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Original poster

10 hours of a&e

104 replies

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 26/04/2022 08:14

I took my elderly neighbour to a&e last night as they were short of breathe and had chest pains. It took 5 hours before she was seen once, and ibuprofen and paracetamol was given. This whole time I was sitting on the floor, nothing for another 2 hours when a nurse came over to her and gave her 2 paracetamol and 1 ibuprofen- two hours since her last dose… she would have happily taken the pills but I told the nurse she’d had her last pills 1 hour and 45 min ago, they looked at her notes and said ah ok she can have them in 30 min then- I thought it should be 4 hours!

another 2 hours of sitting on the floor , 12 ambulances waiting, 159 people waiting in the waiting room to get triaged. Absolute hell really. I rushed there from work, so no charger, no drinks, no food, no money to buy any of this!

not really sure why I am posting but it’s scary how many people need medical attention. She finally got a comfy chair 10 hours after we arrived.

OP posts:
EverydayImPuzzling · 26/04/2022 21:04

Let’s not blame all GP practices (mine has been bloody brilliant, both before covid, during covid and now). This is chronic underfunding from the Tories.

Stop. Voting. Tory.

FrankLeeSpeaking · 26/04/2022 21:05

mooreover · 26/04/2022 09:31

I was in A&E last week as one of my DC had fallen and hurt their head badly, we were prioritised and seen very quickly due to this but the time we were in the waiting room you'd hear people going to the desk to book in with the most ridiculous reasons, one with an infected toe nail, one with a bite that had gone swollen and red and not gone down after taking one antihistamine. That was just the two I heard. We left 7 hours later and both were still in waiting room! Previous posters are right, people can't get GP appointments so they're treating A&E as such.

I'm shocked there is no confidentiality in the booking in process. The whole waiting room doesn't need to know.
Our reception desk is set up so you can't be overheard. You go into a booth and speak to the reception staff privately. But it's a fairly new hospital.

MrOllivander · 26/04/2022 21:08

Redglitter · 26/04/2022 19:50

The ambulance system is so broken here that ambulance service are now sending taxis to people to convey them to A&E. Its absolutely shocking. Most of the people we encounter at work who insist on an ambulance don't need it

That's not new in some areas. My trust was doing it in 2016
Because it's cheaper to send a taxi when someone doesn't need a fully equipped ambulance/paramedics but doesn't have any transport or money and needs hospital treatment

Cloudsarebright · 26/04/2022 21:16

I’ve been told by GPs on numerous occasions that my blood test and ECG has come back abnormal and that I’m a high risk for cardiac complications and sudden death. Only for A&E to monitor me for a few hours and send my home on an increased dose and more intensive monitoring - which the GP is unable to provide.

It’s a vicious cycle and there needs to be more outpatient services to combat this. I look ‘well’ to any outsider and get dirty looks when i’m triaged quickly, so I wish people would stop making statements like ‘they don’t need to be there’.

mumda · 26/04/2022 21:23

Whatwouldscullydo · 26/04/2022 20:49

You haven't met my drs. In between messages saying they are closed in the morning/afternoon for training, they are closed for staff sickness , and on 1 or 2 occasions " we are busy with the vaccine programme don't call us unless you are dying " there are multiple posts a week on next door app, over no one answering the phone, no appointments available, reaching end of an 18 long phone queue only to be hung up on, no one calling back, and that econsult has been ditched but nothings taken its place.

Its been designated one of the worst in the area

Mine was like that. It's not now as they had the contract taken off them. So thousands of people got left to go to adjacent practices which are now suffering to keep up with demand.

TheSillyMastiff · 26/04/2022 21:37

I was in a and e with a colleague last week. We were in and out in under 3 hours!

She had a seizure, first ever. We did call 999 but they said it's a 6 hour wait for an ambulance if she comes round can one of you take her, which we said of course we will.

Triaged within 25 minutes, then Dr after a further 30, blood tests done and a ecg, about a 90 minute wait for them and the Dr to return, referred her to first for clinic and neurology and she was discharged. I drove her home, was about 3 hours in total here. NHS Wales here.

Even when my son who is accident prone gets his quarterly trip to minors it's like 1-2 hour max for stitches or a X ray and a cast/brace/bandage.

I feel for you all, double digits in a and e with no pain relief or even triaged for hours! 😳

Booklover3 · 26/04/2022 23:24

I was also in a&e a few weeks ago because of chest pain and my blood pressure was ridiculously high. The GP sent me there in fact. After four hours they took my blood pressure and did an ECG which thankfully was fine. After another three hours I saw a doctor (GP in a&e) who said they don’t usually start new hypertension medicine then and there but they had to. No other tests. GP has increased it once since then but it’s still too high. I really did feel bad for the GP in a&e though. One looked like they were about to have a break down.

