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

Monday or day after a bank hol is usually the busiest. Peoples suddenly need to visit A&E with whatever symptom they had over the weekend when they have to go back to work. Family member is ER doc.

Also took my youngest to minors on Christmas eve just gone as he had stood on a sellotape dispenser and cut his foot on the sharp bit. We're seen very quicky and home in an hour but still packed. After the big day went to doctors as it was a check up. Turns out they hadn't closed it properly they had glued it and apparently should of been stitched so it hadnt closed correctly. A course of antibiotics and weekly checks .

Saying that also when he cut his leg quite severely ( I you could nearly see bone) couldnt stop it bleeding. a and e (paeds) said they do all broken bones first

It's not as simple as that though. I have been very ill and in need of hospital (severely dehydrated due to hyperemesis) and my abusive ex refused to take me because there was a TV programme he wanted to watch.

Also, some injuries are through sport and maybe on big match days people are watching sport rather than playing it

Others may put off help they really need because they don't want to make a relative miss it

It's easy, but lazy, to think the worst of people.

I certainly found it interesting that when the Lionesses were playing and my daughter had a suspected broken ankle my local A&E was basically empty - for context it’s a London one that is always overrun and understaffed, staff are always amazing and do the best they can to keep it under 4 hours. We were triaged, x rayed and out within 1.5 hours. Nurses said they felt the usual pressure was from 111 sending everyone their way instead of to an Urgent Care Centre, language barriers, many patients who were not registered with a GP, and a minority who simply didn’t have a clue in life so thought any second of pain had to be an emergency. Sort of understand what OP is getting at but I figure ultimately people want help and they don’t always realise where best to get it

@Cece92 You have an accident prone doctor? Surely they could sort themselves out? Even the bible agrees 'physician, heal thyself'

DD1 is a doctor and you are right OP some of the minor/non issues she sees stun her, though this contrasts with the massive issues which people neglect for a long time and then present at a point where they/the limb is beyond help.

Hope your Mum is seen and sorted soon and you get out of there.

I swear my spelling is getting worse lol! I meant daughter. She broke her leg at soft play years ago and since then I swear she has legit 2 left feet. She’s boisterous loves to be out and about climbing etc. nothing for a while touch wood. 😂

Ah fair enough @Cece92 I did think it was a bit strange 😂
Glad there has been nothing for a while!

I spent 17 hours in A&E at new year, it was horrendous.

I've overheard people come in with minor issues which could be solved by gp intervention but they just couldn't get in (only for a while as I passed out and got plopped into majors after that). The whole system is staggering towards collapse. It's terrifying. The idea of moving to a US style model is even more terrifying after hearing my families experience in the US. I love he NHS it's saved my life a good few times now. I wish it was a rule that those in charge of the country had to use the NHS rather than go privately. I suspect we might see some change. They need money, resources which have not had the price inflated as its a government contract and more staff.

We have been seen very quickly but only because the circumstances were very serious

It is called Accident and Emergency. If you try an out of hours GP or a walk-in centre with a suspected broken toe (for instance), they will send you to A&E for a X-ray anyway. So you might just as well go there to start with.

Then I would say 111 and an out of hours gp registrar at a hospital - it’s not an emergency

We don't have OOH GP or minor injuries.

It's your own GP when they're open or A&E.

Do you mean cluster headaches? They come on very quicky and go just as quick.

I did see one.on 24hrs in a and e last week. Was a thunderclap headache similar to a stroke

Look up the woman who died in A&E and was undiscovered under coat for a 'headache'...you cannot judge based on overheard conversation and I'm surprised "chest pains" aren't immediate triage
Our health services have been subject yo years of austerity, this is the result

I’ve already said about 15 times that I was unfair over the headache.

point made-

The system is a mess. I had been attacked by a dog whilst in Thailand. The treatment I received there was excellent. I required post exposure treatment for rabies once back in the UK - 2 follow up vaccines. They sent me home with a letter from the doctor and clear instructions for the vaccination schedule. The rigmarole I had to go through to get the vaccine was astonishing. My GP surgery refused to see me and said they didn’t deliver travel vaccinations. When I explained it was for post exposure she said that I’d have to wait 2 weeks even though I needed it within a certain timescale. I ended up having to go to A&E and waiting over 12 hours to be seen. I wasn’t unwell or in any pain but ended up in A&E as nobody else knew how to deal with it.

I hate these threads. It really is a race to the bottom at times in the U.K. The approach to healthcare is just one example. I think it’s nonsense that most people go to A&E because for no valid reason. A small percentage perhaps. But for most it’s because the alternatives are very limited.

Christmas Day a couple of years ago was not empty at my local A and E. I was transported there due to breathing difficulties due to a chest infection. I was already on antibiotics but I started them too late because I couldn’t get a gp appointment. I’m immunocompromised so I needed to start antibiotics quickly. I then ended up on much stronger antibiotics that made me violently sick which messed with my other meds.

most people who go to a and e are in need of help. I don’t know why anyone would go for fun as it’s horrendous.

Minor injuries in Fife would tell you to go to A&E.

Bloody hell, don’t ask on here! MNers are always telling posters to get themselves to A&E for stuff that can and should wait for a GP and sometimes even just a pharmacist.

Likewise for no minor injuries unit in nearby towns. On calling 111 for not obviously life threatening conditions, the advice usually goes:

"Call your GP". If GP has no appointments available, 111 staff will check the local health authority's 'out of hours' GP service. With limited appointments available there, A&E becomes the default referral option.

One time that I was in A&E, a mother had brought in a primary school aged child with a severed finger. Mum had the finger in ice. It had happened at school.

They'd gone to minor injuries in their own town, only to be told to go to A&E 20 miles away. A&E told the mother that the hand specialist was at the first hospital...

Aren’t there also fewer a and e departments than there used to be?

Yes. The Minor Injuries Dept that I mentioned in a pp used to be an A & E Dept.

This! I've been to A&E with headache and was subsequently kept in for 8 days with raging infection which needed IV antibiotics for 5 days.