No wonder the NHS is short of money.

[Crispypen]

Dad has now been in hospital for 2 whole weeks. He has no medical need to be there. He had some pain and was advised by GP to go to A&E.

A&E doctor wanted a scan. He was in hospital for 8 days before he got the scan and has now been waiting a further 5 days for someone to tell him the outcome of the scan.

He is getting absolutely no medical treatment. They do his routine obs everyday, but he's not on a drip or any medication, receiving no medical care, just waiting.

He's been told he could leave, but if he does he won't be in the system anymore and needs to start from scratch with GP.

According to ward staff, this is not unusual.

Apart from being horrible for the patient, the cost must be huge, and presumably "they" know, but are unable/unwilling to fix it.

Can anyone in the know shed any light on why such inefficiency can't be avoided?

Thats ridiculous, but itll be because of the wait times. Its always the wait times. Surely as an inpatient it shouldnt take 5 days to read a scan?!

Yes, it will be wait times, but why wouldn't they prioritise inpatients to free up beds?

Ask if they have virtual ward at the hospital - that way you can be at home and monitored but still an inpatient so still in the system and can be readmitted directly to ward if needed (I had a similar experience waiting for scans and then results - so frustrating!). I agree it is extremely wasteful and not good for patients either as they risk deconditioning and infections while in hospital. Hope your dad feels better soon x

If it’s anything like my hospital, our scans mostly aren’t read by people working in our hospital, I believe only a&e and urgent scans are. They’re read by a private company and reported upon and it can take absoloute days. I’m a nurse on a ward and the company ring us directly if there’s any serious unexpected findings and I’m assuming the company doesn’t just read for one hospital trust, so we too do have patients similar that are just waiting on scan results. The thing is that’s probably similar with your dad though, is once back if anything needs doing it’s much easier for additional investigations etc to be done as an inpatient, whereas outpatient can have lengthier waits

Possibly the consultant has a busy schedule and reads certain scans on certain days not just as and when.. but having to wait as an inpatient seems odd and expensive as you say. Are you sure there is no other reason they want to keep him in to monitor him?

No, there really.isnt and staff always thisnis normal, as does PP here.

Does the NHS have a staff suggestion scheme? When I worked for a bank we had prizes for suggestions that created efficiencies and saved money. It seems to me there could be massive savings just by flagging any scan relating to an inpatient as a priority.

The ward staff have told him they're in no rush for him to leave because he's such a low need patient...

Had this experience with my mother. She was in hospital unnecessarily for a week waiting for scans and results. What a dysfunctional system.

Yep - this has happened to two people I know (my brother and an elderly friend) in the last two weeks alone. It is bloody ridiculous.

That's just madness. When my son was an inpatient, I always used to joke that a 'perk' was getting scan results, test results etc fairly quickly. I don't think we ever waited more than 48 hours and even then they'd have already chased it up a few times.

I hope he can finally get home soon!

Shame all the newly qualified doctors are having to look abroad because they cant get a job in the UK.

This happened to DD2. The scan she needed had been ordered by the GP, but then her blood tests deteriorated so she was seen and admitted. They tried to expedite her scan but they weren't allowed to. They had to rebook the scan as 'inpatient', which wasted days.

My partner is American. Fully insured and able to pay. I took him to a’&e when he was last here and he had a day of tests and consultations. He’d taken his passport and everything but they weren’t interested. I wonder how many foreign people get away with obtaining free healthcare. Why are they not interested in payment from non-citizens?

The NHS doesn't have enough staff and they overwork the staff they do have. Why would the staff try to turnover beds if the next patient will likely have higher needs and they are probably already struggling with too few nurses? A solution for your dad is to become a more demanding patient so the staff would rather he left. Bring in clutter, request different meals mention to a senior nurse you have concerns about efficiency, or you're discussing his care on social media.... The scan will suddenly be available.

He's been told he could leave, but if he does he won't be in the system anymore and needs to start from scratch with GP.

All they need to do is change this rule and then he can do his waiting in the comfort of his own home, freeing up the bed for someone who needs it.

Just wait until you find out they've lost the scan results and then have to do it all again. The nhs hemorrhages money like crazy due to lack of organisational skills, lack of communication,.bad management and zero common sense.

It sounds like the virtual ward mentioned by PP is an attempt to do this. I'd never heard of it, but Google tells me this is in place at the hospital in question. No one there has mentioned it though...

Happened to me but 20 years ago. Afraid it's not new. Really annoying though and such a waste of everyone's time.

Wow! That's appalling, and certainly isn't common practice win the area I work in. He'd be discharged with outpatient follow up, or if elderly would be followed up by our version of hospital at home.

Wow… unbelievable. Years ago, I had kidney stones, and one of them actually broke in half, blocking my urinary tract. The pain hit me at work, INSTANTLY, and I nearly vomited mid-conversation, right in front of my client. That’s how fast it came on. I ended up going to A&E, and they gave me a suppository for the pain and sent me home. 😳I ended up having surgery for it anyway, but I still had to be managed as outpatient. Honestly, I was surprised I didn’t need to stay in the hospital. I’ve always wondered who actually gets an inpatient stay apart to the obvious major trauma/surgery cases 🤷🏼‍♀️

Usually people where they don't actually know whats wrong with them. Or people who need treatment

Re: virtual ward - unfortunately it's quite common that clinicians are not aware of virtual ward existence (even at their own hospital!). It may be worth asking if a referral would be appropriate x

a&e is actually classed as primary care, meaning that it’s free, for everyone, same as GP. They send letters for payments/requesting to explain your immigration status, once you have to see a specialist, receive specialist treatment or you being transferred to the ward ie. Cardiology. as this is classed as secondary care.

Our hospital has virtual ward, and DD2 is now under them, but she couldn't be under the virtual ward, have day release, or even a home visit all the time she was waiting for a scan. They said if they allowed any of those things then she would have lost her bed and lost the scan.

Interesting, thanks. We have a lot to navigate with him being American. 🇺🇸