StuckInTheMiddleOfNowhere · 27/04/2022 00:04

I was there recently with dc with suspected broken wrist after accident at school.

There was a lady who was concerned over her dc not eating much, fever, lethargic etc. Had been like it 24hrs.called gp surgery and was told a gp would call her within 48hrs! So she took the dc to a&e. And im sure many would. 48hrs for a call is madness.

Thankfully our gp surgery is quite good.

AlbusSeverusHagrid · 27/04/2022 05:04

@StuckInTheMiddleOfNowhere isn't that just a standard bug for kids though? Kids can't be taken to a&e every time they're a bit peaky

CormoranStrike · 27/04/2022 06:08

To balance this out, I had a really good experience lately at my local A and E. DD had a bad car crash.

She was treated at the scene for well over an hour by paramedics - she had to wait over 30 minutes for the first to arrive, but that’s not bad - and then checked over thoroughly in the ambulance. With hindsight I suspect treatment at the roadside lasted so long as A and E was busy, thought it may have also been clinically necessary.

They then got a radio message to say resus was ready for us and we set off for the hospital under blue lights. where she was taken through and seen/assessed/scanned/xrayed etc instantly.

I couldn’t fault them at all.

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 06:52

StuckInTheMiddleOfNowhere · 27/04/2022 00:04

I was there recently with dc with suspected broken wrist after accident at school.

There was a lady who was concerned over her dc not eating much, fever, lethargic etc. Had been like it 24hrs.called gp surgery and was told a gp would call her within 48hrs! So she took the dc to a&e. And im sure many would. 48hrs for a call is madness.

Thankfully our gp surgery is quite good.

That woman shouldn't have been there. They probably waited 48 hours because they knew it was a bug.

Probably one that she then went and spread around vulnerable people. Nice.

SkankingWombat · 27/04/2022 07:46

I think sometimes you have to be really careful judging and counting up how many people shouldn't be there just on outward appearances though. I had to take DD2 to A&E last year, and to anyone looking at us they probably wondered why we were there too: happy, chatty DD who was playing with toys, eating, reading, bouncing about etc. What you wouldn't know is that a few hours earlier she had fallen, hit her head, and had a seizure. She absolutely needed to be checked over, and had needed a number of tests once we reached our turn. It isn't always quite that obvious why people are there, and I can't say I knew that much about the reasons others were in either, as the details weren't shared or discussed within my earshot. I'm sure plenty are using A&E as a GP service at the moment though: DH recently ended up paying for a private appt as he couldn't get an NHS one for weeks, but not everyone has the luxury of affording private (we don't regularly, but can manage a one-off and he was in a lot of pain). However, unless you are privvy to all the details for each patient, you can't possibly judge yourself whether A&E is needed so best to just keep out of it. FWIW our A&E triages you to OOH GP or A&E upon arrival, so any 'clearly should be dealt with by a GP' people are sent next door at that point.

MissyB1 · 27/04/2022 07:57

SkankingWombat · 27/04/2022 07:46

I think sometimes you have to be really careful judging and counting up how many people shouldn't be there just on outward appearances though. I had to take DD2 to A&E last year, and to anyone looking at us they probably wondered why we were there too: happy, chatty DD who was playing with toys, eating, reading, bouncing about etc. What you wouldn't know is that a few hours earlier she had fallen, hit her head, and had a seizure. She absolutely needed to be checked over, and had needed a number of tests once we reached our turn. It isn't always quite that obvious why people are there, and I can't say I knew that much about the reasons others were in either, as the details weren't shared or discussed within my earshot. I'm sure plenty are using A&E as a GP service at the moment though: DH recently ended up paying for a private appt as he couldn't get an NHS one for weeks, but not everyone has the luxury of affording private (we don't regularly, but can manage a one-off and he was in a lot of pain). However, unless you are privvy to all the details for each patient, you can't possibly judge yourself whether A&E is needed so best to just keep out of it. FWIW our A&E triages you to OOH GP or A&E upon arrival, so any 'clearly should be dealt with by a GP' people are sent next door at that point.

Well said.

Rememberallball · 27/04/2022 10:14

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 06:52

That woman shouldn't have been there. They probably waited 48 hours because they knew it was a bug.

Probably one that she then went and spread around vulnerable people. Nice.

Show quote history

Not necessarily right to wait 48 hours for a call back - my GP said virus about 9 week old premature twin on the Thursday, rang back Monday to cancel vaccinations as still unwell; seen that afternoon and GP said would arrange to be seen following day by paeds team - they said to go straight in due to age; he had sepsis and was in hospital for a week!!

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 10:16

@Rememberallball no I agree - and if there were symptoms that suggested the child should be seen immediately that's fine, or if the child is very young.

