Horror I witnessed last night NHS

[ElisabethZott]

At 3pm yesterday I took my 88 yr old mum to hospital as she had an unexpected, sudden anaphylactic reaction to one of her meds and her tongue and throat swelled up to the extent she was struggling to breathe/talk/ swallow. I drove her there because I knew the ambulance wait can be hours.
I witnessed pure absolute carnage. I worked for the wonderful NHS for 30 years and yesterday I had first hand experience of the struggles the poor staff. I have never seen such a horrendous sight of so many trollies with extremely sick and dying patients lining the corridors. I couldn’t begin to count them but there were dozens and dozens. It’s only early November, I can only say, for your own sakes, unless you have a life threatening condition, do not go to A&E.
The staff were absolutely brilliant but there’s not enough of them. The care and kindness they showed us amazing. DM didn’t join the trolley queue as her airways were compromised so we went to the observation ward where she has stayed on a trolly overnight. All A&E wards were rammed to capacity with people not even having their own bay, they were just squeezed into any available space.
Once mum had steroids and anti histamines and she stabilised ( because they were working at full speed to treat other patients) the staff simply didn’t have to time or capacity to help mum. She was offered no water, no blankets no food ( her tongue swelling had gone down a little and she hadn’t eaten all day ). You can see by the tone of my post I am no way being critical of the fantastic medical team , they were pushed to the limits. I don’t really know the point of this thread except to say I am so worried what’s going to happen when winter starts properly.

Thank you NHS but you too need looking after too because you are really broken and sick

I’m not sure how much money Labour will be able to throw at the NHS if/when they get in. And I don’t think just throwing money at it will help. It isn’t fit for purpose, a lot has changed from when it was formed and it needs a radical rethink

irk, would you SAY where it was, I meant.

We do need an election now but I heard Robert Peston saying last week that a general election is likely to be October 2024. That is too long to wait.

If we all agree that having healthcare available to all regardless of wealth is a good thing then that needs funding through taxation.

I am happy to pay taxes so that we can all benefit from a decent NHS, social care system and infrastructure.

There is PLENTY of spare money in this country but we don’t tax it. We don’t tax wealth and even Labour are saying they won’t - but that is one of the most pertinent causes of inequality, which leads to worse health outcomes and more strain on the NHS.

This is what you get with a Tory government
I'm not sure that's true though is it? I've no interest in political party bashing because I've not lived in the UK for a very long time now. However, my uncle was in hospital shortly before he died 17 years ago and the conditions were vile. He also wasn't fed, my cousin had to go in every day. She had to take in her own cleaning products to clean the previous patients bodily fluids from the floor and around the bed. After the initial admittance he was pushed from room to room, ignored and not given his medication. That was pre-Tory 🤷‍♀️

You’re puzzled that many other people around the country have different experiences to you?

It's such a complex issue..
Is it massive extra volume through the front door
Slower processing in the dept (due to staff and resources)
Less onwards pathways, so people are stuck waiting in the dept.

Likely a combo of all and much more.
Very hard to address on a individual site basis if every day is firefighting mode.

The NHS had the highest satisfaction ratings in its history immediately before the Tories came in thirteen years ago. Now they are lower than they've ever been. People saying it's not the Tories' fault need to open their eyes.

Absolute drivel ( and i am no fan of the tories). Its a combination of many factors including bad management of funding, bad management and retention of staff, leaking money like a bucket full of holes. The general public ( yes they have/are causing some responsibility for this) treating it like a GP surgery, many many more people using it than it was designed for. It NEEDS a complete overhaul and we need a government that has the courage to say enough and completely re-jig everything.

Same experience last week OP. Watching my dad’s post-stroke deterioration in a chaotic corridor is something I’ll never get over.

Exactly this

My clinics are completely full until next month. Children waiting weeks for vaccinations and women for repeat smears following abnormal results etc.
I can counsel you about good health all you want, but there are only so many hours in the day. We are down to two (part time) practice nurses. My colleague goes next year along with one of the three remaining GP's, and I'm out in three. Can't recruit.
The whole thing is a ticking timebomb.

Primary care is completely fucked.

For example, I have severe peroneal tendonitis in my foot to the point I cannot weight bear it is so painful.

My gp surgery has 2 drs on long term sick and will not hire locums so I cannot get an appointment there. I can’t use another gp as they are not taking patients out of catchment. The walk in is closed and even if it was open I would be referred to A&E as they have no way of doing X-rays or ultrasound.

