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Original poster

To say that the NHS a and e team are fucking heroes

103 replies

Ragingoverlife · 04/12/2022 03:32

They all are. But I've particularly noticed how well they cope under pressure tonight. They are so short staffed and receiving so much shit in children's A and E. I feel so bad for them x

Nurses and sisters apologising because their doctors have been borrowed back by another department and not returning for hours..

I've been here since 9pm. 1st hospital turned me away, as I had a child and they had no docs. 1.5 hours to triage into children Been waiting for doc since. (Which is fine) they are mentally busy, and my child has reduced in temp etc. Im happy waiting But wow there is so many upset parents. Waiting hours I can see why they are so frustrated. There is also lots of Strep A panic also I think we've got another 3 hours to go yet, thankfully we have a bed and a chair. Others aren't so lucky. Thank you NHS.

OP posts:
Tonsiltrouble · 04/12/2022 08:32

@nicky2512 thanks. Last time we did this was 2019 and again we were seen quickly and admitted. It’s bed blocking further into the hospital that is the issue I think. Still, the pain meds will wear off soon and all hell will break loose.

WetBandits · 04/12/2022 08:36

Thank you for this lovely post OP Flowers I hope your DC feels better soon.

Now if everyone commenting just to slag us off could return to one of the thousand other threads slating the NHS and just leave us with a scrap of positivity, that would be nice 🥲

IClaudine · 04/12/2022 08:41

The staff are absolutely doing their best. My elderly aunt had a fall and cut her head badly which ended up needing staples.

We are in Wales and here you cannot just turn up to A&E now unless "life or limb threatening". You ring 111 who will decide if A&E is needed and give you a time slot to be triaged.

We were in and out of A&E within three hours on a Friday night. They even brought round tea, coffee and sandwiches for those waiting.

The hospital is clearly short staffed though and parts of the hospital really need updating and repairing.

Lolacat1234 · 04/12/2022 08:44

In my experience parents don't run off to A&E with a child with a high temp willy nilly. They end up there because there is a woefully inadequate or non existent out of hours GP service at the moment and it is the only alternative. This was my experience last week. The A&E receptionist said they have no GPs at all to run an out of hours service so all those patients are directed to A&E by 111. My child had tonsillitis and needed penecillin, I was expecting to arrive at an out of hours service not A&E but it soon became apparent we were there and had to wait with people that were there for a genuine emergency. A real shame and very scary really that this is what we are left with now. Huge reform needs to happen.

munnytrin · 04/12/2022 08:54

I don't like calling them heroes I think it's going a bit far. It's under funded and staffed and often inadequate. There's a general dread about having to use that particular service.

luxxlisbon · 04/12/2022 08:55

WetBandits · 04/12/2022 08:36

Thank you for this lovely post OP Flowers I hope your DC feels better soon.

Now if everyone commenting just to slag us off could return to one of the thousand other threads slating the NHS and just leave us with a scrap of positivity, that would be nice 🥲

Why? I’m sick of everyone who works in healthcare being put on a pedestal. They are not all heroes, they are just ordinary people doing a job. Some people are very passionate and do an excellent job and some people are jobsworths or just downright poor at their job, the same as an industry.

This glorification and praise the heroes at any cost rhetoric is not beneficial.

munnytrin · 04/12/2022 08:57

Northernsouloldies · 04/12/2022 05:36

High time all this NHS heroes and angels rhetoric is dropped. The staff are people with the same characteristics as any other human whether good or bad.

👏🏻👏🏻

OutOfTheFog9 · 04/12/2022 09:01

Ozgirl75 · 04/12/2022 05:33

It seems like there needs to be more “intermediate” care in the U.K. (I’m in Aus so forgive me if I’m wrong). So the person who had a cut chin and wobbly teeth - here they would probably be sewn up in a GP centre and the teeth would be seen by a dentist.
My son fell at school and cut his head badly and the GP sewed it at the surgery which is more like an intermediate care place, they do all sorts of minor surgery things there.
My other son fell awkwardly and his finger was bruised and swollen. We took him to A and E and after waiting for 45 mins they said it would probably be quicker to go to a private x Ray place 5 mins away although we were welcome to stay and have it done for free, but there would be a long wait. $60 to be reassured it was just badly bruised. Well worth the money, he was back at school half an hour later!

I wish we had an option of paying for a quicker access to some services, and that the NHS was allowed to pass the information on alternative private options to patients. No one is willing to bring it up and 'two tiered' system is a taboo (except - what people don't seem to realise? Or maybe just don't want to - it's already here). See what happened to the Scottish NHS bosses who probably know what they talk about....

munnytrin · 04/12/2022 09:13

The vast majority of people don't go to A&E willy nilly. But because the entire system has fallen apart they feel left with no options. They can't register with a dentist, they can't see a gp, they can't get their drugs from a pharmacy....