But if the woman just didn't want to wait for the GP to call she shouldn't be in A&E

Rememberallball · 27/04/2022 11:08

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 10:16

@Rememberallball no I agree - and if there were symptoms that suggested the child should be seen immediately that's fine, or if the child is very young.

But if the woman just didn't want to wait for the GP to call she shouldn't be in A&E

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to wait for the call back, she was told to wait another 2 days for a call back from a GP about a sick child - where else do you expect her to go to get medical advice in the meantime? A&E is totally appropriate in the situation of a lethargic child, with high temperature and not eating much for more than 24 hours as they could already be dehydrated and need IV fluids.

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 11:39

111 is the appropriate next step @Rememberallball

Badbadbunny · 27/04/2022 11:48

It really is time that the GP system was scrapped and replaced with the continental "clinic" system where there are lots of clinics around that do the minor things like basic prescriptions, minor injuries/wounds, ECGs, basic x-rays, etc but with a doctor on the premises to deal with more serious things, and they still refer you to the "proper" hospital for things they can't deal with. But the difference is that they deal with most of the minor stuff, there and then, without having to refer you, put you on waiting lists, etc., so the admin/management is massively reduced as are timescales.

The UK GP system has just become a desk jockey "fob off" service that costs a fortune but achieves little. My own GP surgery don't even do blood tests anymore - they just tell you to go to the out patients at our local hospital where there's a phlebotomy service. They used to do ECGs but don't do that anymore either. It took me 4 GP appointments just to get a referral for hearing aids, took my son 6 appointments to get referred to podiatry for an ingrown toe nail.

Badbadbunny · 27/04/2022 11:52

My OH has already waited a whopping 6 months, with several GP appointments to try to get higher strength vitamin D tablets. His oncologist had flagged up low vit D a while ago, and OH has been on the highest strength OTT tablets for most of last year, but levels still too low so oncologist told him to ask the GP for a prescription for higher strength. GPs don't have a clue - different one every time, OH has to go through the same story as GP can't see oncology blood tests, then say they'll "discuss with a colleague" and call back, but they never do, so OH has to ring again, get a different GP and history repeats itself. Latest is that he finally got a text message saying to ask the chemist for their strongest tablet - so basically completely ignored all previous consultations - they're absolutely hopeless. Heaven knows why the oncologist can't just write the prescription himself - probably because he doesn't want it to come out of his budget!

Rememberallball · 27/04/2022 12:04

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 11:39

111 is the appropriate next step @Rememberallball

And 111 are usually useless telling you to go to A&E - or sending an unnecessary ambulance!! That’s if you get a callback from them at all - in some areas you can wait 12+ hours for a callback and then get told to go to A&E!! A&E staff will always see a sick child if a parent is worried.

I’m fed up with reading that people shouldn’t go to A&E off their own backs but need to be given “permission” by a phone line that uses scripts when their child is sick

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 12:22

@Rememberallball 111 are really good at getting GP appointments or signposting the right treatment.

The management has changed over the past couple of years and calls are now handled by people who are also trained to handle 999 calls.

50ShadesOfCatholic · 27/04/2022 12:33

Awful for everyone involved 😞

Hellish to be waiting for long periods of time when feeling very unwell, so stressful for staff too. What a mess.

TheSummerPalace · 27/04/2022 12:35

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 12:22

@Rememberallball 111 are really good at getting GP appointments or signposting the right treatment.

The management has changed over the past couple of years and calls are now handled by people who are also trained to handle 999 calls.

No - last month, DD had paralysis down her left side, and fainted (not for the first time). 111 got a pharmacist to ring her back! What can a pharmacist advise for a neurological problem? DD rang again, and a GP advised her to go to A & E for an emergency CT scan - they thought she was having TIAs! Neurology diagnosed hemiplegic migraines - well outside the remit of pharmacists!

Rememberallball · 27/04/2022 13:21

girlmom21 · 27/04/2022 12:22

@Rememberallball 111 are really good at getting GP appointments or signposting the right treatment.

The management has changed over the past couple of years and calls are now handled by people who are also trained to handle 999 calls.

My last contact was about 6 weeks ago so new management is making little difference here!!

MissCrowley · 27/04/2022 13:25

I've been to A&E and wasted their time as well as mine. 8hrs sat in a waiting room. I'd had severe sciatica for months and my Dr was fucking useless. So much so he's forgotten to send my referral.
I was desperate and I was getting to the point where I was considering just cutting my leg off because it was so horrendous.
The reason why it was a waste of time is because there's nothing they can do apart from tell you to get a referral and take paracetamol and ibuprofen (which then gave me chronic gastritis which was a whole other world of pain)
I came home and changed Drs. Was seen the next day and referred. Yesterday I had my spinal epidural 12 months after herniating 2 discs in my lumbar. It's been fucking hell on Earth and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Sometimes people are desperate and feel like nobody is giving a shit.