The only chance I have of it getting better is attending A&E and get the referral through them. I haven’t yet because it’s so busy I don’t want to add pressure.

But it just means I have to suffer along taking painkillers constantly just to be able to do the school run. People don’t go to A&E for fun, sometimes it’s the only option.

Yes it’s not like we’re not paying already

If the ‘it’s broken’ posters put some figures out there, how much more are they talking about

It's not the point of your post but you were wrong to drive your mum to a&e with anaphylaxis, if it ever happens again please called an ambulance. Anaphylaxis is a category 1 emergency (to give you an idea of how seriously they take it heart attacks are category 2) so the likelihood is you would have got paramedics out very quickly and they can begin treatment at home. We've had the mobile paramedic out and treating ds1 before the ambulance arrived for the transfer to hospital.

As a side note pushed as the nhs is I'm not sure providing people with food in the middle of the night is a top priority or a good use of staff time. I'm sure they could have provided water if you'd asked or pointed you towards a drinks machine.

Broken as the system undoubtedly is your mother received life saving treatment in a timely manner.

Yes, exactly.

There are still people who would vote Tory again even after everything they've done.

I do think US-style drunk tanks would help though, for adults who have got themselves wasted or so drunk they just need water, sleep and someone to keep an eye and check they don't choke.

It would make it much easier for medics to deal with the genuine accidents & emergencies. Especially at the weekends.

How much more funding do you think would fix it?

These sound bites are just SM fodder. What do you want realistically in terms of funding?

I believe Liverpool Royal ( the nearest large A&E ) has not got a long trolly wait

Don’t bank on it - family member is F2 junior doctor there and it’s usually carnage - he’s moving to the South East because he thinks it will be less war-zoney 🤷🏻‍♀️

The real problem with all A&E departments is the numbers of people that try to use it a a GP surgery for the most trivial of complaints most of which would resolve within a day or two without medical intervention. I wont mention the main group in society responsible for the massive congestion of A&E's but we all know who they are and why they are doing it.

The NHS is broken all the way through, but added to that pressure is the fact that a lot of people insist on seeing a medical professional for every single little thing.

I work in a GP surgery, and you would not believe what some of the ridiculous things A&E discharge papers say people attend for.

In primary care, I can't tell you how many people call insisting their little Billy is seen immediately because he has been sick once, or a grown adult insists on an urgent appointment because they have a splinter in their finger.

There seems to be no common sense anymore, with so many people unaware of the basics of looking after themselves without rushing to call the doctor at every sneeze. Perhaps at school they should teach the basics of what to do when you have a cold.

No wonder there are no appointments left for the people who actually do need to see a doctor.

My aunt died in hospital in 2001. She was neglected - no one helped her sit up, her food was placed where she couldn't reach it and her water jug was constantly empty. Nurses stood nearby chatting. I didn't live close enough to be there as much as I needed to be. She got pneumonia and didn't come home. This was pre Tory. I've felt guilty ever since.

Don't forget too that the number of elderly people is rising every year and it's going to do so for many years to come. The baby boomer generation is the largest generation ever and they were born between 1946-1964, meaning they are now aged from 59-77. The generations below them contain significantly fewer people. This generation is going to place huge pressures on the public purse as they age - not just the NHS.

Anyone who ends up in A& E purely because they’re drunk should IMO be faced with heavy fines. NHS staff really do not need the added hassle. (A relative is an A& E consultant.)

And it’s high time IMO that there were sanctions for being ‘drunk and disorderly’ in public - fighting, peeing in the street, etc. IMO there’s far too much tolerance of thoroughly antisocial drunkenness in the U.K. - if people were likely to be hit hard in their pockets they might just think twice.

Getting a bit pissed without bothering anybody is a completely different thing.

but my request would be that we're also take some responsibility to become part of the solution ourselves. There is only so much money can buy.

Agree with this. And not only where old people are concerned. We could all be a bit more grown up about dealing with minor injuries and complaints which used to be treated at home. Plus be aware of what things cost. Years ago the NHS provided nappies and all the accoutrements for mother and baby while they were in the maternity ward. But people took loads of stuff home as it was "free" so in the end it was impossible to continue and we had to bring it all with us. People don't value what they don't have to pay for. Perhaps all drugs we are prescribed, plus procedures and treatments, should somewhere have a price on them just so we can understand what it's all costing.