Yes, they're now making up the shortfall as people cannot access these services. A friend of mine lost her place at a dentist during lockdown and only one place in the city was prepared to add her to the waiting list -four years long... Thread here yesterday someone in severe pain, probably from an abscess, having to attend a & E. GP appointments are extremely difficult to get here, too.

Ozgirl75 · 04/12/2022 09:15

I do understand why people fear a two tier system - because they think it will end up like the USA and the bottom tier will be awful. But loads of countries have an element of two tier system which works excellently. Here in Aus if you earn above a certain amount and don’t choose insurance (which isn’t linked to a job like in the USA) you have to pay a tax levy.
You have to pay for some things if you earn above a certain amount, and Medicare covers some as well. So a few months ago I found a small lump in my breast. Went to my (free) GP, who referred me to a radiography place. I made an appointment for that day and went along. Paid about $120 of which I then got back (into my bank account) about $70. Got the results rung through to me a couple of days later.
You can also go to GP places where you pay a top up fee so you have your “own” Dr - kind of like in the olden days of the U.K.! I don’t do this though as all the Drs at my local clinic are great.
One of the best things though is that you can sign up to any Dr surgery you like - so you can pick one that suits your needs or location. Plus it means there’s an impetus to be good as word of mouth is important to their reputation.

Ozgirl75 · 04/12/2022 09:17

But what I will say is that our tax is higher than in the U.K. We have good services but we do pay for them through contributions personally, and through tax.

OutOfTheFog9 · 04/12/2022 09:20

'This glorification and praise the heroes at any cost rhetoric is not beneficial'

I agree, and the same goes for glorification of the system/service. It a public service, and a job, respectively, and we should start treating them as such.

luxxlisbon · 04/12/2022 09:23

OutOfTheFog9 · 04/12/2022 09:20

'This glorification and praise the heroes at any cost rhetoric is not beneficial'

I agree, and the same goes for glorification of the system/service. It a public service, and a job, respectively, and we should start treating them as such.

A public service that we pay for! This free at the point of use nonsense is disingenuous sometimes. We pay a huge amount in taxes, we pay for prescriptions etc
It’s a public service and we are allowed to have a negative view on it.
The people working in the nhs are doing it for a JOB. They aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their heart. That’s not to say they are bad people but they are just people, they aren’t heroes.

OutOfTheFog9 · 04/12/2022 09:32

'A public service that we pay for! This free at the point of use nonsense is disingenuous sometimes'

I think we agree on this, but perhaps I could have put it differently. The way I see it, it's always disingenous. It is just not possible to have a health service that's free at the point of use for all in all circumstance for all conditions - it is a lovely idea, just not realistic - too much demand, too little resources. Paying more into it via taxes will not 'fix' it.

It needs restructuring.

One of the reasons I left.

iloveeverykindofcat · 04/12/2022 09:33

Tonsiltrouble · 04/12/2022 05:36

The permanent stand off between primary and emergency medicine doesn’t help. Sort primary care and far fewer people will need ED.

Once I was in hospital for a short acute illness then allowed to go home provided I got follow up blood tests the next week. The month long cold war between my GP, that hospital and eventually a third hospital as to who should actually do the blood test must have wasted about 50x more staff time than someone just doing the blood test.

Willmafrockfit · 04/12/2022 09:35

i think the point is the majority of emergency service workers are kind and show empathy
that is what i find.

Untitledsquatboulder · 04/12/2022 09:43

FlounderingFruitcake · 04/12/2022 07:21

No we shouldn’t be grateful for substandard care. Turned away from 1 hospital and 9 hour wait at the second with a child should be completely unacceptable. The staff you’ve encountered are adequately doing their jobs, and obviously the shitshow isn’t their fault, but that’s a long way off heroism. No idea what the solution is but the system is broken and it’s about time we started saying so instead of all this ‘heroes’ nonsense.

OP though - I hope your child is feeling better and you managed to get some rest.

I think just doggedly doing your job in a broken system is pretty heroic actually. And although lots of people work hard I don't think I've seen many work environments where people are just working flat out all the time which they are in our local a&e.

Guinefort · 04/12/2022 10:37

My DD received fabulous care in Paediatric A&E a month ago - however the other patients (and their parents) who were there that same evening unfortunately had a very, very long wait as a result.

There was no space to sit anywhere, children sat on the floor in the corridors waiting to be seen and I heard several parents shouting at reception that they had been waiting for hours and that all the vending machines were broken so no access even to water. It was horrendous for everyone, staff and patients alike.

There was only one paediatric Dr on duty and she was utterly amazing. But unfortunately for those waiting, whilst the Dr was busy caring for DD, organising an urgent CT scan, and then accompanying her to it (it was only at this point that I realised how very seriously injured DD was suspected to be) no one else was being seen and the queue in the waiting room was getting longer and longer. The Dr then had to organise
a blue light transfer to the Children's Hospital in the next city and arrange for the surgical trauma response team to be ready on standby to receive her. Meantime the wait in A&E for everyone else grew longer still...

