To say every hospital should have a children’s A&E

[Wouldloveanother]

I know, it’s pie in the sky and won’t happen.
the state of A&E scares me at the moment. It’s one thing adults waiting 12+ hours alongside people high on drugs or in mental distress (our A&E seems to have a lot of both), it’s another thing for a small child to have to wait in such circumstances. I also feel in general children should take priority over adults (perhaps that’s controversial) and they shouldn’t have to queue with us.
Where we lived before had a dedicated children’s A&E and it was fantastic. AIBU?

YABU to say that mentally ill patients shouldn't be around kids.

YABU

if children got to skip the queue there would be a lot more parents taking their children there for non-emergencies

so the adults with actual emergencies would have to wait even longer.

I also don’t understand your point about metal distress - do you not think they are deserving of treatment?

Both the hospitals closest to me have separate waiting areas for children. I thought most hospitals did?

Your nearest children's hospital may well have a children's a&e (mine does). Still takes ages to be seen!

They don’t skip the queue, it’s just divided in two.

I have a mental illness and I have two kids. Am I dangerous?

I also feel in general children should take priority over adults

Don't be stupid. You treat the sickest first, obviously!

Completely. Why should darling Johnny automatically take priority over an adult? Each person’s need is assessed according to who is most serious / likely to die. .

I think a children's waiting area would be good, as hospitals can be very scary places for young children, but a specific a&e is a bit much!

@redtshirt50 where I live (London) most of the big hospitals do have separate A+Es. Children however are not 'skipping the queue'. They have their own set of nurses who do the triage/obs etc but then children have to wait to see the relevant doctor just as long as the adults do. Unless it's a specific pediatric doctor it's the same doctors for everyone. The difference is the children (and their parents) are just in a separate waiting area.

A separate waiting room for children is a good idea, if there is space.

I don't think the OP meant it like that. I think she meant if you have an adult in severe mental distress in A&E then that could be upsetting to children, not that all people with mental illness should never be around children.

There are three (good) hospitals within 20 minutes of my house, only 1 has a dedicated children's a&e, and a world class children's hospital 30 minutes away. Not every hospital needs one.

Mental distress =/= mental illness, you know what OP meant. A patient having a crisis isn't the same as someone with a stable chronic disease.

Unfortunately YABU OP due to NHS resource but it would be nice in an ideal world

Children can also be in mental distress.
You are wrong to assume all adults can wait for 12+ hours anymore than children can.
Yanbu to think people should have a waiting area that is suitable for their needs.

My local big hospital now has a child specific A&E.

20 years ago when mine were small they had a childrens waiting room in A&E so you could "shelter" them from some of the more difficult aspects you might encounter whilst waiting in A&E.

The quality standards are that there should be a separate waiting area for children in for a district general that might mean a fenced off area for kids or a sign above a couple of chairs says childrens area. A lot of hospitals are struggling with old buildings short staff etc. yes in an ideal world every hospital should have a paeds a&e with their own doctors but in reality it’s usually just a dr assigned to the area and if the department gets busy they get pulled and everyone gets seen in time order. I think to have a dedicated paeds ED there needs to be a certain amount of children seen yearly and also enough space and staff.
im a paeds ED nurse in a district general…what I wouldn’t give for a dedicated area with our own drs.

You don't get to take priority because of your age. You get to take priority if you're the most in need of medical attention.

If people who didn't need immediate medical attention didn't go to A&E there wouldn't be 12 hour queues. Nobody should ever have to wait that long.

Generally people high on drugs don't go to A&E and they definitely wouldn't stay high for that duration.

YANBU, I am incredibly lucky to have grown up in, and live in, a city with a childrens hospital, a maternity hospital and 3 others; one with an A&E. Growing up I didn’t realise this wasn’t the norm and it was only as an adult I realised how lucky we are.

It would be nice but maybe unrealistic for some hospitals. Our local hospital (45 minutes away) is relatively small so most major injuries are transferred to bigger hospital(1.5 hours away). I do think maybe a better triage system would be good for children so that they could redirect you to the right hospital rather than spending six hours to be told they don't have the facilities to help your child and to go to the other hospital first thing as it's now too late in the day. DS with a broken arm that needed surgery/ screwing back together.

Under the Equality Act everyone must be treated the same and characteristics including age and mental health are protected for a reason!
Unless you want the NHS to have discrimination cases against them?

That’s exactly what I meant

I agree there should be a separate area for both adults and children for both their sakes. Many adults probably do not want to be ill/in pain surrounded by bright colours and toys or seeing children in distress. Vice versa children shouldn’t have to witness adults having acute mental health crisis or drunk/drugged adults when they are likely already scared and in distress from their own illness.

I still think it should be priority of the sickest though regardless of age. An elderly patient who was kicking up a right fuss last time I was in A&E was told this in polite but firm terms by the nurse so works both ends of the spectrum.

Childrens waiting rooms are a good idea.

The problem I once had was I was the patient, not my child so we had to use the adult area.