is but it is not just finances.

@GreenLunchBox

Omg OP, that is shocking

We're like a third world country now

That's because the third world is gradually making its way here.

That's because the third world is gradually making its way here.
You should be on stage.

@GreenLunchBox

That's because the third world is gradually making its way here. You should be on stage.

Why thanks😁

@ElvisPresleyHadABaby

How is your DD now OP?

DD is 18

Thanks to those helpful replies. This was not intended to be a thread about government policies or the problems of the NHS - I just wanted support while my daughter was in hospital.

She's currently on a ward awaiting further tests. She's very stressed because the patient in the bed next to her seems distressed / unstable and it is scaring her.

From my quick Google searches it does appear her heart rate is too fast, so she is in the best place to get a diagnosis.

Sorry to hear about your daughter. If no one raises it - worth asking if she might have Pots as it is more common than people think with young girls:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/postural-tachycardia-syndrome/

Why thanks😁
I meant cleaning it.

[quote RosesAndHellebores]@Soontobe60 may I respectfully ask why you think I need to get a grip. If the public had been complaining 5/10/15 years ago about sub-optimal care we might not be in the situation now. But then again we are all supposed to be so grateful for it.

And what, pray, makes you so sure the open dd isn't a vulnerable adult. She is 18, is in hospital alone, with a heart issue and nobody to advocate for her. I bet that more than suits the average A&E department.[/quote]
In what way would it suit an emergency department? What agenda do you think an emergency department has?

This honestly makes you sound unhinged.

I agree with others - your suggested email was absurd hyperbole.

There is a huge bed blocking problem. My dad don't an extra 11 days in hospital a couple of months ago because there wasn't a care home bed available and it's got worse since then.

This is normal unfortunately. There are literally no beds in our hospital and no one can magic them up even if you go in every two hours as suggested (please DONT do this!

To get a bed You are literally waiting for some one to die, go home medically fit, or transfer to another hospital. In the meantime your daughter is in a hospital, has been seen by a Dr, is surrounded by Heathcare professionals and will get the help she needs

@GreenLunchBox

Why thanks😁 I meant cleaning it.

Blimey with a coneback like that maybe YOU should be in the stage! Erm and nice insult to people who do clean to earn a living. Shame on you.

The NHS started being a shambles in 1947?

Given it wasn’t created until 1948 that’s quite an achievement!

I hope your daughter gets some answers soon. Just for a bit of reassurance, even if she's not on the cardiac ward she will be visited by the cardiac team for rounds etc. It's not the same but she won't just be in limbo. My brother was in for emergency orthopaedic surgery after coming off his bike for nearly 3 weeks, first two nights in a&e, then onto the geriatric ward for 2 weeks and 4 nights (he's 31) and then one night on orthopaedics where they sent him almost straight home. I have a friend who is an a&e consultant, she is close to quitting, she's never seen the nhs like this and every shift is destroying her because she can't do her job properly. I feel for every patient and staff member fighting against the system they've been given to get and give proper care.