Why are A&Es getting so busy?

[User112]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/health/hospital-emergency-black-alert-barnsley-hospital-b1870819.html%3famp

GPs are busy, 111 is busy, 999 is busy. All the stuff that was put to one side during covid is coming to the fore, and hospitals are trying to catch up with delayed care as well as respond to current high demand. It’s tough out there.

I expect GPs not seeing patients has something to do with it in some cases.

There’s always high demand, but I read that it’s partly due to delays from the lockdowns - problems that should have been seen and treated months ago need to be treated now.

Also GPs aren’t able to meet the level of demand and so that overspills into A&E.

And there are staff shortages due to Brexit and Covid.

What else would you expect when people could find a unicorn before they could get an appointment with their gp? These people don't get proper treatment early on, they continue to get more unwell, and then they have no choice but to go to A&E.

In my experience (during the first wave), I couldn't see a GP (no face to face appointments or phone appointments available), 111 refused to refer me anywhere after 10+ phone calls, and urgent care was closed. I ended up at A&E and they said if I hadn't gone that night I could have died.

According to DH, a paramedic, utter misuse of a&e service by people generally, pointless 111 service and mot enough GPS - last one being down to funding and shit infrastructure planning

Basically every year the population us increasing but the infrastructure- hospitals/ a and e capacity and GP capacity hasnt been increased to keep up with it.

DD had appendicitis last weekend and the whole kids ae was packed with kids sent there by their GP. I kid you not there was a kid with a small cut on her hand.
The nurse seeing us said it's been a nightmare with GPs only offering telephone appointments and sending them to ae for anything and everything.

I'm sure there's some very busy great GPs out there but it's been a shambles around here. No idea what they're doing.

You've got new housing developments being built but no thought about how these people will access healthcare, or even school places.

Maybe because it's really difficult to get through on the phone to GP surgery and then when you do discover that they are not seeing and the list for telephone consultation is full for the day, and it's not even 9am....

I phoned GP yesterday, I was told by the receptionist before I'd even had a chance to speak that GP will not see anyone face to face, before she then went on to ask me to describe my concern.

This may have something to do with it.

I don't understand why GPs, the majority of which will be vaccinated and would have been some of the first to be so, won't see people face to face. But when I go to work in the hospital, I'm literally wiping bums.

@tiredanddangerous

I expect GPs not seeing patients has something to do with it in some cases.

This is the reason.

A friend has been waiting for a gynae appointment since before lockdown.

At the weekend, the pain she had been suffering became intolerable and she went to A&E on the advice of 111 and had a massive ovarian cyst removed as an emergency procedure. It had gone into torsion.

She probably wouldn't have been in A&E if she'd been seen sooner.

111 service 50% staff off sick with stress, gps hard to get an appointment, pharmacists busy delivering vaccines, people delayed getting help and now they can’t get help so either come to a&e for minor stuff or they’re really unwell and should have got help sooner. Then you have a lot of High needs mental health patients thrown in.

No GP appointments.

People's untreated health problems deteriorating and becoming urgent.

The stupid wanting a day out because they're bored. "Ee, our masie stubbed 'er toe, let's all 'ave a nice trip to casualty".

I know of 3 people who have gone to A&E in the last few months because they had to wait weeks for even a telephone appointment with a GP and in that time they got so bad it ended up as an A&E job and one of them ended up with sepsis from what started off as tonsillitis.

I work in a diagnostic setting in a large hospital and we are at breaking point. Incredible increase in GP referrals, cancer referrals have been our highest on record over the last 2 months but this week A&E has been at peak winter levels. A massive increase in query DVT patients have been sent to us, we think partly due to the news stories around the vaccines and a query DVT requires a scan. We are absolutely drowning. Also people not being able to get an appointment with their GP is having a massive massive impact on our A&E numbers I'm pretty close to giving up.

Probably because GP’s are saying, and I’m quoting mine specifically here - ‘we have no appointments to see your child for 6 weeks, we advise you take them to A&E if you are concerned’

Catching up from the pandemic is probably one reason.

Difficulty accessing other services is a big one I think.

Last week, my son complained of ear pain, so I suspected he had an ear infection. Rang the local walk in centre to check arrangements only to be told it closed last March and isn't reopening This is in a large town!

Phoned GP 7day access. Told no appointments until Tuesday (this was on Saturday!). Couldn't wait that long.

Phoned 111, they said they would get an out of hours GP to ring. Waited from 10am until 7pm for a call back. Telephone consultation only but we managed and were prescribed an antibiotic spray.

Although not right, I can perfectly see why people become frustrated and head to A&E.

I ended up in A&E because I couldn't see a GP. GP also sent me to A&E with dc, hospital docs seemed sick of it tbh.

As an ED doctor in my view it's partly due to covid causing backlog and also due to the primary care crisis.
I would however like to add that this is not due to GP laziness but an absolutely unachievable workload, even as an ED doctor at the moment I wouldn't swap with the GPs, they have a thankless and impossible job at the moment.

GPs aren’t seeing people. Mine rarely answer the phone any more (I called them 250 times last week to try to get a repeat prescription for DD) have disabled the online booking system and you aren’t allowed to go in to speak to anyone. So people are turning to A&E because they don’t know where else to go.

I’ve no doubt there are also lots of people who haven’t had minor illnesses dealt with over the last year and in many cases it will have escalated into something more serious that needs urgent care.

My non urgent gp appointment (which I couldn't get) turned into a 111 call, referral to urgent care THEN A&E, and hospital admission.

System was held together with good will and sticky tape at the best of times, and I think they've run out of good will...

@helpmeeee11 - genuine question, why are GPs busier? It is all covid related, because they’re busy managing the vaccine rollout, or something else?

Oh & DM had to go to A&E as GPs don't answer the phone & she needed a prescription.