A&E is much calmer and a better place now that patients can’t have visitors with them

[Sharpandshineyteeth]

I do understand some people really do need a family member. I’m pretty sure the staff wouldn’t turn away an essential family member.

But generally, it’s a much better place without tons of family members and friends all sitting with patients. Taking up seats and Sometimes kicking up an unnecessary fuss.

Surely it’s better for infection control in general.

I’m sitting here right now waiting to be seen and for a Saturday night it’s so calm. The staff seem calmer and the patients seem calmer as well.

I say keep this rule!!

Those patients who have half of their extended family accompanying them to hospital are a pain in the arse (and tend to be rough as fuck intimidating people) but I wonder if a limit on how many people can attend with a patient might be a better compromise.

People in A&E can be desperately ill. If your loved one was at deaths door at arriving at A&E could you wave them off and go home or would you rather be there, holding their hand, so they weren’t scared and alone?

I agree with PP that a limit might be a good compromise though.

Normally I'd agree but I've been the accompanying person when a normally fully functioning family member was so out of it in pain and with other symptoms they could not describe clearly the issue. It was only due to my assistance that they weren't sent home which would have been fatal.

I think being alone in A&E would be miserable, and possibly dangerous. I too have been in the situation where noone could understand what I was saying, and DH had to "translate" for me.
One person per patient seems reasonable.

One person per patient is reasonable surely. What really annoys me is when it’s a child and they’ve got both parents there plus multiple siblings running riot

I’ve found this when attending maternity appointments.

It’s been a very calm & quiet environment, rather than having lots of people waiting in the waiting room for scans - normally there are signs saying how busy it gets and to please offer pregnant women a seat as priority.

In the sad instance of bad news, a partner has been allowed to come in.

No- if I’m vulnerable, scared, in pain (all of which are likely if I’m at A&E) I would be much happier with DH with me for support, to advocate for me if needed, to ask the right questions, and to sort any logistics that needed to be organised.

My Grandad’s been through A&E twice since the start of lockdown- nobody allowed in with him. He can’t remember a thing he was told, forgot he had medication to take, etc...

I’ve had some incidents recently where I’d prefer to have had someone be there (preferably me!) with vulnerable family members as it is hard and worrying but I voted YANBU.

The amount of times I’ve been there waiting for hours with multiple generations of the same family with a teen with a bag of peas on their knee or a kid with a cut on their arm or something has been ridiculous.

Same for the walk in centre. I was in there one Christmas Eve sick as a dog and couldn’t sit anywhere because there was a family with a child with a sore throat and over the course of the time there they had Mum, Dad, 4 kids, then over the course of the next two hours the rest of the family showed up; both grandmothers and a partner, then a brother and sister in law and their three kids and another brother showed up with another kid...for one child with a sore throat who was running around with their siblings and cousins. They wouldn’t give up seats for the elderly or those who were ACTUALLY sick and were saving seats for the kids who were running around. I honestly think some people see it as an exciting day out or something. So inconsiderate.

I think unless it’s an emergency, I think it’s best to have a general rule of one person to accompany (unless a minor or dependent also needs to come along, they should be overlooked) and healthy people should stand if someone sick or unable to stand comes in and there are no spaces for them to sit.

I think 1 person per ill person is ok especially if really ill and need support but some seem to see it as a family outing and want to be in on the drama.

I have trouble with my breathing after having childhood cancer. I have to be treated in a very particular way.

I really do rely on the people around me telling A&E staff what’s going on and how to deal with it. Otherwise I’d undergo unnecessary treatment which long term could do me harm.

Not having someone advocate for me terrifies me.

it’s ok if you aren’t seriously ill or ambulance emergency matter of life and death or if your happily sitting waiting to be seen.

Someone very ill though, it’s cruel to have them alone, scared and very possibly in pain. Yes nurses and paramedics are kind ( well mostly) but no substitute for your loved one.

1 person per attendee sounds more reasonable. That person is important in terms of advocating for the patient and support during what may be a scary time.

I work in a hospital. I find (not always of course but just in some of my observations) the more ill someone is, they'll just have one or maybe two people with them when they initially turn up at A&E. The less ill (and the less need they actually have to be there), well, it's like an extended family day out at times.

During the pandemic, we've (like all hospitals) had no visitors in on the wards etc and it has made a massive difference. The hospital feels quieter and calmer and we all get a lot more work done which in turn speeds up patient care. It has a lot of disadvantages too but I would agree with you.

