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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is this too far from a hospital?

30 replies

RedAndWhiteSpots · 09/08/2021 10:12

We are moving house from central london to a quieter more rural place. I just started thinking about not having the immediate access to hospitals and GPs and wondered what a "normal" time to get to an A&E would be for most people. At the moment we are 10 mins drive / 15 mins walk from some top hospitals. When we move it will be a 25 minute drive to the nearest A&E. Is that a reasonable distance?

OP posts:
IARTNS · 09/08/2021 10:13

That's roughly how far from my local hospital I am (by car) never been an issue and I have to go there pretty regularly (unfortunately).

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 09/08/2021 10:15

A lot closer than a lot of people.

I used to live 45mins away on a good day. Never an issue.

Streamingbannersofdawn · 09/08/2021 10:15

I'm rural, our A&E is 30 minutes away at least depending on traffic. In fact unless you live in the city that's pretty standard. We have a minor injuries unit...do you need the hospital a lot?

Forestdweller11 · 09/08/2021 10:15

20 minutes from nearest minor injuries
30 minutes from nearest a+e
60 minutes from nearest stroke unit.

Pantene23 · 09/08/2021 10:16

You could live in a city and it take longer than that to drive to a&e due to traffic.

Forrestttheout · 09/08/2021 10:17

I would say 25 minutes is pretty normal, even in big cities you can easily be 25 minute away due to traffic. I am currently 1hr from the nearest big hospital equipped to deal with an emergency and 40mins to the nearest smaller clinic (like a walk in center). I can't say I've ever really given it much thought other than perhaps I am less likely to just see how things go an more likely to go to the smaller clinic sooner rather than later when ill

NotAnotherPushyMum · 09/08/2021 10:19

I’d say that was fairly average. It didn’t even enter my head to think about that when I was moving house though.

BakedTattie · 09/08/2021 10:20

Do people honestly consider things like this when moving house?

I’m an hour away from my local a&e. And that’s with no traffic.

Bramshott · 09/08/2021 10:21

Only you can make that decision. But yes, this is an issue for those of us who live in rural areas.

RoseMartha · 09/08/2021 10:22

I live in a town it would take me 45 mins to walk to the hospital

By car 10-30 mins depending on traffic.

Youcanchangeyournamebut · 09/08/2021 10:27

25 mins totally normal, and we live in a big town, not rural at all. This did make me chuckle a bit (not in a mean way, just London really is a different planet!)

wombat1a · 09/08/2021 10:28

By car roughly 45 mins to the nearest A&E,
For out of hrs minor stuff - thats the same place as the A&E too.
Never thought about it before, blue light run in an ambulance would take around 30mins I should think.

Ajl46 · 09/08/2021 10:30

I live in a large town which is 50 mins from and A&E by car, assuming no traffic. Many residents are uncomfortable with this and we have complained time & time again but our MP seems to think this is not an issue...

ApolloandDaphne · 09/08/2021 10:30

I am about 40 minutes drive from the nearest A&E. There is a small injuries clinic in my town so a 5 minute drive to that.

Cuddlyrottweiler · 09/08/2021 10:30

We're a 15 minute drive away. It's not something that ever occurred to me but it's definitely something I'll think about now when we move.

wombat1a · 09/08/2021 10:30

The more I think about it the less I think the journey time matters, if its not serious then you will be waiting at A&E to be seen. If its serious then the time it takes for am ambulance to arrive with profession medical help is the important one I should think and thats around 10-15mins for us.

LockdownCheeseToastie · 09/08/2021 10:31

We’re midway between two a&es so 45min ish to each. We have driven at speed once when it was clear we’d get there quicker that way than waiting for an ambulance. Often the paramedics will stabilise you on site so it doesn’t matter how far the hospital is.

InTheNightWeWillWish · 09/08/2021 10:31

I’m 10 minutes away from minor injuries with another minor injuries 20 minutes away. However, there isn’t X-ray facilities at these and they aren’t open overnight.

I’m 45 minutes from A&E if there’s no traffic. It can take me 2 hours if there is traffic! Fortunately there are 3 A&Es (in different directions) that I can be at in 45-60 minutes, so can pick the one that’s least likely to have traffic issues. I’m currently pregnant and the length of journey to hospital while I’m in labour is causing me some anxiety, mainly in case I need to go in during rush hour! The rest of the time, it doesn’t cause an issue.

helpfulperson · 09/08/2021 10:32

Large chunks of the country are over an hour and often more in rural Scotland etc

UndeadSlut · 09/08/2021 10:34

I'm about ten minutes drive from the closest hospital. But the one time my son desperately needed hospital treatment he had to be blue lighted to a hospital 45 mins away from that one anyway, because the local one couldn't provide the care he needed.

It is something I think about, I wouldn't like to be miles and miles away from a hospital. I've never bought a house so don't know how much it would factor in my decision making process there.

BikeRunSki · 09/08/2021 10:35

If you are moving out of London, you need to accept that a lot of services will be further away that what you have become used to.

I imagine that most people live a good 20 min or more from the nearest hospital. We are semi rural, and 25 mins from the nearest A&E - or, in DH’s words “15 mins at 5am on a Sunday morning with a woman in labour”. That baby is now 13, his sister is 10, it’s never been a problem.

Whyo · 09/08/2021 10:39

Is there a reason this would be a concern? I’ve never considered this when looking at a new house. I’m more or less city centre and I could still be as long at that given traffic.

GoAwayCat · 09/08/2021 10:42

That's still incredibly close.

I'm 25 minutes from the nearest A&E and thought that was really close, as growing up I was well over an hour away.

When I lived in the city I was around 45-75 minutes away depending on traffic.

Wjevtvha · 09/08/2021 10:59

We’re 35 minutes and when it’s a real emergency they send the helicopter. The only time it felt long was when I was pregnant and imagining the drive in labour to be honest.

TillyTopper · 09/08/2021 10:59

When I moved out of London I really felt that I went from everything being right on my door step to everything being so far away. But honestly, I soon got used to it. I think you just adapt your thinking and after a while it feels normal and you stop worrying.