To think most people who phone for an ambulance could make their own way to hospital?

[fillmeup]

Either by getting family or friends to drive them there or getting a taxi. Obviously if you’re on the floor with a broken hip etc and can’t be moved or had a severe stroke an ambulance is required but most people I’ve heard on the news recently talking about how long they have waited, I’ve seriously wondered why they waited 20 hours (or thereabouts) and didn’t just get a lift.

Completely agree, these are not reasons to call an ambulance

I think we should liable to pay for ambulances.

You're not just paying for a lift, you're paying for two medically trained professionals and a kitted out van

And yes I have lived overseas where I once had to pay for an ambulance. People still called ambulances when needed.

I've called an ambulance 6 times in my life.

Three were at school for children, one a head injury and the others asthma attacks. Yes, probably if I was at home with my own children, I'd have taken them myself, but with parents up to an hour away, that seemed the best solution.

The others were for DH who had bone cancer. There was no way I could move him and neither could the ambulance crew without gas and air and morpine.

How do you drop off a child?

In our case, I was told at the hospital that if I had left my child overnight, he 100% would have been dead by the morning. When assessed at 6pm by 111, he was walking and talking. The system said he needed an ambulance and it was absolutely right. That there was an hour’s wait and the fact that I knew I could get him there sooner probably delayed the diagnosis - we had to wait in A&E and then again on the Children’s ward before they worked out what was going on. Paramedics may well have got to the issue more quickly. No way of knowing.

I agree with others. In a genuine emergency you can drop. In A and E recently with my DD, a man came running in screaming, a bunch of nurses ran out and within a minute an unconscious young girl was being run through the corridor in a wheelchair, a nurse supporting her head, and into recuss.
As it happens we were on our way to lunch (we were awaiting NG tube fitting...yes we had to present to A and E, seems silly to me too) and his car was just left on double yellow lines right outside the department. He moved it once his daughter had been stabilised.

I parked in a disabled spot late a night in an unfamiliar town with my DS - it was right outside the children's A and E. He was covered in petechiae and bleeding from nose and mouth. Again we were seeing a consultant within 3 mins and I moved the car several hours later, when he was stabler. Turned out to be a rare blood condition, btw.

@Callimanco I am so sorry you and your son had to deal with that.

Sadly it would not be possible outside of my A and E. The ambulances stacked up mean it is impossible.

Not what op said was it? Plus was your ambulance a 20 hour wait? If so then yes probably best getting a lift!!

Of course you can leave your cars on double yellow in an emergency but not all hospitals have this setup! At mine (Kings college) you literally can't
If you're not in a space you would block ambulances. And the drop off isn't at A and E its at the main entrance (and is always full)

Probably best not to let it turn into a life threatening emergency though. A lot cheaper and quicker as well to remove it before it becomes a problem.

firstaidforlife.org.uk/999when-to-call-for-an-ambulance-and-when-not-to/

Interestingly their costs are wrong.(according to gov.uk)

It is now _
Each 999 call for an ambulance coasts NHS £8
If an ambulance is dispatched it costs £227
If the patient is taking to A and E it costs £395
If they spend a night in hospital it costs another £400 per night.

There are families who made 10,000 999 calls last year for an ambulance (according to The Times) . Just those phone calls cost the NHS £80,000.

I agree completely. I saw one TV show where someone rang for an ambulance because a condom had burst. People really need to be told that limited resources mean that not everything is an emergency and to use a bit of common sense instead.

Yes, have done this too when husband took a bad fall outside and tore his quadriceps tendon in half. I pulled up at the double yellows, went in and asked for help, two nurses came out with a wheelchair and while he was in I moved the car to the parking area.

One terrible thing my A&E has done now is moved upstairs. It used to be right there as soon as you came. It's now down a corridor, up the stairs/lift then down another corridor. Madness!

No I was referring to having a heart attack.
sorry I didn’t make that clear as I was doing something else at the time of replying.

if you read my other post on here you’ll see how I feel about it all.

I don’t know about post covid but pre covid our local hospital had a minor injuries clinic. You could book an appointment or walk in on the understanding that if you walked in you could be waiting a while but if you booked an appointment they would see you as close to the appointment time as possible. You could book appointments that day and they never released all the slots in the morning. It was open 24 hours and staffed by nurses and doctors and they would have some dealing with appointments and some with walk ins.

It took the pressure off of A & E but as it was part of the hospital it meant that you could quickly get transferred to a different department if needed.

I would guess that many people are scared that if they didn't call an ambulance for someone but got them there by other means and something terrible happened, they would be blamed and feel guilty for the rest of their lives..

Wow the Tories have really done a number on so many of you. Lost count of the threads blaming sick people for the state of the nhs. Blame the underfunding government! Not some poor soul who calls an ambulance. Stop believing this guff. Other European countries ARE NOT IN THIS STATE (written as a resident of another European country with an excellent well-funded health service).

I guess it depends on who you have to rely on for a lift. When I was unwell a few years ago I saw a nurse at my surgery who said to make my way to hospital and not to drive myself, call and ambulance if needed. Luckily my sister could give me a lift over

Oh ffs. As if anyone thinks a gravely ill person should get themselves to hospital. This thread is about people who can. I've relatives who used to work for NHS24 and people really do ask for ambulances because they don't drive or apparently have no money.

Don't be ridiculous. You can blame the Tories for underfunding the NHS and still think people should get a taxi when their condition isn't serious rather than call an ambulance.

@fillmeup A taxi? Would these taxis be driven by the taxi drivers who quit because of the lockdowns. One company here had fifty drivers pre lockdown. Post lockdown......19
Did you support the lockdowns OP?

i had to call out of hours doc on 111 recently for someone who has complex medical problems, very vulnerable, bedbound.
she had clear signs of 2 infections, both of which have previously become near fatal.
we requested antibiotics.
usually a doc comes, examines, and give antibiotics.
this time, middle of night, an ambulance came, wanted to take her to hosp. she said no.
she needs at least 4 people to move her, so they would have to have waited for another crew.
the paramedic said he thought she had an infection and needed antibiotics.
yes we said. that's why we rang 111.
the ambulance remained outside her home for 4 hours, while he said he was trying to speak to a doctor to prescribe antibiotics.
i suggested his control could do that, but he said no.
we were quite shocked. this was during period when news reported severe strain on ambulance service.

Money can be a huge barrier. I’ve been in a position with no car and literally zero cash for a taxi or bus. So I wouldn’t have a way to get there.

I’ve only had an ambulance once and, judging by what I read here, I shouldn’t have and should just have made my own way to hospital.

I fell down the stairs at home and was lying half in, half out of the bedroom door. I knew I’d done something to my foot and ankle by the excruciating pain and I couldn’t move. The front door is at the top of the stairs and my 80 year old father couldn’t carry me up them (he would have needed the ambulance) so he called an ambulance for me.

I had broken my heel bone and torn ligaments in my foot and both sides of my ankle - not life threatening but I didn’t know if it was dislocated (the paramedics thought it might be). It took a lot of gas and air to get a splint on my leg.

It’s not always easy to judge. By injury, I didn’t need an ambulance, but could I have moved without it? No.