To be cynical about empty A&E

[Cinders29]

So my son has to come to A&E / be admitted to children's wards fairly regularly and usually children's A&E is HEAVING , wards are busy etc however came yesterday and completely empty. Literally just us ( big city hospital )

AIBU to think this proves that people totally misuse the NHS and come in when they really don't need to.

On a plus PICU is really quiet due to lack of accidents etc so it's great to see they're not stretched. The staff from PICU are helping out on my sons ward due to lack of work.

We’ve also turned all our horses out, not worth riding in these conditions for fear of needing medical help

Not cynical. Very true.

A mixture

• misuse
• lack of accidents and heavy drinking in pubs
• and that the shielded group who are most likely to be admitted to hospital are being told not to go to hospital. They are trying wherever possible to treat people at home who once would have been told to go to A and E and been admitted.

A lot of extra work is because a proportion of staff are having to self isolate due to coughs colds etc which may or may not be sure to covid.
Some departments are doing extra stuff to prepare for when it hits big - changing the way out patients work, getting staff trained for differing duties etc.
Admittedly some areas are quiet but using that time to plan

All very valid points. Will naturally be less accidents 👍🏼

I have heard a nurse saying that elsewhere in the hospital is busier ( adults )

Obviously drinking related admissions wouldn't be relevant for children's though.

I had to attend A&E Christmas Day morning with DS and it was completely empty then too. The time wasters were too busy opening presents I think!

Yes, you definitely have a point OP. New Years Eve last year my poor DF fell over early evening and we took him to A& E about 6pm. Tumbleweed. Not a soul in their until 8ish, another elderly gentleman arrived. We left around 10pm still emptyish. SIL is a nurse in a central London hospital and says it's the same every year and it infuriates her. By 1am apparently they started coming in though.

..in there...

I'm a nurse and we are definitely not busy at the minute!
However, I cannot tell you how stressful it is. Our unit is closed now and we have joined up with theatre area, which we are under the umbrella of anyway.
Main theatres are closed, as is main recovery. This has all been prepared for covid patients. ICU is still very quiet with a handful of covid patients. We are running 1 urgent list a day and 1 emergency theatre.
Everything is topsy turvy. We are trying to get trained up on how to care for ICU/ventilated patients. We have never nursed this type of patient before. I am so nervous. I come home and look up articles/training on line.
We are all just waiting....waiting...waiting....its nerve wracking.
I don't even know what shifts I'm working next week, no off duty. We will have to do nights from now on too which our area don't usually do.
I'm ok with all of this. I am very willing to help, to care, to try my best.
But I can't deny I have a knot in my tummy.
We are definitely using this time to prepare ourselves. I didn't even get a cup of tea yesterday or the day before until well past lunchtime.

Agree - a lot of the people in A&E on a standard shift are sporting injuries, people falling off bikes, car accidents, kids hurting themselves in playgrounds. None of that happening - or a lot less of it - so A&E quieter.

I agree to a point. I went to a and e this week for something, they turned me away at the door and told me to go to an urgent care clinic which I did, and they said I would really need my issue treated at a and e, yet they wouldn't let me in. So now, day 4 at home, in immense pain and don't feel like I can go anywhere.

I had to go to a&e on Tuesday night - after 111 said to go within the hour. I was the only one there and it was eerie. I did think, security upon entry was scary but if it was just me there why when it's usually fully open is it so busy? Surely we can learn from this and use it as a last resort and not like a doctors surgery 🤷🏼‍♀️

I had to have a paramedic out on Monday night (asthma attack). DH asked if he was busier. He said they were receiving a high number of calls ‘Do you think I have CV19?!’ but only about 25% of people that call get seen. He said what is slowly them down is having to get all the PPE on and cleaning down the ambulances because of the risk of cross infection. I said usually he’d automatically take me to hospital but offered me the choice to recover at home because of the risk that if I don’t have CV19 I could well catch it being in with other people who have it!

I agree it’s a combination of people being out less so less accidents, abusers not bothering and worryingly people who maybe should be seeking medical help not requesting it because they’re worried about putting themselves at risk with others who are infected. My local hospital doesn’t have many cases yet but my friend in ICU says it very much feels like the calm before the storm.

I think there are probably several things happening:

No school or sports clubs = less injuries and less infections (we did have infections before Covid19 and measures to avoid Covid19 will also mean avoiding others)
Less travel = less accidents
Time wasters staying away
People who genuinely should be going are not going due to fear

Some of it good some of it bad. Pretty much like most things really.

I had the misfortune of attending Urgent Care twice just before all of this happened. The majority of people there were either broken bones, kids puking, or old people coughing like it was the last days of consumption. I can't see any of them faking it.

A and E also deal with a lot of people suffering mental health crisis. Assume this is now being dealt with another way.

Agreed.
I do think other nhs services recommend a&e too much though aswell

Of course they misuse it.

I went into A&E once with a suspected broken foot (it thankfully wasn't), but there was some dipstick there with a small rash on his arm. That's what pharmacies are for. It wasn't bothering him either, and once he was finally seen, which was before me, he was told to go to a pharmacy the next day as they had closed while he sat there like a twat.

I think really the triage system should be a nurse who checks you in when you arrive, and tells you to bugger off if you could wait for a gp or a pharmacist. Politely of course. The current triage system would work better if people actually used 111 but they don't bother, they think they are more knowledgeable than doctors.

This is the answer:

We know there are people who go to A&E when they shouldn't but closing the pubs, banning sport and travel and shutting down industry must remove most of the reasons people normally end up in A&E!

sudokoqueen no one is saying people do not misuse it and they will not be going. But we are also saying it is not the only reason.

I'm a nurse- our ED is not busy, but the wards dealing with suspected Covid-19 are extremely busy. We've opened two wards, and had to open another two yesterday. To be fair a large majority of these are testing negative for now, but still get treated with precautions etc until swabs are back. Putting PPE on and off takes forever, and is very uncomfortable to wear.

And that the shielded group are being told not to go to a and e. This will include very ill children. Because of the risks they are trying to treat these people at home if they can, whereas before they may have been admitted.

It's the calm before the storm.

I had to take dc to hospital over the weekend. I mentioned to a nurse how quiet paeds A&E was. She replied "That's because they're all in isolation." So there's that.

@alloutoffucks

Never said that everyone who goes misuse it did I? My own example was a suspected broken foot. That's sadly happened a few times for me thanks to horses, although have had to go in twice for actual broken bones too. Never had to go in for anything else though thankfully.

But the fact is that there are tons of people who don't need to be there. Seeing that now from the places being empty. Too many people treat it as like a night out almost.

There's less people out though, so that's a factor in it. Less people drinking stupid amounts and either needing fixed from hurting themselves or needing their stomach pumped. Less people doing activities so less injuries from it. So those parts are down too.