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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Piss take waiting in A&E for an very very long time,

379 replies

SubwayAllTheWay · 24/10/2012 15:57

I had a very sore neck, couldnt move it and was getting shooting pains every 5 mins. As I was near the hospital, I went in at 11am today. I was seen at 3pm. So i had to wait for nearly four hours with shooting pains to the point I had to leave the A&E reception to shout out my pain.

AIBU that this time takes the mick? I know ambulances have priority but If it takes that long, I would have phoned for an ambulance because then atleast i would get seen early.

It took the piss because there were people who seemed to be happy, able to walk but a sore wrist and they got seen after an hour of being there.

I didnt go to the doctors as i was in so much pain i thought i might faint and A&E seemed better idea as they could do a scan and find out the cause.

OP posts:
TheHumancatapult · 25/10/2012 06:52

I waited 8 hours for a MRI in pain so yeah I have waited though to be fair some of that was om a trolley once i saw right Dr and I got that MRI things moved so fast it was a shock

But having been in resus recently with DD and majors do busy they had to pull from minors . What triage is for they priotise
. Also I shot into A&E with a Child lapsing in and out and triaged and straight round s

Boomerwang · 25/10/2012 06:53

I would have been pretty damn grumpy having to spend my time hanging around a hospital. In all fairness though I wouldn't have gone to hospital, or if I did, I would have removed myself from the queue when I realised that I hadn't actually had a stroke.

It'd be nice to have a medic following us around on the battlefield just waiting to give us treatment when we need it, but that's not going to happen.

I can understand that you felt you really had to go to A&E in case you'd done some serious damage, much the same way that I felt I really had to utilize the Badger thingieplace on a Sunday to get help for the highest temperature I'd ever had but you knew you weren't dying after you'd been seen by the triage nurse. Unless you were on the brink of serious damage to your body you should have had the humility and common sense to leave and get help elsewhere.

I am actually slightly disgusted that you think you have a right to be seen quickly because you pay your taxes. You have no idea how lucky you are to be able to do things this way. If you really had had a stroke they'd have had to discharge you from hospital after a week if it were down to how much tax you had paid. (If anyone reads this and remembers my stance when I'm having a future debate about taxes and benefits feel free to call me a hypocrite).

The queue is long because of people who come in for reasons other than an accident and emergency. In reality, they should have sent you away.

NHS Direct doesn't help. People exaggerate their symptoms or they are ambiguous and the answer always boils down to 'go to A&E' I was asked if I was having chest pains when I called once. I said 'yes, but not the sort you mean' (some kind of chest infection) and I was asked how severe they were. I said it felt tight and painful, but stressed I really was sure I wasn't having a heart attack! I'd already given her my other symptoms for christ's sake. The only reason I had called was because I thought I might need antibiotics and it was a Sunday so the automatic message on the doctor's answerphone was to call NHS Direct!

follyfoot · 25/10/2012 06:56

The reason you waited so long is that you werent an emergency. Sorry if that sounds harsh but you should have gone to your GP.

TheHumancatapult · 25/10/2012 06:59

Oh and I can't thank the nhs enough the immedite sirgery after mri the nurses who helm my hand while i dobbed on ward after the newds for the care and treatment I received 10 long weeks at Stanmore where least I did not need to leave early because my insurance would not cover me . That's drs physics Ot and therapists while I came to terms with things

They and nhs is fab ( yes not perfect in other ways but in a emergency most the time they get it right

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:01

You aren't being unreasonable, that's too long. I agree, it's not free for everyone. We know it's free for many people but don't assume that's true of everyone.

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:03

Also to people saying "go to the GP" = that can be an even worse nightmare.

This is really a problem. Saying it's not a problem means there's no pressure to do anything about it. It IS a problem to have to wait that long in A and E. It's plain that walking talking people were going in before this patient and it wasn't all Holby City blue light rushing around and clear clear and all that.

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:06

People are saying "oh well that's the way it is" - it shouldn't be this way. There are much better ways of organising health care and they should be looked at. I think it should be the end of "free at the point of access care" and we should adopt a low cost personal insurance scheme like in most of Europe. I think this would address a lot of these problems.

poopnscoop · 25/10/2012 07:16

Another severe asthmatic here... I am seen quickly at hospital. Life threatening. My inhalers often don't work, I carry prednisolone steroids with me all the time, and they've literally saved my life many a time... as I am not always within a couple mins of a hospital naturally.

