To tell you the NHS is a frightening failure for children?

[redorbreak]

I suppose when we read headlines it's A&E waiting times and often focused on adults

But I'm here to give a personal account of how dangerous it is for children, something we haven't shone the light on as much as adult care and waiting times being horrible right now.

DD was born very prematurely and she had some awful breathing this morning, which then worsened into sucking in a lot at the rib cage (not that unusual for her but it seemed worse than usual). She couldn't stay awake much

I knew an ambulance would take a long time and needed the car, so I was going to drive her myself. I went to put her into her car seat and she went floppy, like a rag doll. Limp and floppy. I screamed and luckily H was there who phoned an ambulance

I explained calmly but seriously on the phone what was going on. The phone operator said 5 hour wait. I said please, she's gone floppy. Please help us. She said sorry, but 5 hour wait times. Can I take her myself?

I explained I could take her myself but I wouldn't be able to see if she was okay or not? I'd be driving. She said that was safer than waiting for an ambulance

I put the phone down and took her in, frightened, petrified for her life. I got there after 25 minutes and rushed to her. She was still not responding. She was triaged straight away. Her Sats were sitting at 69/70.

She is currently in PICU (intensive care) and I don't know when she will wake up. Nobody seems to be straight with me. I'm not getting a clear picture here. My H is on his way up now and hopefully they will tell me straight what this means for her now

The NHS is fucked.

I just felt like I wasn't living in the safety of the UK at all. It was a weird feeling, like the safety and calm of a civilised and reasonably organised country had gone This is exactly how I feel when I watch the news about the NHS collapse, the country is completely broken. I can not forgive this government for putting people through this, putting you through this.

I am so sorry you have had this experience, I really hope your DD is OK

I actually teared up reading that the thought of been that terrified and in need and ringing the one number that has always been there for us then to be told 5hr wait it's horrific! So glad you had the option of driving her yourself OP I wouldn't if it were my DS in that situation and that's so scary to think about..
Lots of virtual hugs and for you she's going to be fine I'm sure ❤️

It's frightening. 5 hours is the emergency response time - for less urgent things such as an elderly person who has fallen and can't get up it's more like 24 or even 48 hours.

I just hope that none of us need urgent care until well after the next general election

It was a little while before the operator for ambulance even got through. So not even the dispatch people answered within a reasonable time

I worry for everyone. My elderly family members. Never thought I'd be living in what feels like a third world country where a baby can't get medical help that they desperately need

It’s a horrible situation but equally I think the fact that your DD was born at 22 weeks makes the NHS pretty good too. I just wish they handled emergency care better.

Op, feel free to pm me if you want me to tell you anything about what you might expect with RSV bronch in picu.

I assumed when children were involved response time would be reduced.

Why? It might sound callous, but I wouldn't want any of the adults I love to be left to die, in order for an ambulance to get to a lower-priority child faster — a child who might if necessary be able to be scooped up and driven to the hospital (though it makes me very angry that OP had to do this, and I hope it won't have long-term consequences). It should be done on the same criteria they use to prioritise all patients, as part of which I would guess being very young might affect the calculation, if children are more likely to deteriorate fast or be difficult to assess or something. But not as just some automatic priority to children thing. We should all be furious about what's happening with ambulances and other parts of the health system, and pressuring those with the power to fix it for all of us, rather than thinking some people should get bumped up the priority list.

It's frightening for everyone, including children. Really makes you wonder how anyone could vote Tory. OP I hope your child is ok <3

Or im happy to share on here

@RunLolaRun102 NICU was amazing. But those babies get 1-1 nurse caring for them 24/7. And it's a specialised unit so a very specific area of medicine, a bit like cancer treatment for children etc. it's specialist so not so over run

She wasn’t even premature in the end! My waters broke at 17 weeks but not fully. The good hospital kept me in and sterile and did scans and basically said they’d keep monitoring and, if any concerns, they’d get her out. They made it sound like it was very likely that she’s be out very premature. But, at 32 weeks she was still doing ok, but I then got HELLP so they says they’d take me to 34 and then get her out then. At 34 she was still very small but still doing well and, being monitored constantly, they thought we should wait another week. So we did. At 35 weeks, they said the same thing. At 36 weeks, they tried to induce and it didn’t work. So they tried again at 37 and she took three days but out she came. They seem so fragile but they’re so strong in reality. I hope your little one bounces back quickly!

