I know IABU, blatantly using this for traffic. Emergency situation, no ambulance still, and need advice

[TheChinkOfaGlass]

Hi everyone

My Auntie had a fall this morning and has seriously hurt her hip. Luckily she was close enough to the bed to get herself up on it.

999 said it is not an emergency and to contact 111, she was in severe agony and is 78 years old. I rang 111 who after assessing her, decided she did indeed need an ambulance.

I had originally offered to take her to the hospital but she lives on the top floor of a maisonette, and is unable to sit up (so a car journey would be no good and I would be unable to carry her to the car anyway. I did get help but she declined due to the inability to even sit up).

Her husband is disabled so isn't much use (I mean this in the nicest possible way, he is trying his best) other than keeping an eye on her.

So we could be waiting hours for an ambulance but in the meantime she is soaked through on the bed due to urinating on herself. I am going there in the next 30 minutes.

Is it safe to roll her to change the sheets to make her more comfortable? I don't like the idea of her lying in a soaking bed while she waits. I am also scared of causing more pain/damage by moving her. We do not know what's wrong, she thinks it may he her hip. I just don't know what to do. I have never experienced this kind of thing.

Her partner has managed to change her underwear but when the bed is so wet, it wouldn't really make a difference.

I wasn't going to share my personal experience but the more I read the more I see I should because it's probably happening all over the country everyday.

A couple of years ago my grandfather was in the final weeks of his life, he had terminal cancer, was in his 80's and we were caring for him at his home with a daily district nurse visit. The nurses issued us with strong sedatives for the times he was in pain and agitated. These medicines could only be given by a medical professional.

One morning at just before 9am it became apparent he desperately needed them. I rang the district nurse number as told and go a message telling me that my call couldn't be taken due to staff shortages, I then rang the hospice who said that at that time the GP should come to administer the drugs. The GP surgery a 2 minute walk away told me it wasn't their job and to ring 999.

An ambulance crew were sent to do a 5 minute job. There are huge flaws in the whole healthcare system in this country and the whole system needs a massive overhaul.

@justgettingthroughtheday what you said is technically what it should be, what was quoted is the times at the minute

This is horrendous. And isn't it interesting how the Daily Mail journalists ignore thread like this one.... We need to find a way of making sure stories like this one are shared far and wide.

I have a 98 year old Grandmother. I am terrified that she will have a fall as I'm pretty sure that will be the end of her as there is literally no help available.

I'm so sorry OP, I really hope your Aunt gets some help soon.

The population of the UK is nearly 70 million now. There isn't anything like enough healthcare provision to provide a safe service. It's a disaster. How many people will needlessly suffer and die?

At a serious push.
But they were designed for people who were effectively bedbound and dying in places like exhibition centres.

I was in the one in Glasgow which didn't have any extra toilets or extra disabled toilets for people who were elderly and infirm. I don't even remember seeing shower rooms or extra kitchens in it either.

Just rows and rows of beds with oxygen And partitions for privacy but not great for noise. They were built with the dying in mind not people getting better.

You realise the aunt in this thread who is literally wetting herself because she cannot move is a category 4? You think a GP or urgent care can sort that? She needs A and E and an orthopaedic admission.

The louisa jordan hospital that was set up in Glasgow during the pandemic is currently set up for a Christmas carnival.

I know the ambulance issue is mainly affecting England and Wales but I imagine it won't be long till its affecting here as well if it isn't already.

It brings home that those who can afford it should be able to arrange a private ambulance to be taken to a private ED through PPP/BUPA. It would take pressure off the existing NHS provision.

Even if one is insured, private emergency care is not available in the UK. It clearly needs to be.

That is for the private sector to address. They won't because it is too expensive and no one would pay the cost.

Hi op. I’m new to this thread and I’m so sorry that your Aunt has had to go through this, it’s awful. I’m really hoping the ambulance has been and she is getting the medical help that she needs.

It did. There was shower blocks installed. There were plenty of extra toilets installed. With ramps etc. There were toilets installed with hoists etc to enable help for toileting and showering.

Why were you in it?

antelope do you get why OP aunt needs an ambulance?

Me too, my heart is breaking for this lady

@ZeViteVitchofCwismas probably as far back as 1990, that is when privatisation of domiciliary care really started to take off ? This is an interesting timeline of what has happened in the NHS over the years, from its inception to present day,and why it is facing such a crisis now.

www.yournhsneedsyou.com/timeline/

I can't believe you're still waiting. That's disgraceful that she is being left lying in her own waste, unable to move.

Keep calling 999 and make a nuisance of yourself, she needs to get to hospital.

OP, this is heartbreaking. I desperately hope your aunt has now been moved and is receiving medical care.

I do not say this lightly but if not I would get loud and obnoxious. Go to the press. Name names.

I’m keeping everything crossed that the lack of updates means good news and Ops aunt is now on her way to hospital.

I’m ashamed that our country has come to this very sorry state of affairs.

What is happening to this poor lady and her family is horrific and we all know this is happening all over the UK.

It’s terrifying because things will not get better for years, things can only get worse.

Even if one is insured, private emergency care is not available in the UK. It clearly needs to be.

So some people should have to pay twice for a service so that the private sector doesn't have to get its act together/doesn't have its profit margins impeded ?

Have I read your comment correctly? You think an elderly lady with a suspected broken hip should go to a walk in centre? 🤦‍♀️ Jesus Christ the poor lady can't move! And is wetting/ soiling herself but you think she needs a walk in centre?
A walk in centre is exactly that, walk in for people who can walk!
OP I sincerely hope she's in hospital getting the help she needs

OP, what an awful situation. I wish I could help you all. 💐

Been following the thread and am just lost for words.

Truly hope you are in hospital now. 🙏

@CrackersCheeseAndWinePlease that poster was responding to someone who said broken bones are a GP job, not responding to the OP.

I had a dermatology appointment in it. I can't remember if it was summer 2020 or summer 21. They used it as an Outpatients hospital for a wee while, mainly for social distancing reasons. Avoiding over crowding the normal hospital waiting rooms.

@BaBatshitBanshee either you or you friend are very mistaken

I work for West Midlands ambulance service and firstly, we don't give eta, secondly, seizures and obstetric complications are C1 emergencies

Please don't share incorrect information, it isn't helpful