I'm so fucking sick of a and e wait times

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As a working mother to a toddler in nursery, I'm just fucking done with how long it takes to get help in a and e for my child.

It's starting to make me not want to go, in situations that I would have maybe gone in the past.

I'm absolutely exhausted. It's always 3/4 hours wait, at least.

I'm just so done with it. It's a disgrace.

@TurquoiseDress a. if constipation is not dealt with it can come back up the other way
b. did you miss the cases where people have died from it while under so called care?

My local hospital now has a doctor at A&E reception assessing the people who come in and directing them on where to go (eg. Pharmacy, GP, urgent care which is within the hospital or to stay in A&E). I thought this was absolutely fantastic when I found myself there a few weeks back!!

No not the receptionist.

It's the GP or 111.

What did they do for 'constipation and blood in stool'?

Feels like you go too much tbh. I've had four children who are all adults now - been twice in my life, with a burn and a broken bone.

How many times have you been that you are so tired it's affecting your work. I have taken dd to A&E in the past and was tired the next day but not so much that my job was affected.

They did some blood tests because they were worried it was a liver issue. They took it really seriously because it was really bad.

Goodness it sounds as if you're attending A&E inappropriately. None of what you have described is an accident or an emergency. You are creating a wait problem for others.
Please stop.

@Deathbyfluffy well this would suggest maybe you can be hopeful? There's quite a correlation

Unfortunately GPs are often the problem, and here it sounds as well - why are they always sending you to A&E with high fever?
They should deal with it (including trying to prescribe different antibiotics if first one doesn’t work). It’s understandable why 111 would send someone to A&E – because it’s not medically qualified people there and they don’t actually see the patient but GP should be able to treat people. But some just can’t be bothered. Another
the problem is that they don’t have facilities to run quick blood tests or say antibodies sensitivity tests (which in some otheR countries is super easy to get via primary care), and there seems no other way to get something quickly other than a&E

overall the issue isn’t with a&e
the issue is with GP system /your GP
in particular

To everyone saying (predictably) that OP should be going to out of hours GP/treatment centre - you do realise that these aren’t available everywhere don’t you?? We certainly don’t have them here. No OOH GP in my NHS trust since about 2008. And if a child struggling to breathe doesn’t warrant a trip to A&E, what the heck does?!

Ooh a "competitive not going to A&E" game Not had one of these for a while

(Oh, and appreciate that's not A&E wait times, but is a similar measure)

To be fair for the OP, some kids just have issues that flare up regularly and the GPs always refer to a&e for monitoring eg viral wheeze as they monitor response to meds/try to stretch out gaps between inhalers etc to be sure they're safe to be home. Last time I rang 111 they sent an ambulance which I didn't think was necessary but then they stopped it halfway to top up my child's oxygen so clearly it was.
So If you happen to have one of those kids (or two, in my case) there are some winters you just have a bag packed under the stairs ready to go.
Although I would say we've never waited at a&e for breathing - it's assessment and on constant monitoring within 30 mins of arrival every time we go.

This is exactly why the wait lists are so high because people go when they don't need too.

My child was seriously unwell & was seen straight away despite a waiting room full of children. Your child was clearly not that unwell.

3-4 is lucky. Last time I went to A&E, I waited 22 hours!

@AnnoyingPopUp we dont have them here either

It’s so scary. Our A&E is completely broken. Why isn’t the country rioting. Why is Rishi using private health care whilst the rest of us sit in A&E until dawn?

Have 3 kids early 20s to early teens. Each one has been once to A&E. middle one was an OOO GP that then pushed us through doors and he was admitted. Other two were for stitches.
you make it sound like you’re there loads.
longest wait recently was my mum for a broken wrist, but that was only an hour, then time taken to move through the various stations from x Ray to cast etc.
im not saying that it’s perfect - certainly isn’t, but the clue really is that each time you’ve been waiting hours because you’ve been triaged. So each time has not been a priority. So each time could prob have been dealt with by GP or out of hours.

Don't know why people are attacking OP so much. A lot of the time where I've had to ring 111 for my DC, they've just sent us straight to A&E

All of these you could phone 111 and get an out of hours GP appointment so that you don’t have to wait or if ‘office hours’ you could see your GP. You’re choosing to use the incorrect service instead.

So all of these people telling the OP not to go to A&E - if your GP told you that was the best course of action, you'd just ignore them?

I've been to eye casualty with dd for an ongoing issue six times now and we have to wait about five hours every time. I'm just used to it now, which is quite sad. When we took her to A&E for the initial issue it was 2am and we weren't seen for eight hours. It was like a war zone for drunkards. And it was a completely ordinary Tuesday night. Three blokes had a police escort. Each.

👌🏻

Blood in poo , wait a couple of days.

Very bight temperature, wait a couple of days and use Calpol or other infant suspensions.

Fever... Infant suspension and wait and see.

D&V ... fluids then wait and see.

A&E is not your first port of call. Neither is your GP.