Underfunding and understaffing are crux of the issue and problems here, not people turning up to A&E when "they shouldn't be there". Had there been another 1 or 2 paediatric A&E Drs on duty and continuing to see patients whilst one was busy the bottle neck and resultant delays could have been avoided. I'm loathe to say any of those children waiting in A&E shouldn't have been there (DD was walking and joking and eating snacks when we went in - appearances can be deceptive!). They all needed to be seen, assessed and receive care in an efficient and timely manner. The system is truly broken but the individual members of staff we encountered that night from HCAs to nurses to paramedics to Drs could not have been working any harder.

DD spent a week in hospital with 3 days on HDU and is recovering well. I am so thankful for the care she received but still feel bad for all the poor children sat in the corridors waiting longer than ever as a result that night.

TurkeyTrouble · 04/12/2022 11:16

I'm pregnant with my second & this sounds so awful, but I'm so scared of the way the NHS is going, I have wondered if I should go through with the pregnancy/if I'm part of the problem, knowing how bad the health system is but having another child anyway. The health system is on its knees & I'm genuinely terrified of my existing or future child needing emergency care. I've seen so many posts on here recently regarding the level of care & it has genuinely made me feel very scared & sad.

WetBandits · 04/12/2022 11:28

luxxlisbon · 04/12/2022 08:55

Why? I’m sick of everyone who works in healthcare being put on a pedestal. They are not all heroes, they are just ordinary people doing a job. Some people are very passionate and do an excellent job and some people are jobsworths or just downright poor at their job, the same as an industry.

This glorification and praise the heroes at any cost rhetoric is not beneficial.

Show quote history

Why? Because every single one of these threads showing us just a little appreciation gets torn to shreds by people coming up with every reason they can think of to kick us yet again. This OP is praising the staff she has observed and wanted to say so. There is absolutely bad care and bad staff within healthcare but hijacking what was meant to be a positive thread is a bit shitty.

There are a thousand other threads to complain on about NHS staff, can we not just have one positive thread to read for once? FWIW neither I nor any of the other nurses I know consider ourselves heroic or special in the slightest; I willingly chose this career and will stick with it whatever it brings, but it would just be nice to read something positive without other people jumping in to drag us down when a lot of us are already on our knees physically and emotionally 🤷🏼‍♀️

EmmaAgain22 · 04/12/2022 11:31

girlmom21 · 04/12/2022 07:24

I can't help but think if you're happy to sit in a hospital for 6 hours without being seen with no end in sight, or if you're even happy to be refused care and sent elsewhere, and you're then tapping away on Mumsnet rather than fighting to be seen, your child cannot be that unwell and therefore you're part of the problem.

My last A&E visit was mum having fallen and hit her head, she is 84. It turns put the fall was a stroke, which is why she couldn't move.

who was I supposed to fight and why? We were triaged after about 3 hours so she stayed in the ambulance, during which time the crew were not permitted to leave her. There were 5 ambulances with emergencies in front of us. All those crews have to stay with their patients.

we were then in a corridor for about 9 hours before she got to a bed, a charity rep kindly found me a chair.

the place was packed and I think there were two doctors on duty maybe, barely saw a nurse.

I am not going to "fight" people who are doing their best. Why chase away the handful of staff we still have?

obviously me and the paramedics had plenty of time to talk while waiting in the ambulance. They also feel that poor conditions have chased away all types of NHS staff and the threat of compulsory vaccines was the last straw.

I will protect my mum like a lioness protecting her cubs. But there's no one to fight in a hospital. Best we all try and work together.

Clarabe1 · 04/12/2022 11:33

Absolute bollocks. No they are not heroes they are people getting paid to do a job, some are great but like with any job you get lazy disinterested people as well. I got turned away from my GP and a walk in centre and went on to end up in ICU with sepsis so funnily enough I wasn’t out banging my pots and pans. Do you you not read the news op? Do you not see how many have been failed and the maternity scandals etc etc? Calling them heroes and putting them above criticism does nobody any favours. They are accountable the same as everyone else.

girlmom21 · 04/12/2022 11:35

@EmmaAgain22 she was with paramedics so had some kind of qualified care. That's not the situation I'm talking about.

girlmom21 · 04/12/2022 11:35

I hope she's recovering well, by the way @EmmaAgain22

EmmaAgain22 · 04/12/2022 11:36

Clarabe1 · 04/12/2022 11:33

Absolute bollocks. No they are not heroes they are people getting paid to do a job, some are great but like with any job you get lazy disinterested people as well. I got turned away from my GP and a walk in centre and went on to end up in ICU with sepsis so funnily enough I wasn’t out banging my pots and pans. Do you you not read the news op? Do you not see how many have been failed and the maternity scandals etc etc? Calling them heroes and putting them above criticism does nobody any favours. They are accountable the same as everyone else.

It's the system and the bureaucracy that fail the staff as well as patients.

get rid of something like the NHS Confederation - will anyone even notice? Huge savings to be made in areas like that.

of course some staff are great and some aren't but let's not chase away the few we have. Who on earth would train as a nurse now?