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Original poster

Is this a normal delay in A&E (stage 4 cancer patient)

44 replies

IesuGrist1975 · 09/03/2025 17:48

Brief summary-
should a stage 4 cancer patient with actue ischemic colitis have to wait over 72 hours for a bed on a ward and have not seen a Dr since Friday morning? Much longer version below…..

Hi, I’m just looking for some guidance on what is normal for A&E or if we should be pushing for more for my parent.

A bit of background my parent has stage 4 cancer (pancreatic) and their chemotherapy regime is brutal and this cycle’s side effects have caused awful diarrhoea leading to awful cramps which needed a trip to A&E in an ambulance at 2am Friday morning. They were quickly given a CT scan and told it’s ischemic colitis (can become very serious!!) and that they would not be able to leave the hospital until the cause is found and treated- this all happened before midday on Friday. Initially they were in resus before their bed was moved the corridor and finally to a side room after we complained that they were severely immunocompromised because of the chemo and outside a toilet in the corridor was not the best place.

Since Friday lunchtime they’ve not seen a doctor, just had obs done by various nurses and when asked when they’ll be moved to a ward or seen by a doctor have been told there are no doctors or beds available as it’s the weekend.

The whole thing is complicated by the fact I live 300 miles away in England and they are in Wales so I can’t support by being there all the time ( i need to keep time off for when things get more serious 😓). I drove down on Friday evening and stayed until last night and during that time I had to ask for pain relief and also if they could have anti-diarrhoea medication as the pain and trips to the toilet were becoming really concerning.

I know the NHS is stretched but their experience during this stay is a million times worse than my elderly in-laws have experienced recently (not in. Wales). Is this normal and to be expected?!?! Even as a stage 4 cancer patient?

This is all new to us as my parent was a healthy fit (as far as we knew!) 64-year-old last spring, then was fobbed off for 5 months as having heartburn/ anxiety/ muscle aches, followed by a CT scan that no-one looked at for 3 months despite it showing a pancreatic mass. When the diagnosis was finally made at the end of December it had spread to the liver which meant there was no chance of the tumour being removed. I’m not sure if the delay in diagnosis is clouding my expectations of how they should be treated in A&E or if what is happening now is just to be expected in some healthcare trusts?

Sorry, if that was a massive waffle, my head is all over the place and I don’t know what to do to help.

OP posts:
Msmoonpie · 09/03/2025 17:59

Normal ? Maybe.

Id still be making a massive fuss.

DilemmaDelilah · 09/03/2025 18:18

I don't think so... but weekends are always very difficult. I developed chemo toxicity shortly after my first (and only) cycle of chemo. I rang the oncology unit and was told to come in for assessment. I got worse so I was transferred to the Oncology inpatient ward, where I was kept in for 2 weeks. My symptoms were different, but probably caused initially by the diarrhoea and the associated dehydration and loss of magnesium and potassium.

I would have expected your parent to have been given a bed on the oncology ward, particularly as they are immunocompromised.

MissyB1 · 09/03/2025 18:23

It’s probably the “new normal” but that doesn’t make it ok 🙁 this is the shitty state our hospitals are in now. I'm so sorry your parent (and you) are experiencing this.

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General health
Hazelmaybe · 09/03/2025 18:47

that sounds horrible. Have they said whether she needs surgery or not and what the treatment is? I’d keep asking lots of questions as sometimes it helps.

TheLovleyChebbyMcGee · 09/03/2025 18:57

Normal? From stories on here and in the news maybe.

Should it happen? Absolutely not, but the NHS is so severely overstretched it's becoming not fit for purpose.

We've got an aging population who needs care, but no-one wants to pay for it. There's posts on here from people trying to avoid paying care home fees frequently. An older relative just today said to me today they had a GP appointment but didn't have a lift there, so were going to ask for patient transport instead of paying for a taxi. No money issues, just being tight.

lljkk · 09/03/2025 19:18

they sound stable... is probably a factor in the delay.

Skipsy · 09/03/2025 19:26

Sending massive hugs …we all know how terrible things can get in the nhs and no one should be treated like this in a civilised, comparatively rich country. The weekend effect is sadly a long standing issue but there’s only so much that can be changed when you have such a paucity of staff and beds….I would agree with the above poster, when you have someone presenting as stable, there is a “ they can wait til Monday “ reasoning when you have other more acutely unwell patients needing admission and medical input at the weekend.

2dogsandabudgie · 09/03/2025 19:29

I had an overnight stay in hospital on a Saturday a couple of years ago and was told that there were very few doctors at the weekends. Also the shortage of beds is due to the fact that people can't be discharged until they have seen a doctor, so you find that more beds become available on a Monday when Drs. have done their rounds and things return to "normal".

