A+E! Worse now than ever...

[HJ2020]

Been sat in A+E since half 10, there are still 6 people in front of me and probably another 40 behind me!

They have told everyone, if you need to go to the hospital then go... but they don't have the staff to treat the numbers! Its fucking TUESDAY night ( Wednesday morning now ) and the amount of pissed up idiots is unreal!

Honestly, if your not dieing stay at home 🤦🏻‍♀️

I hope you are alright. I can’t believe some people are assuming you shouldn’t be there.
Sometimes you need a distraction.

Sounds awful but my elderly mum was taken to A & E on Monday night and had outstanding care, every test under the sun and released after 24 hours (moved to a ward after six hours), she was full of praise for the support she received so not all A & E departments will be the same.

What I have could be life threatening if not sorted out, I am in pain but can still function.

So the fact you have not been seen immediately means it’s not immediately life-threatening so I don’t see the problem with 4.5hrs? Sorry, I worked in A&E for 25 (long) years. That’s how it works. If you are about to drop dead we will drop everything and attend to you pretty much immediately, not 4.5hrs. Otherwise it’s a good sign, you should be pleased you are at least going to keep kicking on for the next several hours at least. You will be seen when it’s your place as per triage (so, yes, someone arriving after you may be seen before you), and if your condition changes while waiting you should be reprioritised accordingly.

I'm in Mexico and haven't been to an A&E in so many years, but it sounds inhuman to have to wait that long. Many years ago, when I was young, we would go to A&E for any out-of-hours treatment and the wait was nothing like that.

It’s all a case of priorities.

With what resources the NHS has, that is the reality of things.

However, if the U.K. Taxpayer would like to pay more in tax to increase resources, that would help resolve waiting times.

If that happened, the moans would go through the roof.

I would have no problem paying more tax if I knew the money would go direct to the front line staff but it would go into the general coffers and be swallowed up with other priorities

It could be worse though, you could be in America and the first thing they would ask for is your credit card 😳

But technically you're not waiting now are you, you e been triaged, had a cannula inserted and seen a doctor. So you are receiving care. Presume you've had bloods drawn, they takes time to come back. Doctor will be reading notes/liaising with surgeons to make a plan.

Also you'll have seen the a&e physician but will have been referred to the surgeons. Over night the on call surgeons are usually operating on emergencies so will take time to get to you, unless you're critical.

If you can ask someone if a decision as mean made to admit you or not. If decision has been made, find out what time th at decision was taken, as they have to get you to a bed on the wars within 12 hours or face a fine.

Hope you're sorted soon.

I hope you are okay OP

I hope you are ok OP. This thread has reminded me of a podcaster I used to listen from the US who went to the hospital with a head wound. Only to be told that his insurance didn't cover non life threatening conditions. So he asked what he should do and they said, just come back in 24-48 hours, it'll be life threatening by then.

@HJ2020

Been sat in A+E since half 10, there are still 6 people in front of me and probably another 40 behind me!

They have told everyone, if you need to go to the hospital then go... but they don't have the staff to treat the numbers! Its fucking TUESDAY night ( Wednesday morning now ) and the amount of pissed up idiots is unreal!

Honestly, if your not dieing stay at home 🤦🏻‍♀️

Are you dying?

In your place I'd collapse, then they'd have to see to you quicker. The other thing is to get a friend to take you who goes to the reception, says they are Dr...whoever, and gives a professional sounding history; that would also hasten matters.

@jessstan2 - can guarantee fake collapses do not get you seen quicker. And trying to feck over the system for your own selfish reasons then stops someone else who needs the space more to be able to get it. OP has been triaged. Seen by several nurses, cannulated and Bloods taken. There has not been nothing done.

@jessstan2 haha neither of those things would work! If you went to a desk and said I'm dr so and so the only reply you'll get is so? If a real doctor friend was with op they could explain to them triage, and that they have been seen to. Also how does one make oneself collapse? Even if you held your breath and passed out they'd just help you come round the. Carry on with whatever there were doing. Fainting isn't life threatening

IMO that is definitely not 'worse than ever', that's back to normal. At least it would be in the a&e I work. We have been quieter than usual the past few months the numbers we are seeing now and the 4hr-ish waits we have again for non life threatening cases is pretty standard and why we have triage to prioritise. Granted things can be missed however triage is a very useful part of our service. People hate waiting but trust me you'd rather wait than be one of the ones we rush straight to see.

@jessstan2 fake collapse would absolutely not work, do you not think we've seen all that before 😂 fake seizures are the most amusing. And as for the professional sounding history from your 'doctor friend'. I'd like to hear how professional you can make that sound so that it was remotely believable and get anyone to take you seriously.

I personally think that everyone getting injured drunk should have to pay the full costs of their treatment. and (appart from life threatening cases) be at the end of the queue. Would either reduce numbers a bit, or at least fund the system. If you have money and time to get drunk, you can afford the consequences.

@Josette77

But you are there too and well enough to post?

Yes quite, op you should always wait until you slip into unconsciousness before driving yourself to a+e

I see MN is back to its usual annoying self about the NHS and( a&e in particular)

The op doesn't have to post the details of their problem if they don't want to. They are probably in pain and suffering so why not we tell them to get a grip and go home and suck it up. After all we need to save the NHS by nevr going to a&e ... Have people learnt nothing ?

