A&E crisis

[mumsthewordi]

i am shocked to see the images from the wards, particularly impact on most vulnerable. Is this just the reality of a health crisis under any government, or do we think Labour have something to answer for?

Is it worth getting the flu jab now?

Addenbrookes has a separate children's a and e section away from the adult once you are checked in,

I've heard some bad things about waits in the adult section recently - a friend has cancer and was on a trolley for 24 hours.

The problem in an enormous amount of of ill informed people are stupid enough to to believe it’s just down to money

inefficiency and financial waste in the nhs are breathtaking
People need to take personal responsibility and make lifestyle choices

without addressing these 2 there pissing in the wind

I think one of the main things is the population has just grown and grown but most of the infrastructure has just stayed the same size.

Everywhere, hospitals, GPs, schools etc are trying to accommodate masses more people in the same size buildings they had 50 + years ago.

The French healthcare system is having similar issues.

It's not a political thing, it's a covid plus elderly population thing,

Although Brexit isn't helping us.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64216269

I had no idea people did this - it's crazy. I had to take an elderly neighbour to A & E after a bad fall last year, the chap sitting next to us was in because his foot 'looked a bit weird'. Why would anyone voluntarily sit in A & E all day unnecessarily? My neighbour was obviously in a bad way, but I looked around the waiting room and you wouldn't have thought the majority were waiting for medical treatment, apart from a girl in a PE kit with her dad. I don't know how you'd stop people treating it as a (very strange) day out though.

@mumsthewordi are you from Tory HQ? Honestly, Starmer isn't doing a brilliant job but how can this mess be his?

Bizarre.

Tho I do agree it's a mess, and we need to grow up and pay for social care

This is not a new thing. Started drastically declining around 6/7 years ago. Just more publicised now.

It's a bit rich blaming Labour when the previous load of tossers were in government for FOURTEEN years. That's fourteen years. Fourteen years of underfunding and a complete failure to tackle adult social care. I'm amazed by the amnesia suffered by all Tories, whether they are in parliament or vote Tory. Despite what you may have forgotten you actually DID THIS.

I was in A and E last year with am elderly relative who had fallen and needed an x ray on her hand. We were in the minor injuries part and there was a young lady who came in with a ripped toe nail. I'm sure she didn't need to be there. She moaned about the amount of people and then after 30 minutes decided that she didn't want to wait and left.
Another man had his wife, mother and two children with him taking up seats meant for patients.

@PickAChew

You're asking a question back at my question, I'm simply asking if Labour have a role to play, you're forcing my opinion.

I just don't know and as a Labour voter I suppose I'm expecting miracles or at least hoping they can take some urgent action to deal with the acute issue short term,

Then longer term I want to hear and see more about a radical overhaul and change in social care . I know it's only been 5 months but the rhetoric is big and action slow.

I voted for a change - particularly due to the collapsing nhs and social care system.

It is not my job to come up with the ideas of what they should be doing.

Yes! It's not a guarantee you won't get flu but you are less likely to, and if you do it may be less severe.

Don't be so damn daft, OP! Labour has literally just been elected after 14 years of Tory rules and underinvestment in the MHS.

Don't you remember exactly the same happening last winter? And the winter before??

No how presumptuous and rude.

It’s a multitude of things. This has been building for the last 25 years or so. It’s a combination of decades of underfunding, overuse and abuse, open borders, overworked Drs and nurses suffering burn out and quitting, poor upper management (not to mention them getting paid wads of nhs cash for consistently fucking up) too many taking and not enough putting in….. there’s a never ending amount of reasons-but it’s up the governments to fix it-it’s not strictly a labour issue no, each government has added to the issues without fixing the ones their predecessors have caused.
Though the 10 billion pound black hole that the Blair IT failure caused certainly hasn’t helped

Whilst it isn't labours fault, yet to see any decent proposals from them on how to address it.

It's not just a&e. I need an MRI scan for suspected MS. I've been told anything up to 18 months.

The conservatives have destroyed the NHS over many, many years.

Labour have been in power for 2 minutes this time around, what makes you think it is their fault? 😂

I worked in the NHS in a clinical role when I first left school in the 1980’s. It was badly run then, it always has been.

@Theredjellybean thanks for the insightful post I very unfortunately agree with everything you have written and wrote about a pharmacist who tried to send me to A &E a few posts up when it was unnecessary.

That’s because Neurology has such a lengthy wait. I have MS, and every appointment letter I get goes into chapter and verse about how long neurology lists are, so if you try to cancel more than 2 appointments, they throw you off their service. MS has a notoriously long diagnosis pathway, I was diagnosed within 3 days of symptoms starting but that’s only because mine landed me in a&e and then immediately admitted as an inpatient

THIS

I broadly agree with you. Many tertiary Trusts have also had funding withdrawn for vaccinations. So for example, the very very busy hospital department I worked in used to have a fridge FULL of all sorts of vaccines (flu, Covid, pertussis, pneumonia etc - would have had RSV if it had existed then. We would offer anyone and everyone vaccines as they passed through. Waiting to see the doc? Have a flu jab. Pregnant? Have a pertussis and flu jab. Etc etc. all funding has been withdrawn. The fridge is empty. We have to signpost patients to their GP for vaccines and I know the GP has no slots and not time to give them. It’s tragic.

People talk about underfunding but money directly to the NHS isn't the answer IMO, it will just get swallowed up.

Immigration has meant our population has grown to unmanageable levels. People aren't taking responsibility for themselves.

People expectation of what A&E is needs to be enforced. Even watching those ambulance programmes you can see people just call an ambulance at the drop of a hat. These people need to be told that they should not be in A&E and sent away. Although I expect the trusts are scared to do this for fear of being sued.

It needs a complete overhaul. I was in a&e recently with what turned out to be a life threatening brain tumour I arrived at 2pm was assessed with in a few hours and scanned and was given my diagnosis by 9pm. Considering how busy they were they were prioritising the people who couldn't wait and had potentially life threatening conditions. I did have a written referral from my gp though.
All the people in front of me in triage could have been dealt with at an urgent care walk in centre or gp.
Luckily because I had the gp information I missed the triage after that.

Lots of people need to be shown how to access their gp through the nhs app properly. My mother in law doesn't stop moan about her gp, she has the app but insists on phoning then hangs up because it's a long wait. I looked at the app with her and booked her a phone consultation for the next day with her gp, all within 5 mins! which lead to blood test then face to face appointment follow up.
She is still reluctant to use the app although she is completely capable of doing so! I keep trying to explain how we access things has changed and she's just got to go with it.
Maybe I've been lucky but using the e quest and appointment booking system on the app since my diagnosis I've not had any issues at all.