Sounds frightening.

however it’s an ambulance service issue, not an “NHS” or a&e issue. Sounds like once you got to hospital you were seen immediately?

did your dh not go with you? How come you went on your own?

but yes, the ambulance service is up shit creek. Our local service ends up calling the police ARV’s frequently for cat 1’s (armed police have advances first aid and life support training).

This is terrifying. The world is a very different place . Not that many years ago my daughter broke her arm, very badly at home. It was an open fracture so we called an ambulance. We do live in a big city but there was an ambulance within 10 minutes. She was on morphine shortly after that and the worst was over. I dread to think of what would happen to a child in that situation now.

@Sqqueeeeeeee she is just too gorgeous. How precious. Wishing you all the very best for the future and beyond little one x

That sounds terrifying, I'm so sorry!
I hope your little one turns a corner soon

Hi OP, reassuring post here for you. I hope it helps a little.

My DD had RSV bronch and was hospitalised at 6 weeks old. Moved to PICU after 4 days and intubated, after 4 days she was taken off the vent and put on low flow oxygen and we went home 3 days later. It is so so so scary, and the PICU wards and equipment make it even scarier! I hope your little one gets better very soon. They do say day 5-6 with rsv bronch are the worst days.

DD is 3 now, no health problems or any further complications after that. Lots of love and kind thoughts for you all. You are so brave x

I'm so sorry this happened @redorbreak

How has our country sunk so low?

Sending love. I’ve been in PICU with my daughter too. I found the nurses amazing and knowledgable, keep asking questions xx

Eh, they’re kind of connected!

the reason there are no ambulances is because they are sat outside a&e unable to offload due to an nhs issue.

I should've said, obviously in this situation OP's daughter wasn't any kind of "lower priority" as she was Cat 1 and obviously merited an ambulance as fast as possible. I'm just trying to say that I don't think it's desirable to prioritise children other than where their youth affects their clinical need. Being high priority was no bloody use in this situation anyway, because the system is utterly fucked and failing everybody, with every level of urgency, from vulnerable babies to frail elderly people.

It’s dreadful. What a terrifying time to be alive when people are dying of things that just a few years ago would have been diagnosed managed and treated in a timely manner which is no longer possible due to the decimation of the nhs. I hope your DD gets better soon.

I am so sorry for you. And I am so sorry for the country. I'm a terrified of my daughter needed in an ambulance or getting sick. I'm terrified of anyone I love needing medical care. I feel no confidence that they will get the help they need.

I wish your daughter a speedy recovery.

@Cileymyrus it’s an NHS and social care issue. The hospitals can’t discharge patients, that means no beds to admit new patients into, which means ambulances can’t offload their patients. Total gridlock!

"A lot of tuts from a few mums sitting with their DC waiting though"

Fuck them! Cold, unempathic bitches.

I am praying for your baby. Everybody is here for you

OP, reading that made my blood rub cold. I am sorry you are going through this.

When my DD (a twin) was 15 days old she stopped breathing. An ambulance arrived within 5 minutes and they stabilised her before blue lighting her to hospital. You didn’t need a lift you needed medical care 😭 as I did.

9 months later her dsis became very poorly very rapidly despite two GP’s reassuring me the day before it was “just” a viral infection. Again, an ambulance arrived within minutes (she spent a month in hospital with sepsis). I cannot bear to imagine what would have happened to my dc if they were born now with this crumbling nhs.

Why aren’t people up in arms about this, we should be marching in the street demanding this government stop destroying the lives of people.

OP, I needed counselling when after the second time it happened, look after yourself, you’ve gone though a lot today.