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.

Last time they closed all our A n E services and laughed about how proud they were that we didn't have services any longer. Not sure I would like more services closed here.

13 years of Conservative government have got us here.

Sorry to hear this.
Lamy youngest had persistent fever over 40, only down to 39.5 with calpol and ibuprofen at A and E. they told us virus and sent us home with temp unable to reduce.
3-5 days later temperature came down.

scary times with little ones.

I remember a gp coming out to our house when I fecked my neck doing a handstand on the bed when I was 7. I'm 37 now. Six years ago I had pneumonia, collapsed lung and sepsis, my husband was rightfully worried and phones the gp, they said I was too young for a home visit. Tbf I thought I just had the flu so wasn't being very cooperative, especially with the sepsis delusions I was getting.

The last few times I've been in A&E I've not had to wait at all. I was critically unwell/in severe pain at the time though...

I don’t think 4 hours to wait for specialist medical help is that long. If you’re in a life threatening condition you’re seen faster. How people expect to have a doctor waiting for you as you arrive is beyond me. 8 hours wait - yes that’s too long (but happening), anything under 4 hours is fine for non life threatening conditions.

Because there are children in there sicker than yours...

If the OP can't get a GP appointment, then what is she supposed to do!? The NHS have us in a catch 22, we can't get appointments OR go to A&E because we're not supposed to 'overstretch' them. My GP took FOREVER to get back to face to face appointments after Covid, it was absolutely absurd.

There are always a fair share who think you should only go if your head has fallen off.

Oh come on @Boomarang nhs waste is palpable. In July I had bloods for a chronic condition for which I have injectable meds. One of the liver panel bloods was up and stayed up. The registrar equivalent insisted I had an ultrasound, then a fibroscan, then a full body isotope scan. Eventually I spoke to the consultant "oh, did we do an isoenzyme alp test" said she. "No" said I. They thought it should be done. The result - elevated ALP predominantly from bone.

The waste is breathtaking. That test could and should have avoided three very expensive "urgent" tests, and much time and worry for me. I don't want to hear the whine around resources ever again and I certainly will not give more money in tax.

3-4 hours is not that long a wait (unless your child is unstable and deteriorating in which case I’d hope triage does what it’s meant to and they’re seen sooner). The unusual part is having a child sick enough that you need to take them to A+E but well enough for someone else to look after a few hours later so that you can make going to work your priority - my kids have only been sick enough to attend A+E a couple of times thankfully but each of those times I’ve been sufficiently worried about them to need a parent staying with them the next day.

I sometimes get to go to the out of hours GP- I love it. They sometimes send us to and e for fast breathing rate.

I tried to get an out of hours appointment yesterday but because I also mentioned breathing issues to 111, they sent me to 111 ( after seeing my child breathing on video and being concerned ). When I got there I told the nurse that I think it's tonsillitis and we just need some antibiotics, but I was told to go there by 111. In fact 111 wanted to send an ambulance.

If I hadn't mentioned breathing issues, I would have been able to get an out of hours appointment. But I genuinely was a bit worried about the breathing.

But I knew it was tonsillitis and I knew we need antibiotics. I may just not mention breathing next time if I know we need antibiotics for tonsillitis. He's had tonsillitis around 4 times this year but hasn't had the weird breathing with it usually.

The thing is, they say that very high fever that won't go down, plus high breathing and heart rate, could be sepsis. So of course they want to see the child to rule it out. Once they realise that the vitals are ok, they make you wait. But if those are the symptoms, they need to rule out something more serious.

Our population has increased by 4m plus since 2010. Our health service is not keeping up with demand. Our A&E locally became a 'super' A&E and all the others were shut down. It is a complete nightmare.

Because there are now laws where even peaceful marching can result in arrest.

Does Sunak have access to private access to A&E services?

And while I want this government out I'm not naive enough to think that when that happens there'll be miraculous improvements overnight in A&E waiting times

1 home visit = 6-8 patients seen at base. at a time of demand massively outstripping supply (GP recruitment crises?!) I’m not sure this is the answer to the A&E/ OOH access crisis 😅

Mumsnet is going to end up with a LOT of unwanted publicity when if this competitive not going to A&E game ends in tragedy

Trouble breathing, esp with a small child, can absolutely be an emergency.

Do private A&Es exist?

I get your frustration wait times are crazy. 7hrs isn't unusual for my local hospital at the moment. However, saying that, if it's a real emergency rest assured you won't wait. A plethora of highly trained NHS staff will be there. Be grateful for that.

I feel for you OP, it's hardly fun for anyone and it's not really something you'd do lightly.
I suppose you probably need to focus on how and why your child keeps getting sick.
What are your kids ages?
Do they have any pre existing conditions because that's a lot of sickness.
On the actual point of the post though, you have a valid complaint and it's the staff that work there that suffer too, not the people making the decisions.

If you’re having to wait in A&E be grateful because that means whatever you’re there with is unlikely to be life threatening. If you’re getting rushed through it’s because something might be very seriously wrong and not being treated immediately could lead to death. Obviously those patients whose symptoms are life threatening get seen first and jump the queues, if you’re able to wait to be seen then whilst I don’t disagree that it’s a bit frustrating at least be glad it means your symptoms aren’t causing any serious concern and can most likely be treated.

This!!

It's not for random people on the internet to determine whether someone is deserving of medical treatment or not. We have many MANY pathways into a medic in this country, all of which contain highly qualified people trained in triaging and treating people. Stop putting people off seeking help!

This is making me wonder if I am being too lax about high temps. It is not unusual for my child to have temps that stay above 40 after medicine. Wondering if I should be more cautious and take them to A&E although we have been ok so far. What is the guidance - only if breathing difficulties as well?

OP is right, it is a disgrace. The NHS is chronically underfunded and poorly managed. Workers at all levels are at breaking point. Patients are suffering and dying needlessly. You'd have to be a fool to deny it.

Blaming OP for attending A&E with a sick baby is also disgraceful. If you have a baby who can't breathe properly/has a high fever that doesn't respond to medication/is bleeding from the anus, it's the middle of the night and the only options for urgent treatment are 111 or A&E, you make the decision you think will be safest for your baby. 111 is a shitshow in its own right. Even if you do manage to speak to a human being with some medical training, 9 times out of 10 they tell you to go to A&E. Especially when the patient is a baby.

I don't think you were wrong to go to A&E. Especially as you were directed there by other branches of NHS (though your actual problem mau be those services making bad calls). However when you get to A&E you are triaged and prioritised. If you end up waiting for 12 hours it's because it wasn't actually an emergency. At the moment of triage there really ought to be a diversion stream to tell you this can wait till morning.

Your problem isn't with A&E per se, it's tgatcthe GPs have insufficient resources to deal with things that aren't serious enough for A&E and there aren't enough OOH snd walk-in services. A&E is picking up the failures of these other services.