What is the waiting time in your local A&E?

[lemmein]

Just seen this on my local FB - how is this even acceptable? My DD has a chronic condition which means we often end up in a&e; it's always bad, but never been 19 hours

Waited 6 hrs with ds recently.
But after us loads came in, i can imagine they'd wait prob 10. It suddenly was rammed

In the US it varies by state. In New York, where I am, the average wait time is about 2 hours and twenty minutes. Obviously, some cases are triaged to the front of the line.

DH was there from 7pm Saturday until 4.30 am Sunday. We’d already spent an hour at a local primary care hospital, he was sent to A&.E from there. An announcement came over the tannoy about a large number of patents with life threatening conditions being treated thus increasing waiting times

We waited 12 hours with suspected appendicitis.

It depends on how sick you are - someone properly struggling to breathe effectively is going to be seen long before someone with a hurty knee, regardless of who arrived when. DH was recently seen, treated and discharged within 30 mins when he presented with urinary retention recently.

Wow, I've never been in and out of A&E in 2 1/2 hours 😳 Crazy how in the UK the times creep up and it just becomes 'normal' to wait 4+ hours.

Nineteen hours though? I don't think they can legitimately call themselves 'accident/emergency and urgent care' anymore!

I knew this would be Durham. I saw that earlier. I think if I needed a and e I'd get on a train elsewhere

14 hours this morning in Doncaster.

@NotMyDayJob if you can manage a train journey, you don't need A&E - part of the reason the wait times are as they are is people using it as a drop in service for minor niggles

Is there a website to find out? I can't see mine online.

The fact that there are waiting times in A&E is mad! I live in Austria and the waiting time is basically 0-30mins, especially for genuine emergencies or off-peak times. A friend used to work night shifts in A&E and moaned about all the people using it as a drop-in centre for long term health issues. However they were all treated because there was nothing else for the doctors there to do (this was pre covid though, not sure if things have changed since then).

Inside info from my local is that waiting time is about 3-4 hours but the real shocker is that patients waiting to be admitted to the hospital have been in A&E for 40 hours. They are stuffed full in there!!

I don't think anyone thinks it's acceptable! But the current staff can only do so much, the whole system needs proper investment and reform.

QE Gateshead - toddler was seen and treated pretty much straight away with croup - symptoms appeared suddenly at night and difficulty breathing, otherwise I would have just taken to GP to avoid. For myself the last time I went was for coronavirus and difficulty breathing and was in and treated straight away. I try to avoid a&e for me unless I'm absolutely desperate. But I think it's usually 3-4 hours there from what I remember on the board

I’ve never had a clue how long waiting times are. Whenever I go a&e I’m the one that pisses everyone off. Walk in go to whatever the counter is called (some are reception, others counter, and some please check in here). Get triaged within 20 minutes and then off I go to a cubicle or side room.

Oh apart from a handful of times and sent back to the waiting room and called very quickly from there, usually with tuts and
grumbling from others 😂

Even when they are rammed they
always found me somewhere, has been a chair near the nurses station a couple of times.

I have several serious health issue and whichever department is dealing with me at the time always says any problems come back to a&e.

My local is average 7-8 hours.
Longer if it's a minor injury. I waited 6 hours with suspected sepsis on the sepsis pathway. When I got to a doctor things moved quickly though. I was in a&e 17 hours recently. Again as about people are waiting 24-48rs for a bed though. Which isn't only bad but means there's no where for anyone coming into a&e to go meaning people are being seen in corridors the relatives room etc and people end up 12 hrs plus in the waiting room.

11hours yesterday!

I went with pneumonia (GP saw me and sent me straight there). Arrived at 10 a.m. triaged 2 hours later and a cannula put in. 12 hours later still sitting in A and E having had no treatment or tests apart from a blood test. Put on a trolley at midnight and finally saw a doctor at 6.00 am the next morning.

It's ridiculous and frightening. However if you can wait 19 hours to be seen you don't need to be in a&e.

i imagine the main problem is that it's impossible to access a GP so the a&e waiting room will be full of people looking for antibiotics.

That’s not necessarily true.

4/5 hours where I work.

If you need a&e you are seen MUCH quicker than this stat suggests. I was at durham a&e with ds recently. Although times were showing as 4 hours and not 19, we waited minutes. Triaged immediately and then straight to a room for further checks. I could not have been more impressed!
I was amazed at some of the other kids there who well clearly well in themselves and/or had a tiny graze. Unsurprisingly these people were made to wait and were still sat in the waiting room when we left. People need to stop going to a&e unnecessarily

It’s not just the waits to be seen. It’s waits to actually be seen/treated and moved to a ward or discharged. Our A&E is relentless a friend waited on trolley overnight for a bed and she is on chemo. It’s July and they have no beds to move people to in the hospital.

No it’s not acceptable but most A&E staff will tell you that, it’s broken. The NHS is broken.

There is an app - NHS quicker - if anyone wants to see waiting times/ total people in department

It varies day to day and hour to hour.