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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if it’s normal to be kept in a&e for so long

46 replies

Christmaslover67 · 02/10/2021 23:00

Went in due to my heart rate and chest pains. I got there at 4pm. I was in resus for about an hour then in majors till 12 pm the next day. Is this normal I always thought the aim was only a few hours spent in a&e

OP posts:
owlbethere · 02/10/2021 23:01

It’s normal in current times when beds are in such short supply.

Spikeyplants · 02/10/2021 23:03

Normal lately if they are waiting on blood results to check if you have had a heart attack or not, or just waiting on a ward bed.

MrsTulipTattsyrup · 02/10/2021 23:04

They keep you for as long as they need to to treat you and get you stable, then either send you home or to a ward, depending on what’s needed. So there’s no ‘normal’ time to spend there - it’s as long as it takes.

Did you feel you should have been discharged sooner? Sometimes it takes a while for a doctor to be available to review your notes and give the okay to discharge you, so that could also have been a factor.

noworklifebalance · 02/10/2021 23:04

I presume you see being admitted? If so, perhaps they are waiting for bed to become available on a suitable ward (cardiac or medical and female bay)

Bagelsandbrie · 02/10/2021 23:04

Completely depends on who else is there and with what / what tests you need / how many staff they have / etc etc. There’s no “standard”.

Original poster
Christmaslover67 · 02/10/2021 23:05

I was admitted yes. Do you have to be stable medically before they send you to a ward?

OP posts:
Youdoyoutoday · 02/10/2021 23:07

Sounds like you were inconvenienced by your own medical problems! Confused

would you have been happier with an hours wait, given a pill and told to go home or the actual care/tests you needed?

MichelleScarn · 02/10/2021 23:08

There needs to be a bed on the right ward. Hope you're doing better.

DerAlteMann · 02/10/2021 23:09

I was in A&E for 18 hours. It was a combination of getting me stable and having a bed on a ward to take me to.

iamreally · 02/10/2021 23:17

What were you expecting?
Sounds like: admitted, ECG, baseline bloods taken - no significant abnormalities seen, wait for 12 trop level - normal - discharge

MountainDweller · 02/10/2021 23:21

My mum was in A&E for more than 12 hours after a heart attack 10 years ago. (She called her GP, who told her to hang up and call 999). So it was normal even then. She was admitted and kept in for several weeks before a triple bypass. It's not great being stuck on a gurney in a corridor when you're seriously ill!

julieca · 02/10/2021 23:40

So you are waiting for a bed on a ward?
Or are you waiting for the results of blood tests about whether you have had a heart attack?
If the former, then yes at the moment hospitals are struggling and you may, unfortunately, wait a while for a bed.
If the latter, normal treatment.

skahan · 02/10/2021 23:58

@Christmaslover67

I was admitted yes. Do you have to be stable medically before they send you to a ward?
It could simply be there wasn't a bed on a ward available to send you to. I went into hospital for an expected procedure at 9am and didn't get a bed until 10pm that night.
RevolvingPivot · 03/10/2021 00:02

I was in for the same thing. I was in 32 hours.

Vivana · 03/10/2021 00:03

I had chest pains few weeks ago and was taken by ambulance to hospital as ecg was not looking good. This was 9.30pm and was in A&E till 3am then taken to a ward.

Motnight · 03/10/2021 00:20

You need to complain Op. Really

Redglitter · 03/10/2021 00:20

I was in A&E 10 hours before a bed became available. I was put in a ward which had nothing to do with my.condition but it was the only bed free. I was in there for just under 24 hours til I got moved to the correct ward. Being a bed manager must be a logistical nightmare

Stripyhoglets · 03/10/2021 00:24

Yes at the moment its usual. I have a relative whose been in frequently and usually over 12 hours each time to be moved to a ward.

Armychefbethebest · 03/10/2021 00:27

I've had a heart attack a few years ago afterwards on 2 separate occasions I had chest pain in our a and e they take bloods then again after 6 hours this is to check your triponin levels which should be less than 14 during my heart attack it was tens of thousands but these aren't as high in the first blood tests so they 6 hour gap is needed to check the levels properly, you are then put on a medical assessment ward next to resus and a and e and can be there for up to 2 days.as long as you are getting care op just roll with it each hospital is run differently

TartanJumper · 03/10/2021 00:32

Were you attached to a heart monitor on the ward? Most wards won't have these, so you'd have had to wait longer if so.
At least you were in majors. I've sat overnight in a waiting room before waiting for results etc.

YerAWizardHarry · 03/10/2021 00:36

I was in A&E for quite a while whilst they waited for covid test results etc but definitely not overnight. I was taken to intensive care after around 6hrs as it took a while to get a bed

PleaseReferToMeAsBritneySpears · 03/10/2021 00:44

About 25 years ago I had an asthma attack and they wanted to admit me but there wasn't a bed - so I stayed in A&E for six days! They had a kind of side ward, but I was only on an A&E trolley, not a proper hospital bed.

Singinginshower · 03/10/2021 00:49

Presumably they wanted to keep you in hospital, but there were no beds available.

LeaveHomeNow · 03/10/2021 01:13

I was in A&E recently and the Dr said they are supposed to either send people home or a ward by four hour mark. In some cases, there are no ward beds but the person is too sickly to be sent home so they stay in a&e. We were there for 12 hours until stabilised and tests improved. We were supposed to go to a ward but there were no beds available. They didn't want to send us home but we were blocking an A&E bed so a manager came down and told them to send us home (I got to hear the whole conversation, comforting!!).

Laufeythejust · 03/10/2021 01:20

I was in A & E recently with my 94 year old Grandmother and the wait was 8 hours. There was a lady next to us in the waiting room that thought one of her vertebra in her back had become loose from her spinal surgery and she had been there since 9am (it was 3pm) she said she was meant to be laid flat but there were no beds for her. The system just doesn’t appear to be working but I don’t know what the solution is.