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

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.

@SockQueen I wasn't suggesting the public or staff think it's acceptable - I can't imagine how stressful it is working in that environment.

We all need to demand better - our expectations/standards are too low in this country; even 4+ hours is ridiculous but would be considered an 'ok' time in the UK. The way things are going you'll have to pack a tent to wait outside A&E

Interestingly, the comments on FB are mostly blaming people for being at a&e with a 'broken nail' - nothing will change whilst the public look down to find fault.

Blame the long waits n the chronic under funding and lack of staff.
Poor NHS doctors and nurses - they are so over worked.
Our MPs do very little and get too much money plus all the extras in perks and benefits. My local MP has done literally nothing at all for me. Nothing. Despite me contacting her on 4 occasions about different issues. Also she backed the lying, cheating Boris.

Bollocks
People post this all the time. It's accidents or emergency
I needed a&e for
A broken ankle and foot - I got myself there
Cauda equina - emergency surgery so I wasn't paralysed - I got myself there
To remove shards of glass from my eye / got myself there
Burns to my hand/fingers and wrist

I've been capable of standing outside a&e vaping as it's the only thing I could concentrate on but I still needed a&e

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

I waited 12 hrs with a dvt once, so 12 hours before anyone apart from the triage nurse saw me. And this was before covid! Over a bank holiday weekend. Nowhere else to go and it was definitely an emergency. 🤷‍♀️gP can’t investigate or treat that even if open.

In my hospital there's nowhere for patients to go as covid has ripped through the hospital again. A&E is basically like a ward and struggling to move anyone to a ward.

It depends entirely on the severity of the issue. Heart attack, a few minutes, broken fingernail, indefinite.

People misuse A&E to a ridiculous amount.

I had chest pain a few years ago. Had ecg immediately, it was fine, then waited 4 hours for blood tests, see doc etc. Then Covid hit and it's not been good since.

Sorry should add (only just realised!) NHS quicker is only for SW England. It's very useful though when deciding where to go!

Our EDs regularly get to 12 hours, not ever seen 19 though. We do have multiple patients who have been here over a day today waiting for a bed on the ward though. Its awful

I did an agency shift in a District general the other day. I think the longest waiting time was about an hour. Wasn't hugely busy. But I was shocked that their is usually only one paediatric nurse in the department, and a lack of basic equipment, trolleys, piped oxygen, sluice etc in the childrens area. The children of that city are being hugely failed by the hospital. I'm very glad I don't work there full time.

Yeah, or I mean, that could have been a joke...

I waited 14 hours with chest pain recently. Didn't see anyone for 5 hours when I had an ECG. There was a woman near me bleeding everywhere with a head wound. In the end, most of us left after signing the little form. I have RA so couldn't sit there any longer as was in agony. A woman with what looked like a broken ankle left too as she told reception she had no one to look after her daughter.

Just read every ambulance trust is currently on black alert. People will be getting told to make their own way to a&e unless life threatening. Sadly some people with life threatening issues are not going to be got to in time. Now is not a good time to have a bad accident, you can’t rely on medical attention.

someone on Facebook locally recently posted their brother had fallen down the stairs and was “paralysed”, could not move from the waist down, suspected spinal cord injury and waited 8 hours for an ambulance. What do you do? Leave them for eight hours? Pick them up and get them in a car and risk making things worse?

I should say that I work in that hospital and it was due to staff shortage. Covid is still decimating our staff as people are unwell with it

There's that 'broken fingernail' excuse again 🙄

I wouldn't assume you'd be seen 'within minutes' with a suspected heart-attack:

www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2022/june/warning-over-ambulance-waiting-times-heart-attacks-strokes

www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-06-08/man-who-feared-he-was-having-heart-attack-endured-five-hour-wait-outside-a-and-e

www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2022-06-16/ambulance-delays-for-most-serious-patients-in-south-west-are-getting-worse

The fingernail thing is really fucking annoying - and a bloody insult to women. Granted they'll be a few that take the piss, but many will be in A&E with minor ailments because they can't see their GP. My local walk-in centre was shut about 5 years ago - the vast majority of people wouldn't willingly choose to wait for 4+ hours if there was a viable alternative.

@lemmein As I used to actually work there for 10 years I can assure you people come in for the most ridiculous reasons.

I think everyone is underestimating the affect Covid is still having on staffing levels. You have to stay away even if the symptoms are mild. If it had been a normal cold with a snotty nose, you would just take a lemsip and carry on, but yournot allowed to with Covid. DS tested positive this am so I shall probably get it. And be off a week. Along with DH so that will be 2 NHS workers down. The cases are ridiculously high and the pandemic is still a significant factor with staff shortages.

The longest that I've waited was 8 hours in children's A&E (2015)

My dd2 is regularly admitted via A &E always seen immediately as it's life or death emergent.
Neighbour had a 4 hour wait for her broken leg to be treated a few days ago. I'm in the SE.

I had a half hour wait three weeks ago. Mind you, I was the only person waiting and people left as I got there (and no one else was seen in the meantime by the person who saw me) so I was bemused by the wait. But nothing like the waiting times in the cities.

Apparently 60% are seen within 4 hours, god knows about the rest. The hospital has been at capacity for the last two weeks though... According to the trust's fb, folks should phone to make an A&E appointment, yes really!!

Our hospitals a bit weird, there's only about 12 seats in the waiting area, maybe it's to make people leave?! There is no minor ailments, OOH, urgent care.

In live in Mexico and time it was an hour and a half in a public hospital

Over the weekend I was waiting 6 hours to be seen then a further 14 hours for a bed. In the end they just let me come home as they had patients who had been there 40+ hours and no bed. So I'm home with a catheter and waiting for a neuro follow up appointment.

I'm in SW Germany and had to go at the weekend for a very painful bladder infection. Was in and out within 30mins.
it's usually around an hour or so, rarely more. Healthcare here is fantastic.

This is local to me too.

It's generally pretty impossible to get a GP appointment at our practice, which has about 8,000 patients, and it's even worse this week as according to the surgery's Facebook most of our GPS are off sick- presumably with Covid. Non urgent GP appointments are being booked for September. I can understand a lot of people feeling A&E is the only option.

2 a&e trips about 8 weeks ago
The first was 6 hours then seen, given a bottle of oramporh and sent home

Second 2 days later sent by 999 with suspected (and later confirmed) sepsis - waited 9 hours

To add, both times they were very apologetic and said the issue is there are just no beds on wards to transfer people to so a&e is just full of people on beds waiting for somewhere to go