Is A and E where you are actually really efficient?

[Abitorangelooking]

DS fell and hurt his wrist yesterday at school. Ended up in A and E (no minor injuries where we are) wait time 0-1 hour sign up. We were seen, x-rayed, given painkillers, wrist splint fitted and back out the door in an hour and a half. Virtual fracture clinic called and advised follow up care this morning. There was a steady trickle of people coming in so wasn’t really quiet but no one was waiting ages either.

I have to admit I was expecting it to be the 7th circle of hell , given the news of late, but it was totally fine.

I wouldn’t say it’s super efficient but it’s certainly not bad. I busted my ankle up pretty badly recently and was in and out in 3 hours which I’d count as a win. And my elderly relative had a bad fall and was seen and sorted in a couple of hours, also v recent.

I had to wait far longer than that for a Category A ambulance when it was called to take me to A&E.

In the end dh signed some form - I was at the drop in GP centre - to say he would take me and we understood the risks.

Though once there I was whisked through quickly at least.

Only recent experience is of children's a&e and it was crap.

Fractured collarbone- triaged by nurse who said it definitely looks broken and please wait to be seen.

2 hour wait to be seen by another nurse who examines, says she it looks broken, gives him a paracetamol and puts him in a q for X-ray.

90 min wait for X-ray to happen then sent back to a&e to wait for dr to look at X-ray.

Another hour wait in a&e then summoned to see same nurse again to be given sling and bit of paper with instructions for care on and sent home, told fracture clinic would ring within 72 hours.

Then she forgot to make the referral to fracture clinic so they never called as per process so I had to chase that up which included me having to drive back to a&e to tell them to fill in the referral because they weren't answering their phones and even though fracture clinic could see from my sons records and his X-ray that he'd broken his collarbone, they could not speak to me until a&e had instigated a referral on the computer.

So totally inefficient and shit. There were no more than 4 kids in a&e the whole time so hardly busy either. Lots of staff stood around chatting though- ignoring the patients and parents.

My trust has reintroduced the 4 hour breach penalty again in Paediatric A&E, again. Not sure about the adult side though. It's a ball ache. As the wards have 30 minutes to admit them after being made ready. If the ward is busy, it's not always safe.

It depends on the day. I've been in and out in about 90 mins or been there hours.

DH had an accident recently and received first aid at the scene from a passerby, I was about to try and clean the blood off DH's face and the passerby suggested I didn't because it might get him seen faster in A&E, there was a fair bit of blood!

Anyway it took about 5 minutes to be triaged, the nurse did some obs and then a wait of about 15 minutes before he was called through to a cubicle for treatment. Absolutely no complaints at all, excellent care.

Another Scot here, I attended Crosshouse (Kilmarnock) about 6.30pm on a Monday with two conditions, a chest infection (I have COPD) and a broken arm. Left about 10.30pm after X rays and with antibiotics. Follow up has been good and I'm now seeing a physiotherapist for the arm.

DS1 had an accident at work 18mths ago. He took himself off to A&E where the wait was 14 hours. A woman collapsed and died in the waiting room. He asked the nurses, when he was triaged, if it was worth going home and coming back in the morning and they agreed. So he did. He was misdiagnosed when he did go back and ended up having to have surgery, privately, paid for by the MOD.

This was in North Yorkshire in Rishi Sunak’s constituency. I can’t remember the exact hospital, and he’s abroad and out of communication so I can’t ask him.

I'm really impressed with the measures our local one has put in place over the last year. I fell and thought I'd broken my shoulder - was in, x rayed and strapped up within an hour even though it was heaving.

Recently got taken by ambulance for something more serious - had my bloods and CT done within minutes of arrival. Once CT results came back I was sent to wait to see a doc and they said that would be within 4 hrs of my arrival time. As it happens, I got worse but they rushed me straight back to majors and got me on a drip very quickly. I saw a doc once the meds had gone through (less than the original four hours later), he prescribed more stuff on drip and I was discharged until the morning once that had finished. It was all in a corridor but I got the treatment I needed quickly. I would've had a long wait in the corridor if I'd agreed to being admitted but they offered me the choice of going to their urgent care day clinic the next morning. I had to hang around there all day but they were actively monitoring me and gave me meds while they decided if I needed more investigations.

That sounds utterly awful. I hope your DS has recovered. I think this is the sort of shoddy treatment I expected. Instead there’s lots of nice chatty nurse practitioners who whizzed everyone along at a good pace. I was genuinely impressed.