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.

My neighbour fell and broke her hip last week. 14 hours on the floor of her house waiting for an ambulance. Her daughters were here before the ambulance and they live hundreds of miles away.

please educate yourself on the state of the NHS in wales before you blame the Tories. It’s worse here than in England.

Google the stats for waits in Wales vs England.

Definitely should have closed the pub. You’d hope that they’d have decent insurance that would allow them to claim for any loss of earnings. She may well have a claim against their insurance herself!

Obviously you can say what you like, but what you are saying is total bollocks.

Take waiting lists for example - now at record levels due to Tory decisions. Labour endeavoured to keep them lower for two reasons: 1) health is important for the economy and 2) the longer you wait the more ill you become so the more it costs the NHS to treat you in the end.

So using additional capacity at times where there is short term excess demand saves the NHS money.

But never let the facts get in the way of a good moan...

The Tory HQ line these days is 'Labour won't do any better'. To which the only answer is - there is no way they will be as bad as this Tory shower of shite. Because at least Labour want the NHS to survive and want the average person back at work rather than off sick. The cost to the economy of having one in seven people waiting for NHS treatment is huge. It is the real reason behind the missing workforce.

Yes going private for my arm fixed wonderfully quickly. Cut wait times etc. But how much did it cost the NHS?? During that period two wings of my local hospital were closed. The next town’s maternity ward was closed and they now have to travel to our hospital. Now there aren’t enough beds… I never said ambulance waits were as bad under labour. Things are worse than they’ve ever been. I said I think the NHS has been let down by all governments for decades and has been in decline for ages. I’m in my mid 50s. I don’t have faith in any party. I wish I had your belief that simply voting labour will solve things. I really don’t see how things are going to change. It scares the hell out of me.

I don’t know why people keep blaming the pub for staying open. I very much doubt that they knew that the poor woman was going to be waiting there all day; had they known that, they might well have chosen to close. Or not - they’d still have needed to have kept the heating on and might not be able to afford the power!

If I called an ambulance for someone who had fallen and couldn’t get up I’d probably expect help within the hour, depending on location. I wouldn’t be thinking oh, that’s the whole day shot then. (Well I probably would now after reading this!)

Yes, you’re right. There are absolutely no labour politicians that will get rich off the country and look after their mate’s companies. They’re all straight up!

Well this is what the voting public voted for.

If you want to see a change vote differently next time.

Seriously not sure what anyone expects, when you vote for a party that has systematically unravelled the nhs before our eyes, since Maragret Thatchers time in government, what outcome was anyone expected. A short stint with a better party as government did sone good, but in no way had time to put right that damage and since then, they tory government has been left unchallenged to do this.

I hope this poor woman receives some treatment soon. My mum was in the rain outside her house with bones protruding from her arm for 14 hours.

I don't vote tory and never have but we've had to put up with the government others voted for, thanks.

You are conflating two issues.

Waiting times for ambulances pre-2010 (i.e. under overall Labour government) were way better in every part of the UK.

Yes NHS issues/performance are worse in Wales than England. Wales has specific issues of rural populations and poverty that make the NHS more expensive to run than in England.

My dad tripped and broke his leg on Friday. Took himself to a&e as he couldn't bare weight on his leg. Because of how long he sat waiting without it elevated it made the swelling much worse. He was told it was a severely bad break in two places and still sat for over 12 hours in a&e before he was taken to a ward. I was able to get up there to take him stuff at about 8pm and it was bedlam. He was in a chair basically in front of a sluice room because every spot was taken and he needed to be somewhere people wouldn't bump his leg. The doctors and nurses were run off their feet but it still wasn't enough. It's such a shame what's happening to the NHS up and down the country.

True it’s probably worse

Well firstly the ambulance call takers will have given them an idea of how long it would be. Secondly you would think within the 7 hours she was lying there they would have come up with a way to screen her so people like the OP wouldn't even know she was there let alone be able to gawp at her and know details about them getting a pad for her to relieve herself etc.

