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

DM was sent to A&E yesterday morning by her doctor. Low blood oxygen levels and a suspected blood clot on her lung. She was made to wait outside (standing in the sun) for 40 minutes, then triaged within about 3 hours of getting inside. She then spent 27 hours waiting in a cubicle, before finally being moved to an assessment ward this afternoon.

In our local hospital, before Covid they achieved the 95% seen in four hours about 6 days out of 7. At the moment, that is achieved 70-80% of the time. There are a number of factors:
1)Over a decade of Tory cuts
2)inability to discharge medically fit patients with care needs as no care available in community
3)impossibility of discharging medically fit patients with care needs and Covid, as absolutely definitely no care available in the community
4) 2)&3) meaning that it is impossible to move patients out of A&E, as there is no space on the wards
5)Staffing being hammered by Covid. I'm in a different department, but in the last 10 days one third of our doctors have tested positive for Covid. It's been almost impossible to keep the department open 24/7, we certainly haven't been able to admit, stabilise and discharge as expeditiously
6)A significant proportion of admissions being Covid positive, who need to be kept separate from Covid negative clinically vulnerable patients, so even harder to admit to the wards.
7)Yes, there are some bloody stupid attendances, but there always has been. there's now no capacity to cope with them.
8)Did I mention over a decade of Tory cuts?

Someone above said take a book. I would say, If you have time before you go to A&E eg if it’s not a sudden emergency, take drinks and snacks with you.

I have taken teenage dc to A&E three times recently and there was no access to food and drink. The vending machines were out of use and we were not allowed to leave the A&E department because we were waiting for blood test results and the doctor didn’t want us wandering around until he knew what the problem was. The other time dc was covid positive and we were put in a side room. Fair enough but this was overnight during the heatwave and dc hadn’t eaten since 5pm the previous day. We didn’t feel we could ask the staff as nurses were scarce and obviously busy and the doctor announced he was the only one on duty and there was a 4 hour wait which actually turned into 9 hours.

Also you don’t want to leave the department as you think you are going to be seen any minute and you don’t want to lose your place in the queue (although the doctor announced to everyone waiting that there was ‘no queue.’)

I’m thinking bottled water, a juice box and a cereal bar or something like that.

Got to say, I was given 2 cups of coffee and a sandwich while I was in a bay waiting for a Dr (11 hours).

all these people who waited with ‘suspected blood clots m’ or ‘suspected appendicitis’ or suspected whatever did it actually turn out to be that or something else ??

My mil likes to tell the story of how she was made to wait 8 hours to see a doctor with a ‘suspected aneurysm’ - she had a headache and was dehydrated with a mild virus , could have been managed at home but she sees a&E as somewhere you go if you merely suspect you’re ill.

A HCA came round with a tea and coffee trolley with nibbles and blankets for everyone while I was waiting in A and E.

It's definitely not true that if you can wait 19 hours you don't need to be there, Rotherham general my neighbour waited 16 hours 5 weeks ago, she died a day later :(