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 saw a tweet the other day from a woman meeting a mum at hospital who had to take her floppy baby on the bus as ambulance times were so bad. Horrific.

I know its clinical need but if you have a bunch of cat 1 calls then the baby is first surely?

Well you would think so wouldn’t you, frankly if there’s a 90 year old with a 70% risk of mortality and a baby with a 20% risk of mortality, in my view baby still comes first. I know that’s an unpopular view on here but to me it’s common sense and an acknowledgement that resources are worryingly finite at the moment.

It is really important we talk about these things so a) politicians start to realise this will count in the ballot box and reprioritise and b) you think how to keep your own family safe- so make your own plans on how to get to hospital, what to take, when to act/not to act and so on, where your nearest MI or A and E is...

Op good luck to you it sounds incredibly frightening, I 'needed' an ambulance recently but there was not one available so a person I've never met volunteered to drive me, I went without painkillers with a highly vulnerable injury, I will never know if that damaged it further, but I couldn't wait and so that's the decision that was taken in the absence of a realistic ambulance time. The lady I was opposite at in our ward waited 18 hours on the floor of a restaurant where she'd fallen. I chose not to do that and went without painkillers and may have damaged the injury further, but lying there and deteriorating didn't seem an option.

That really isn't the case. The NHS was in very good shape 2008/9 . Not perfect but waiting times were a lot lower. I mentioned previously the very fast response time to an incident with my daughter

This is awful and I hope you and your baby are doing OK, OP. I've had a similar (although nowhere near as bad or frightening ) situation with my young teen over the past few days and have been shocked at the level of care.

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

Totally agree with this comment- I've had the same thought many times over the past few weeks.

I have to say having got into the hospital, once through A and E my care was fantastic. Not all bits are broken, but getting a GP or ambulance, getting screened, and getting into the system are all broken as is getting out when you are mended.

Awww she is lovely

The NHS has had 13 years of the Tory government - are you surprised?

A top doctor said this week that 2008 was the best of the NHS and now is the worst. 2008 wasn't a Tory government. Say what you want about the other parties or Labour but they do appear to value the NHS. NO ONE could possible think the Tory party care about the NHS at all...

but the tory lot will whinge on and on and on but hey ho there you go

Shame on those people for tutting. That's awful

At the end of the day, if there are no ambulances, what can an MP or PALS do about it?

How scary for you Op hope your daughter makes a speedy recovery it’s awful seeing your child unresponsive.
The state of the NHS is giving me such anxiety with a severely medically fragile child

MP or PALS could try and make a case for better prioritisation. There is no way there were absolutely no ambulances on the road at all for 5 hours surely. And if they were on the road one of them should have been diverted to a cat 1 call out for a 9 month old.

@VirtueClapper83 Putting it politely.... I'm fed up of reporting your comments... WIND YOUR NECK IN!!!!!! 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡

Her child is probably asleep or unconscious. There are some lovely encouraging comments from strangers who have been through similar experiences. As well as the opportunity to offload some trauma. Might not be what you would do but maybe this forum for parents supporting parents isn't for you,?

Not the case - it’s primarily a social care issue. It’s because people who are actually in hospital but no longer have a clinical need to be there have not yet been allocated where to go to next.

And you know this how?

Her child will currently be sedated and on a ventilator so shhhhhhhhhhh!!!! She will be sat not able to dooooo anything. Just sit and watch

I've been there. You, clearly haven't

👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

I am so sorry to read this, and I hope your daughter will be ok. Sending hugs.

Yes well given that you’re not actually in this position, nobody really gives a shit what you would or wouldn’t do

@Soontobe60 I think you misread my post. I have no idea how they prioritise but if a baby isn't top of the list of a bunch of people who are all the same category then maybe they need to relook at the way it's done. Unless I guess there happened to be loads of cat 1 call outs for tiny babies at the same time but that seems unlikely

@Soontobe60 Not the case - it’s primarily a social care issue. It’s because people who are actually in hospital but no longer have a clinical need to be there have not yet been allocated where to go to next.

Are you a Tory MP or something? Why this propaganda?

If you in fact just need to educate yourself, then here's today's report from the front line:
www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/05/nhs-hospital-ward-understaffed-12-hour-shifts-we-cant-even-get-basic-care-done

And here's the investigation into the current PM's outright lies about funding:
www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/05/rishi-sunak-accused-misleading-public-emergency-nhs-funding

The NHS is broken, it has been systematically broken by the Tories for ideological reasons - i.e. to impose a for-profit healthcare system to further enrich their fat cat cronies once our previously world-beating free universal healthcare system has been finally destroyed by their vicious politically driven actions.

OP, I'm so sorry for you and I pray for your DDs quick recovery. There but for the grace of god are we all right now. #GeneralElectionNOW

Babies and young children should get priority because they can deteriorate very quickly. I say this because I’ve been in ICU etc so many times with DD and they always say that (the medics).
Im sorry for you OP. I hope your little one recovers soon