To wonder if this doesn't upset you, nothing will

[ThirdWorld]

I've name changed for this as it's very identifying.

I live in a small village and and as a treat after a long hard day at work popped into my local pub for dinner.

Lying on the floor was an elderly woman. She was covered with a warm blanket. She had tripped and fallen at lunchtime, and obviously badly hurt herself.

An ambulance was called at 12:30, she is still lying there in the middle of the pub waiting for an ambulance.

I've obviously read about how broken our NHS is and even read the thread on here where a poster had written about her aunt who had fallen and was waiting for about 12 hours for an ambulance. But reading about it and actually seeing it for real is even more heartbreaking.

This poor old woman has been lying on a cold wooden floor for 7 hours! The owners and bar staff have been amazing and are looking after her. Well as much as they can.

I can't tell you how useless I feel. There is nothing anyone can do. The woman has obviously been refusing food or fluid in fear of wetting herself.

I know from reading the thread I mentioned previously that there is nothing anyone can do but wait.

As we left they were getting her a pad to relieve herself. In the middle of a pub!!!

This is 21st century Britain! I don't know what I'm expecting from this thread, am tempted to call the local press to see if the publicity could hurry things along, but that would probably be even more humiliating for her.

This woman has no family and is cold, miserable and in pain lying in the middle of a pub.

I just can't believe our country has fallen to this. God knows when an ambulance will arrive. She will end up getting more dehydrated and probably go into shock. And there is nothing anyone can do.

So distressing to see and my heart bleeds for the poor woman. Just prey that none of your relatives ever have a fall.

Let's hope an ambulance comes soon.

I'm sure they would if they could afford that....why don't you start up a Go fund me page so everyone gets their wages....oh and pop over and sit with the woman too so landlord can take a break.

This is a small family run village pub. They closed off the bar area and left the restaurant part open. They're not heartless far from it.

As PPs have mentioned apparently it's impossible to move a person with a suspected broken hip, unless you have a team of professionals.

I remember from the previous thread that the poor poster had tried everything to get her aunt moved but it's impossible. Apparently the pain is excruciating.

Like I said I don't really know why I posted, I guess I'm in shock seeing with my own eyes how bad this country has become.

Poor woman! I remember years ago when I worked with people with learning disabilities. One of our lovely ones feel down some steps in Central London and broke his leg. He was a man in his 40s but with various health issues away well as ld. He waited 3 hour for an ambulance this was 2014 in December so very cold.

The support worker with him actually lay on the floor with him to calm him down and an off duty emergency worker helped. As did local buisnesses with blankets etc.

I absolutely dread to think what this situation would be like now.

I hope this lady is getting treatment now.

That is truly heartbreaking. What a sad and sorry state the NHS, and country, is in

Do you mean you couldn’t see her lying under a blanket and the room was closed off?

I am an NHS nurse and I can't describe how bad the wards are, they are dangerously understaffed. My DH has currently been in A&E for 24 hours I went to see him, and it was absolute carnage. You need to see it, to believe it and I work in it, but I was shocked.

Oh, poor poor woman! That's awful! I know when my dad broke his hip, there was absolutely no way he could have been moved or got into a car - even with a huge dose of morphine, it took four paramedics absolutely ages to get him onto a trolley and into the ambulance.

I really hope she's safely tucked up in a hospital bed now getting the care she needs.

And the OP has now confirmed they shut off the part the woman is in. So noone was drinking around her.

I'm not saying it can't - but people aren't going to want to risk moving her in case it makes things worse. I also suspect the call handler has said not to move her.

I wonder if the pub would have closed if they'd known she would be there for 7+ hours.

I suppose, you keep thinking/hoping it won't be long before help comes...

I really hope she's safely tucked up in a hospital bed now getting the care she needs

Highly unlikely. IF an ambulance has arrived she'll probably now face a wait of hours in the back of it outside A&E

That poor woman, lying on the floor for 7 hours and counting and people continue to eat and drink in the next section, unbelievable. God forbid pub takings are down whilst a customer has presumably one of the worst days of their life.

It's awful and happening daily.
The Tories have been hell-bent on pushing the public towards wanting a privatised system for years. And now here we are, 2023 and approaching the end game. An NHS failing so badly that soon people will be begging for a new privately run system to save our broken health care system.

Then, years down the line, when people realise how they were manipulated and lied to and people of all ages are dying because they can't afford treatments which would once have been provided for by the NHS without question, the government will shrug and say "this was what the public wanted".

Not shut off enough that customers weren’t aware she was there.

100% this.

A&E/NHS24/ Ambulance service other than obvious under funding etc are also struggling due to the vast amount of misuse, so many unnecessary trips to A&E and calls
to 999, if people could learn when to use these services it would also lessen a wee bit of the load.
Recently, my son attended A&E with a suspected broken ankle(was torn ligaments) and the utter drivel I sat and heard was awful, staff came out to say the wait was 6/7 hours unless triage deems you urgent they suggest you leave, one person across from us said she's been there for 5 already and might as well wait, admitted she was there for nausea but hadn't been sick the whole time she waited!
My son was seen, x rays and home in 2 hrs, could not fault the staff in any way, they must have patience of saints with the time wasters they see.

Its awful that the pub didn’t close and shut the area she was in. You turned up 7 hours after she fell and were able to have a good look at her and presumably discussed with somebody there the fact that she was refusing food and water and the fact they were going to get her a pad to relieve herself. It seems cruel of the staff to discuss that with patrons and not to close the pub to give her privacy. The fact everybody is aware she is there is humiliating, if the pub was closed off to people like yourself who are nosing around and gossiping about it then it would be far less so.

It is awful. I visit a lot of elderly people to help complete disability forms and many of them tell me that they have had falls and been on the floor for hours, some with broken hips etc. One old lady was telling me today she had fallen out of bed twice in the night and just managed to pull the duvet off her bed to keep herself warm and stayed there until the carer came the next morning. She hadn't had her alarm with her. She wasn't waiting for an ambulance but it is still heartbreaking how many old people fall like this.

Thank you @Redglitter , ive just just seen the update, it sounds like they are doing their best
Are you ok @JudgeRudy your response is quite bizarre under the circumstances
I agree you are probably in shock @ThirdWorld not a situation you'd expect when you pop out for a meal
Let's hope the ambulance arrives soon

Indeed. Im not sure what the OP thinks calling a local paper will do except humiliate the woman and put even more pressure on an already struggling service.
Do people think they are choosing this?

Exactly, it’s all down to this government. They are running the nhs into the ground.

"A&E/NHS24/ Ambulance service other than obvious under funding etc are also struggling due to the vast amount of misuse, so many unnecessary trips to A&E and calls"

Yup time wasters are largely to blame

I.can only speak.from.my experience,but my 16 year old collapsed four weeks ago.with a life threatening condition,the ambulance was here with in minutes and he was seen straight away and taken to Resus,and was in critical care with an hour .

@Babyroobs
A bed guard/ support and alarm near by helps.

That's a very simplistic view ,the NH S needs a complete overhaul ,it doesn't matter whose in charge ,nothing will change unless the overhaul it from to to bottom