I have sat at A&E for hours with a torn ligament and with hubby (suspected stroke, which they ruled out quickly, then we waited for 5 hrs to start the tests that took a further 2 years to complete to get his diagnosis..) ... we don't complain.

Yes, waiting is not nice, but if you don't want to wait, go to a private hospital. With both of us having chronic illnesses, we are so very grateful for the NHS and all they do. We have seen too much of them over the years... oh to be healthy :)

VivaLeBeaver · 25/10/2012 07:24

Brycie - maybe the walking, talking people who went in infront of her had got there before her?

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:26

Viva - "It took the piss because there were people who seemed to be happy, able to walk but a sore wrist and they got seen after an hour of being there."

How would she know that unless she saw them arrive ?

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:28

Why is it to long to wait? What is wrong with being seen for a non life threatening condition within 4 hours of seeking help? And having the possibility to have a scan within 6 hours. I think that's pretty good going really.

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:29

But the OP still hasn't managed to explain what her qualifications where to diagnose these people, or what their history was. She is simply guessing to try to prove some sort of imaginary point

pinotmonster · 25/10/2012 07:40

I really think at the triage point hospitals should be allowed to tell non urgent cases to see their gp.

Nearly 3 yrs ago I had to dial 999 as my terminally ill husband had a massive internal bleed and collapsed. If he hadn't been worked on in resus immediately he would have died. Sadly 3 months later he did.

The amount of attention he needed means that minor cases would have had their waiting time increased and that's exactly how it should be!! The NHS does not have hundreds of staff waiting to take your coat as you walk through the door and mop your brow!!

One of the nurses in resus told me they get 999 calls for ridiculous things and even had a young fit healthy man with a papercut. They can't refuse to send an ambulance either. This is why the system is at overload.

Trapped nerves arepainful but if you didn't hang around for the scan it can't have been that bad. Get over yourself and pray you never need A & E like we did.

Aboutlastnight · 25/10/2012 07:40

An acquaintance who is a little naive had a few too many cocktails on a trip to New York.
Woke feeling dreadful in the middle of the night, panicked and took herself to the nearest hospital.
She was seen immediately, tests run, comfy bed etc.

In the end she was told by consultant that she needed to drink a glass of water ( hungover) and presented with a bill for $2000!

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:42

Sirzy - what's wrong with it? Why, she was in a lot of pain, and they didn't know what the problem was. I think people in the UK are brainwashed into thinking it has to be like this. It doesn't. Most European countries run a low cost insurance scheme with small payments at access and it seems to work much better.

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:44

"One of the nurses in resus told me they get 999 calls for ridiculous things and even had a young fit healthy man with a papercut. They can't refuse to send an ambulance either. This is why the system is at overload. "

Well quite. If it was going to cost you a tenner to take a papercut to a and e, and then you had to fill in a document to get eight pounds of that back, you wouldn't go would you?

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:45

Or if it would cost you fifty quid to get an ambulance you'd think twice. Obviously.

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:46

She was in pain but a and e will have known it was nothing serious.

The fantastic thing about the NHS is that nobody needs to think if they can afford to get treatment. Everyone is entitled to treatment without having to pay for it

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:47

It's not an imaginary point - it's too long to wait. It's not just people like the first poster either, there are stories in out and everywhere about little kids with menigitis waiting etc etc. Just because it doesn't like that bad doesn't mean it isn't serious. It's not a conflict between resus and less serious looking cases. Some obviously have to be seen first. But that doesn't mean four hours is a reasonalbe time to wait.

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:48

"Everyone is entitled to treatment without having to pay for it"

But I do pay for it. Maybe you don't. I do.

It's not so great when it doesn't work. If a low cost insurance scheme works better then you're just hanging on to a principle for the sake of it.

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:49

"Or if it would cost you fifty quid to get an ambulance you'd think twice. Obviously."

People would think twice and that thinking twice would leave people dead. Pretty extreme way to cut A and E waiting times

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:50

It does work, and the vast majority of the time it works very well. The main issue is people like the op who object to having to wait their turn

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:50

No, you have an insurance scheme which means you claim most of it back. So it doesn't stop you calling an ambulance when you need it, only when you don't. That's what insurance is.

Brycie · 25/10/2012 07:51

"The main issue is people like the op who object to having to wait their turn "

Really? that's the main issue with the NHS?

Yes I don't think so. Read the papers.

Sirzy · 25/10/2012 07:51

But what about people who can't afford insurance? To start making people have to pay for care is wrong on so many levels and it is those who need it most who will loose out.

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