to think something has got to be done about a&e waiting times

[McHappyPants2012]

in the last few days i have been to the hospital with my DD (aged 2) tuesday night was 5 hours and last night close to 6 hours.

I agree that a huge problem is that people can't see their GPs easily enough.

There should be more walk-in clinics. At Guy's in London they have a minor injuries unit, it's brilliant, I don't think enough people know about it because I've been there 3 times and it's always empty. Have been able to go, get examined, get an X-ray and treated within an hour!

There should also be more clinics for tests and x-rays and such. When I was pregnant I needed a chest X-ray and I was told to go to A&E for it. There was no need for me to be in A&E but that's the only place I could go for the X-ray.

Worra I will just say (as I often do) that my ds went to A+E with a cold, (after we had been sent there from out of hours gp) and ended up spending a week in hospital as the cold caused him to desat badly. One particular night they were going to send him through to PICU and ventilate him as he required oxygen concentrations of over 60% in order to keep his sats up.

If your child needs oxygen they need hospital and if they are a child they may well need oxygen in a hurry as it can be life threatening.

I have long thought that the idea of a field "hospitals" along the lines of M.A.S.H. would be a good thing. Maybe a large tent or something on the outskirts of the town. As long as staff were trained to triage properly, the drunks could all be lined up on hard trollies to sober up, and people who were ill and not just drunk could be safely identified.

Something that works at the weekend is to have a 'field hospital' in the city centre to weed out all the people with minor injuries and/or alcohol poisoning.

IMO quite a lot of the stuff in A&E could be dealt with by paramedics.

I fell down the stairs last week and badly injured my knee - DH came home and we got to A&E by 8am (just as shifts were changing) and were one of 5 people in the waiting area. I was seen and treated by 11am which was pretty good. As we left the entire waiting room was full and people were standing waiting as well - I think it depends on time of day you go there. In the hospital we went to there is a triage system for walk ins (or wheel ins in my case) where you're seen within 1 hour of turning up and emergency cases prioritised - there is a childrens A&E. Again, when we've been with DS1 it hasnt been too busy and he's been seen in triage within an hour.

Don't you get "drunk buses" in city centres now? With paras on duty?

A&E is not for people who 'feel poorly' - it is for Accidents and Emergencies. last time i was in A&E there was someone asking for paracetamol for a sore leg that had been a alittle painful for months.

he just did not want to go to the chemist & pay 35p.

the receptionsist were great & kept repeating 'so is it an accident or an emergency?' until he went away

If the GP had been open then I would have gone to the see the nurse for some of those visits (he needed stitches for deep gashes). I agree that longer GP surgery times would relieve pressure on A&E and I'm assuming it's cheaper too?

Yes, does strike me as wrong that the people who are paying for all this are the ones who have the hardest time using it.

I agree with dreamingbohemian about the need for drop-in clinics. There are loads of occasions when you do need to see someone pretty quickly but it's not really an emergency. Child is screaming in pain because of an ear infection, for example - all they need is antibiotics, but you can't get a GP appt for another three days or it's the weekend and GP is closed.

Mind you, there have been a couple of times when I've taken to DD to the GP thinking "I'm not going to bother A&E with this" and then GP has said "Take her to A&E."

I've had pretty good experiences with A&E tbf. I had to take ds1 to a hospital when ds2 shut his fing in a door whilst on a day trip and sliced the top of his finger off We were there a couple of hours but they were great, top class service.

Next trip was me when I came off my bike. I went because I'd knocked myself unconscious. They were very good that time too, I was there a while as I had to have a hip x-ray and they put me in a bay to monitor my head injury for a while (was wearing a helmet). All in all though, despite me being there a long time they were great, no complaints.

We do have a walk in clinic where I am. So for any minor issues, you can go and see a GP or nurse wo an appointment. It is open evenings (I think until midnight?) and weekends.