I was in hospital for a knee operation with an elderly lady who had slipped on ice and lay on the pavement for three hours until an ambulance turned up. Shoppers had put their coats underneath her and on top of her to try and keep her warm. Sadly, an old lady lying in the freezing cold with a broken wrist wasn't a priority.

Yep. This just about sums it up. Democratic country. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Poor woman. I wouldn’t do it to a dog.

You seem to be changing topic now.

This current Tory government is corrupt to a level we have not seen before. The Michelle Mone story is just one example of how the Tories have awarded massive contracts to their friends.

Given Labour have said they will strengthen regulation of the way contracts are awarded, I honestly think it will be an improvement on where we are now.

I'm not even a committed Labour supporter, have only voted for them once, but only a fool can not see what the current Tories are like.

And this is part of the reason why it's all going to pot, lying about what's actually wrong, so ambulance is taken away from someone who is worse than a fall, like a car crash or actual heart attack.
The through flow in hospitals is also poor as well with it difficult to get discharges done.
You'll have seen advice on here, 'oh no! Don't let them discharge you/family member till you get the EXACT care package you want.

I got yelled at today by a family member who said their parent wouldn't go home till 'the 'home help' was organised to make them a proper meal every night, none of this ping rubbish' they wouldn't listen when I was trying to tell them we don't have carers to provide critical personal care, never mind going in to make meals from scratch by someone who is independent with everything!

They really say “We won’t be there before closing”? 👀 I’m so glad I’ve never had to call an emergency ambulance.

If you read the full thread the OP gives an idea of why she knew this woman was there and knew those details. She wasn’t just lying in the middle of the place being discussed with all comers.

I understand your perspectives but it's a mix of factors that could delay treatment, e.g. Traffic jams, other more urgent cases, current staffing levels for the local hospital, ect even if the health service was perfect, it would still be a mix of factors beyond the hospitals control.

That said, Hope the person was ok, in the end ?

Absolutely bloody awful for this poor lady. Ironically if she had fallen outside the pub she would have been a higher priority. The 999 call handler will consider her to be at a place of safety because she is indoors .

This is sadly very common. I worked as a support worker and they can take hours to come. They prioritise life critical. It’s horrible for the lady but she is in a safe place and conscious so will be low on the call list. My 90 yr old nan waited over 12 hours on the floor , she had broken her hip. It’s a sad state of affairs. For people saying pick her up , no they shouldn’t do that. You could cause injuries and we would have got sacked if we picked up a resident. If they can be helped back into a chair and no injuries then that’s different but if they can’t bear weight and get themselves up you can not just pull them up. It’s horrible watching people on the floor you can only keep them warm and hydrated as much as possible until help arrives.

That's just awful, the poor woman.

I fractured two bones in my ankle and dislocated the middle one a few years ago. They refused to send an ambulance as they said it wasn't serious. So me, my husband and a neighbour, who heard the screams, had to drag me across the garden (it was pure agony) and then we drove to the hospital. The staff were horrified as they said I was really near to my bones breaking the skin and I might have made my injury worse.

The Tories are an absolute disgrace to let the NHS get to this state. It's always had issues but I've never seen it in this state.

I’m going to step back from this now because you don’t seem to hear what I’m saying and just throw insults. I’m envious you feel so confident in labour. I wish I did. That doesn’t mean for a minute that I don’t detest this current government that killed my beloved father and I definitely won’t be voting for them. I just don’t believe in labour either. I don’t believe in any of them.

So what about the patient genuinely having chest pains or breathing problems that the ambulance is then diverted from?

Statistics disagree with you. The NHS was in a much better state under Labour. 13 years of Tory incompetence, Austerity, Brexit, corruption and demoralising NHS staff has done a huge amount of damage.

Including in the 3 other countries of the UK.