So I’m currently sitting in A & E and it’s been eye opening

[Stressedout150]

I’m sitting with my mother who is in here for chest pains. The wait to be triaged is 2 hours and 5 hours overall to be seen.

Here’s a few things I’ve noticed:

1. it’s sitting on the floor room only, and i happen to be sitting next to check in. So here’s what I’ve seen so far.

2. a lady coming in checking in for pain in her toe

3. a lady who was told it’s a 5 hour wait, and after been told that/ was then asked if the wait still applied to NHS staff- as she works for a hospital. She was told yes of course. The cheek of it

4. a chap who checked in his girlfriend due to a headache.

it goes on and on/ I’ve never seen anything like the cheek of some people and also the ridiculous shit people are here for. And even when told it’s a 5 hour waits, they seem quite happy to wait 5 hours for their toe to be assessed.

What the fuck is going on

There’s a drastic shortage of GPs. Hence people turning up to A&E for things a phone call with GP would’ve sorted.

Like go to your local chemist and get headache tablets and lemsip, or still stick a bag of peas on it and if the swelling doesn't go away contact your gp. whatever. Circles.

It’s a day out for some people

You really think people haven't tried those things?

It's categorically evidenced that a HUGE number of people attend ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor injuries, home-care-able maladies and pharmacist treatable problems.

Likewise people demand GP appointments for the same.

A&E is for accidents and emergencies only. Nobody in genuine need of emergency care should have to wait hours to be seen because folk can't think for themselves. Anyone waiting in A&E for 8+ hours for a symptom they've had for months or who leaves without being seen should be seen outside emergency care. We need some sort of national TV advertisement series for 'how to recognise an accident or emergency situation/apply a cold compress/use some actual common sense'

That’ll be us soon with our sore toes and twisted ankles as the government has decided to close our local, much used and loved, urgent care unit.

Decades ago I was in A&E at a major London hospital, broken bone. After waiting a few hours, maybe 3, a nurse came out and explained they were expecting patients from an RTA so the waiting time would increase.

3 people walked about complaining about shocking service and said “I’ll go to MY GP”

Yes I understand my practice is struggling to get GP's too. So where did they all go.
I mean I understand the older ones are retiring but did we stop training up new ones?
Did the system change that there is no replacements or have all the replacements left to live elsewhere.

Poor workforce planning, this is a problem years in the making. It’s the same for lots of consultant specialties too, my dh’s specialty it’s virtually impossible to recruit new consultants.

The last time I saw a gp registrar in my surgery he was telling me how he couldn't wait to leave and go to Australia/ Canada/ anywhere but here.

Can you imagine reading the OP properly before you post such a snide comment ? OP is there with her mother, who is the patient. Not OP herself.

Yes.

Obviously some have. But other people turn up every shift with "something hurts" as chief complaint. No, they have not tried paracetamol, or ibuprofen, ice, or stretching, or resting it.

All three new GPs at the practice I attend in Melbourne are UK-trained.

GPs are like any other professionals. They want a career with prospects, and having completed 5 years at Uni and further training in hospitals it's not unreasonable.

Some areas can't attract medical staff. Like Grimsby that has a big general hospital which can't attract certain Consultants& surgeons. The fact that the place is a dump with much deprivation doesn't help.
Medical staff can be attracted to Wrexham Maelor Hospital but if you go further West into Wales the supply dries up. Probably because speaking Welsh can be a condition of employment.

I understand that the BMA was responsible for restricting medical places at Unis at one time but I could be wrong.
Several new medical schools have been opened but it will be years before those graduates come on-stream.

https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/medical-school-interview/nhs-hot-topics/the-five-new-medical-schools/

So, as I said upthread, in Ireland you pay €100 for an A&E visit (if you take yourself there, not if the GP sends you or you arrive by ambulance), and €60 for a GP visit. It is however free if you have a medical card (means tested, or if disabled etc) or a long-term illness card (for conditions such as epilepsy). If you have medical insurance (as many people who are not on medical cards do) then you get a proportion refunded when you send in your receipt. I know people in the UK would be up in arms about such a system though. Everyone is so used to taking a free NHS for granted.

gosh really. Thanks for posting. Looks like they are training here then leaving the country. That explains the shortage then.

What else are they supposed to do?

There's no shortage of trained doctors, just no will from successive governments to lay down the money to create posts for them.

Thank you. Ten were laid off at our hospital post training. Only two have found work. It's heartbreaking.

I miss the good old tv educational campaigns around various things. We should definitely bring them back!

Name one private A&E in England…

At our hospital they have a walk in centre they divert people to if they come in with something minor, they should be doing that everywhere I think. I think part of the problem is people find it hard to get GP appointments so they go to a and e instead.

If that due to them being replaced with physician associates and other healthcare workers instead?

I once banged a little toe and and it was sore until it developed a bleed under the nail. Blood couldn’t escape, pressure grew and pain was absolutely excruciating - until A and E drilled a hole in it.
I don’t have a nail drill at home - not sure many would

My MIL was in A&E for 48 hours after being blue-lighted by ambulance due to double pneumonia, the ambulance being requested by the GP during a home visit! So no, people waiting for a long time in A&E aren't always time wasters who could find other treatment options!!

Very interestingly, my husband had to go to A&E equivalent in Spain this week. He went straight to the hospital from the hotel in a taxi, got escorted through to their “fit to sit” and asked for his EHIC/GHIC card. While they processed it, he was being triaged, and by the time he came out with his paperwork for a testicular hernia and kidney stones (lots of painkillers) he had been there a grand total of 1hour 20 mins. That was excellent service, apparently they had “a really busy night” because the student union had just had its annual ball too…