Changethetable · 09/03/2025 19:32

Very sadly and completely unacceptably they will not be viewing them as a priority due to the terminal diagnosis . It’s wrong but in a and e this is how they operate when under pressure. Is there any way to access hospice care ? In my experience it is far superior
Flowers

MsPenguins · 09/03/2025 19:35

So sorry about your parent. When I did chemo I had a 24/7 chemo line number and it's best to call that for help, take temp twice a day using digital thermometer and call line immediately out of range. I was also given lots of medicine like anti-sickness. Ours had an oncology emergency unit so could avoid A&E mostly.

I am sorry about their treatment, it shouldn't be like that. But sadly you do hear of things like this.

FlatWhiteExtraHot · 09/03/2025 19:50

Weekends are always shit in hospitals. I don’t know why they haven’t realised yet that illness is a 24 hour, 7 day a week thing.

SparklyBrickViper · 09/03/2025 19:58

Unfortunately completely normal (Stage 3 cancer), and happened three times for different reasons with my mother.

Even more galling was that every person we saw had to be told she had cancer, and it always seemed to be a surprise - but apparently they don’t access/look at records so each shift change etc meant a repetition of her condition.

It’s absolutely awful @IesuGrist1975 and really knackering. I hope you have some support.

Octavia64 · 09/03/2025 19:59

Shouldn't happen.

Did happen to my friend's wife a few months ago,

Very sorry. It is shit.

mindutopia · 09/03/2025 20:01

Have they contacted their oncology team? I have a 24 hour number I can call in oncology and speak to someone right away. I’ve only once had to go to A&E because of lack of space. Normally, they tell me to come straight to the assessment unit on the ward.

In my personal experience, they don’t like you to go to A&E because A&E is a bit generalist for cancer. They always just think I have the flu and it’s difficult to explain that no, it’s just my treatment that causes flu symptoms. I don’t have the flu, don’t need a chest x-ray, etc. Going straight onto acute oncology means someone who knows cancer is dealing with it.

Of course, it’s always possible that oncology has no beds (like I said, that’s only ever happened to me once, the other time it was because I arrived middle of the night so no assessment staff on duty on the ward til the am). Have they been seen by oncology in A&E? I would at least expect that if no room in the inn upstairs. But in my personal experience, I’ve had 5 star service with very little waiting around, but you sometimes do need to really advocate for yourself.

Marmite27 · 09/03/2025 20:07

I’ve had 3 friends/family members with pancreatic cancer and it’s a bugger to diagnose and treat early because so many of the symptoms are for something else.

Weekends are tough in hospital as they’re skeleton staff, MIL spends a lot of time as an inpatient, we know if she’s not discharged by 2pm on a Friday, she’s there for the whole weekend.

NiftyMintShark · 09/03/2025 20:24

As they have diarrhoea, they will need a side room on the ward, which will take longer. I worked in A&E years ago and left because of the dire state of the service.
Do you have contact with the palliative care team? If not, ask if someone from there or oncology can get involved.

Frostynoman · 09/03/2025 20:31

An unpopular statement however I’d be tempted to move them in with you for a bit OP and transfer care

notatinydancer · 09/03/2025 20:47

The wait for a bed is normal if he's got diarrhoea he'll need a side room , which is harder to find.
He should see a Dr every day though. A medical Dr if he's being admitted unfrr them, not an ED Dr.

OrdinaryO888 · 09/03/2025 20:56

I’ve no idea if this is normal or not op, it doesn’t sound like it, but I just wanted to send you sympathy and strength because this is just shocking and awful 💐. Your poor parent. 💐

FiveTreeHill · 09/03/2025 21:03

Not normal and not acceptable, but also a not an oversite or negligence. No one has made a decision for that to happen, and no one wants someone with stage 4 pancreatic cancer to be in A&E for 72hrs, but if there's no beds there's no beds. Especially as yes they would have needed a side room. It's the best option available at the time. You've got very limited resources, some patients will be deteriorating and use up the limited resources, others won't (like your parent) and therefore they get left

Not acceptable, but really challenging to combat at a local level. And something that's part of a massive picture of a failing NHS system

verysmellyjelly · 09/03/2025 21:07

It's just outrageous that someone in this condition should take so long to be admitted. I'm truly sorry.

PoopingAllTheWay · 09/03/2025 21:09

Can you ring the cancer specialist / Chemo nurses for advice?

GrowThroughWhatYouGoThrough · 09/03/2025 21:10

It shouldn't happen, however there is probably no other side room in the hospital and he is safest in there with being immunocompromised. It's the weekend and regular doctors/speciality doctors won't be in or if they are they will be covering the whole of the hospital. hopefully tomorrow you will get more answers

Drivingmissrangey · 09/03/2025 21:13

I am so sorry your parent is suffering like this. Absolutely not normal based on my experience over the last 12 months with an elderly parent. My parent received nothing but amazing care during two stays in two different hospitals.

I hope your parent is moved and made more comfortable soon.