I agree. I’ve been to A&E a few times over the pandemic and it is much nicer not to have crowds of family making noise in the waiting room, it does just seem calmer. That said I can see the need for some patients to have somebody with them; a rule of 1 accompanying person seems reasonable in most circumstances and I hope it doesn’t go back to as it was.

But what will happen to all the heartwarming sitcom scenes where the entire community turns up for the pre-childbirth poo while they thrash out some of their most devastating family misunderstandings of the the past twenty years and reach a thrilling emotional catharsis?

Was in A&E last night and most had people with them including my teenager.It’s calmer because there are less patients though.

Perhaps more people should be aware of this, as I am sure there are people who should have medical treatment who have been avoiding it since Covid 19 started.

As a nurse I definitely have found times that A&E becomes a bit of a family day out in some households and this definitely gets a bit disruptive, and you often have multiple relatives taking up space and staff time (and asking the same questions and it's a pita). Some relatives will also try to bully and intimidate staff by going in family groups and asking to be pushed up the priority list, complaining about waiting times etc.

However the flipside is that if a patient is genuinely unwell or in severe pain then it can be very distressing for them to be on their own away from all of their loved ones. Going forward I'd like to say that A&E patients should be limited to 1 relative / friend with them at a time, except in exceptional circumstances like someone is likely to pass away and several family members would like the chance to say goodbye.

1 person per patient is sufficient for most eventualities surely.
Plus a limit on visitors and hours going forward would be advisable. The amount of visitors that some people get boggled my mind when I was last an inpatient. Squads of folk sitting on the bed and taking chairs from visitorless bedsides. All talking loudly and treating the place like their own homes. All very nice for them but the rest of the patients were unable to get any peace or privacy for calling for toilet assistance etc.
I was once on ward that closed every day at 2pm for patients to sleep. Curtains were closed and no inessential activity was carried out
in the ward so no walking about or noises from equipment being droppped or whatever.
There were no ward rounds allowed during mealtimes and visitors(2 per bed) were firmly told to leave at the end of the visiting hour. It was bliss(if thats the right word for being poorly enough to need such a ward). Cant say that I missed having lots of visitors and the staff could get on with their work without having to navigate a crowded ward.

I've been a few times as well, and on many occasions there have been kids running around the waiting room whilst their parent was being treated.

I haven't seen this before the pandemic - it really stood out for me as it happened on three separate occasions in one week.

It was actually really scary as they could have easily gotten out of the waiting room and onto a busy main road.

I think a one person per patient limit would be a good, reasonable compromise. I remember once being in the waiting room for the early pregnancy unit, waiting to have miscarriage confirmed and trying not to cry, and another patient had seven family members with her, talking at the top of their voices, passing snacks around, etc and DH and I just looking at each other, both thinking wtf?

Not totally related, but having just had a week long stay on the postnatal ward with a poorly baby, my mental health took a real battering not having the support of my husband. He was only allowed to visit for 1 hour a day and I was in tears when he had to leave. Whilst there are undoubtedly positives to limiting hospital access, I really think the mental impacts aren’t being taken seriously enough. This is my third baby and definitely the closest I’ve felt to postnatal depression, which I feel the hospital situation has exacerbated.

I think the problem is that the patient may be in pain, too distraught, to understand information given to them, which is where an accompanying person, can ask relevant questions, and understand instructions.
Obviously, I am not talking about emergencies with someone in a coma, etc, but the 'usual' type of A&E patients.
I went with my husband to A&E (A few years ago). The ambulance (called by what was then NHS Direct, and due to his age), basically dumped him in the waiting room (after booking him in).
I followed in the car and waited hours with him to be seen.
My DH had a 'headache', and after various blood tests was admitted, although it was nearly a week later before the various tests revealed he had had a sub-arachnoid brain haemorrhage.
My view is that patients should be allowed one person with them, or both parents in the case of a child, but never a crowd.

I think it should be limited to one per person, when I had a hemorrhage following a LLETZ procedure the A&E was so full with guests I couldn't sit down and subsequently collapsed into a wheelchair. You don't need more than 1 person with you. I was able to stay with my Nan in A&E around 2 months ago, even asked if I wanted to them to check if I could come to the ward with her. It was a much nicer environment than when I went, mines usually got all the family with the actually ill person