Thing is, I went there with dc1 who was 4 at the time. He was saying his couldn't move his elbow after falling from his bike. They didn't want to see and sent us to A&E, who smiled gently and said 'No, it's OK. Just a bit of calpol, a dressing and tomorrow he will be fine'.
They could have done that themselves and save a trip to A&E.

I agree that drunks are a big part of the problem. The trouble is that under law health professionals have a duty of care to them. Once they're in A&E they can't be refused treatment/care. Nor should they be. It may be unacceptable behaviour and self-inflicted, but it doesn't justify injuries being ignored or possible death.

However, I think there's a lot more that could be done to make drinking to this extent unacceptable. Although it is an offence to be drunk in a public space, police could not possibly enforce this in every instance so they tend to concentrate on offences that occur as a result of drinking (e.g drunk and disorderly or even assault). However, fixed penalty notices might help if they could be issued by NHS staff following admittance to A&E for being drunk and incapable. More paperwork, I know, but I'm sure bureaucracy could be kept to a minimum on it (after all the supporting evidence would be in the medical file so wouldn't need duplicating). What do others think?

Worra I will just say (as I often do) that my ds went to A+E with a cold, (after we had been sent there from out of hours gp) and ended up spending a week in hospital as the cold caused him to desat badly. One particular night they were going to send him through to PICU and ventilate him as he required oxygen concentrations of over 60% in order to keep his sats up

I'm sorry to hear that, but none the less it doesn't change the fact there are far too many kids at my local A&E, who are tearing around the waiting room with nothing more than a heavy cold.

It's as though some people have no clue why it's called Accident and Emergency

Feeling poorly is a good excuse to go to A+E?
We are lucky enough to have ordinary and paediatric A+E and an OOHs GP at our local hospital.
I've taken DD to OOHs doctor at 11pm. She was gutted that there were no toys to play with, which is an indicator of how sick she was.
DH went to casualty on the advice of NHS direct when malaria was suspected. We had to drive to Liverpool (around 30 miles away). When we got there, three people came in via the ambulance with ludicrous problems. One that sticks out was a sore wrist. The man had fallen in the pub.

Yeah but if he fell and really hurt his wrist, it might have been broken so I could understand that one.

In an emergency, A&E is amazing. When my mum had chest pains, she was hooked up to machines/bloods taken by the time I had parked the car. If your condition is not life threatening, the waits are longer but you don't know why - ie there are lots of people worse than you.

In an emergency, A&E is amazing. When my mum had chest pains, she was hooked up to machines/bloods taken by the time I had parked the car. If your condition is not life threatening, the waits are longer but you don't know why - ie there are lots of people worse than you.

Really? Am ambulance for a broken wrist?

Personally I'd rather an ambulance for you know, an actual emergency.

Oh, I didn't spot the ambulance part sorry

Sounds dreadful! Never had to wait anything like that long. Perhaps 2 hours tops when A&E were really busy.

Now, what do you suggest?

BTW, Quick tip. If you go to A&E and faint in front of the receptioninst, it help DH did when he cut the end of his finger off and he was seen pdq. But that might have been to do with the nature of his injury of course...

I strongly suggest you all reasd 'In Stitches' by Dr. Nick Field. This will show you why A &E waiting times can be so long. People go to A & E for the most pathetic of reasons which leads to delays for those who have serious issues. Also, too much government money has been spent on unnecessary management tiers in the NHS rather than at the grass roots level.

Similar experience to Anna. My dad was linked up to machines by the time mum had parked the car. It turned out he had a blood clot on his lung. He was looked after superbly and was home a week later.

I dont mind the waits as two times I needed immediate treatment it was given one because I was mauled by a dog and another because I was hemmoraging. I have waited six hours for DS to have stitches but have been sent to hospital in a ambulance twice by my GP once for DS cold and once for DD cold both were put on oxygen straight away, they were a couple of months old. The average waiting time here is 4 to 6 hours they have signs saying that and unless life threatening we have always had to wait at least 4 hours but I wouldnt want to be seen quicker at the expense of someone seriously injured.