Op.I.am sorry you are having to wait and unlike others on here I don't think a 4+ hour wait is great when you in pain, worried and wanting to know what is going to happen to you. The reason you are waiting is the absolute shit shower of a government we have had for the last 10 years which have decimated the NHS by refusing to resource it properly because ' it would cost too much'..
People have forgotten that in the 90s and early 2000s, 4-5 hours was a maximum waiting time in a&e. Also the op.is where she is because we have been ' saving the nhs' for 6 months now, so whatwver non urgent at the time condition she had is probably acute in nature now
Op.the only thing I'd say YABU about is commenting on the reason other people are there. Being able.to.move an arm does not mean it is not broken . You have absolutely no idea whether they should.be in a& e right now but as you are in pain and fed up so I can see why you are directing your anger at your fellow sufferers instead of where it belongs

I hope.you are taken care of soon

Thing is though you don’t know what else is going on. There may be a lot of people in the waiting room, but you don’t know how many trauma and resus cases have come in by ambulance. It’s not a case of one consultant working the waiting room and another one dealing with the ambulances, if an emergency admission comes in then everyone has to deal with it.

I was taken to a&e by ambulance last September after my heart failed to respond to my ICD after several minutes. My hart rate had come back up by the time the ambulance arrived and I was actually all for just going home at that point (it happened on a train) but the ambulance staff were insistent because it had only been weeks since my cardiac arrest, (which is why I have an ICD,) and I spent 7.5 hours in a&e before being told I could go home... But during that time there were a lot of calls for trauma and resus patients which would have been emergencies beyond what I, and many others were there for. I have no doubt that if I had collapsed in the waiting room someone would have been there to see to me on the spot, but as it was i was awake and sitting in the chair just waiting for my bloods and ECG’s to be seen. The person seeing them just had other priorities as well...

I agree that drunks should be charged though. When I was waiting on the station for the ambulance, I suggested that now I felt better it seemed wrong to use an ambulance, and the manager there said that so often it’s people who do have real medical conditions who feel bad for calling out the ambulances, whereas on a Friday/Saturday night they have drunks staggering off the trains, being vile and abusive and then falling over drunk and demanding ambulances. Yes they’re ill and need treating at the time, but that doesn’t mean they’re not partly responsible for the condition they’re in, and there’s no excuse for being abusive.

Agree with most of what @bumblingbovine49 says. The four hour target was something we got used to, but as has been shown the target alone can't do it - you need investment to provide good services.

Not only covid and cuts to a+e/hospital services, but all the underfunding throughout the complex network of services e.g. mental health, drug services, GPs - everything is overwhelmed now.

Think about what might be going on in the department eg resus. Staff off sick ? (There's a pandemic )
You've been seen and triaged , and been deemed able to wait.
AE departments are back to normal , this is how they work, not enough staff, resources or beds to move people in to.
I'd be happy to be getting free at the point of care treatment.
To all those who'll say 'I've paid in' I doubt your monthly NI contribution would cover the cost of one night in a hospital bed.

Yanbu OP, I work for the ambulance service (emt) and the last 3 days have been the worst I've ever worked throughout the pandemic. I dont care how people have hurt themselves but the abuse we've had since Saturday has been pretty record breaking

[quote SD1978]@jessstan2 - can guarantee fake collapses do not get you seen quicker. And trying to feck over the system for your own selfish reasons then stops someone else who needs the space more to be able to get it. OP has been triaged. Seen by several nurses, cannulated and Bloods taken. There has not been nothing done. [/quote]
Sorry SD, no offence meant; I was joking, honestly. Just trying to lighten things up a bit for the poor woman while she waits. I had same experience as her in April of last year.

I worked for the NHS for many years and know how things work.

@Lollyneenah

Yanbu OP, I work for the ambulance service (emt) and the last 3 days have been the worst I've ever worked throughout the pandemic. I dont care how people have hurt themselves but the abuse we've had since Saturday has been pretty record breaking

Sorry to read this - in what way was it different? Do you mean more people or people more angry?

I think things are going to be really rough for a while, all our services have been rather smashed this year.

Hope it improves for staff.

After today's announcement about public sector pay rises, none for nurses I suspect the staffing crisis will only get worse.

I am sorry you have to go through that OP, and I can't understand the nasty replies on here.

You would have thought that the recent pandemic would have woken up people about the horrendous state of the NHS, but we seem to be back to "4 hours wait in A&E is fine". Of course it's not ok! There's nothing the staff can do to magically improve things, but we shouldn't accept it as a fact of life.

That attitude is exactly the reason why we ended up with a flipping lockdown in the first place, because we are happy with unacceptable poor standards and a system ready to collapse.

Clearly no lesson has been learnt, and the pandemic is far from over.

cptartapp:, I think nurses are getting an above inflation pay rise. I'll check but am sure I heard it last night. I actually had my ears open listening to that as I worked for the NHS.

Lollyneenah, I was triaging this week and I've never been shouted at so much. The entitlement is off the scale, I don't know what's happening to people.