To think you don't quite realise how badly the NHS is suffering until you witness it first hand

[DaisyCat33]

My parents are sitting in A&E today. They've just hit 12 hours. My dad was sent there by his GP for severe neck pain this morning. He's had morphine and an MRI scan, but they're now endlessly waiting to see a Dr about results. He hasn't even got a bed to lay on, despite debilitating neck pain. Many people are standing or sitting on the floor.

The couple sitting next to them have been there since 3am, for difficultly breathing.

I'm shocked. Honestly I knew the NHS had it's issues, but this bad?! It's frightening. I also had an email the other day saying my NHS dentist is closing, and it's basically a "well sorry no dentist for you any more, bye bye"

I don't really know the point of this thread really, I just feel shocked and upset that this is how it is. And I think a lot of people don't even realise? My parents definitely didn't until today. They are losing the will to live sat in that hospital.

Does anyone else just feel utterly helpless and anxious about this?

It is quite dire.

My dad went to the urgent care centre a few weeks back as his car fell onto him whilst he was working beneath it (the jack moved). He waited for an hour and was then told he had to go around to the other side of the hospital for the A&E department instead. Once there, he joined the back of the queue again and waited 7 hours to be seen - after the initial triage, there was no contact during that time (just frequent announcements saying they were busy and waits were expected to get longer).

I actually ended up in A&E on the same day - first time in years, so the chance of us being there at the same time was miniscule. I arrived at around 12pm after a fall (which broke a couple of my ribs). I was given paracetamol by the nurse at triage who accepted that I was struggling to breathe... I then waited on a normal uncomfortable chair in the waiting room until gone 8pm before I was called. There were no provisions in the waiting area (for food or drink) and the electrics kept cutting off, plunging us into darkness. It really did feel quite horrific. I was in so much pain that any movement made me cry out and want to cry - it was a very unpleasant time. Of course, nothing could actually be done - other than to confirm the broken ribs - and I left in just as much pain as I had been in, told to tackle it with paracetamol. I ended up at the G&P three days later for stronger prescription painkillers and a sicknote for the next week or two.

Whilst we were there, we witnessed lots of people tot up waits of over 6 hours including for things like chest pain. There were also lots of elderly people sat for hours and hours following falls without anyone to care for them. I had to help an old lady to the toilet because she'd been put in a wheeled chair (not one you can wheel yourself) and just left for over 4 hours. At multiple points during the day, there were no seats left and people were left standing around.

The staff were working hard - this is not a dig at them at all - but it was quite depressing to see just how bad things have become. Ironically, that was all on a Sunday, which I've seen people say before is quieter as people "don't want to waste a weekend day at the hospital".

My dh used to work in a hospital. He said honestly compared to back home its shambles. He also commented that there's a lot if sitting and tea making and chatting compared to the hospitals He worked in in his home country. GPs don't want to see anyone.
I'm not saying that's the reason why the NHS Is failing. Buts it's not great

GPs don't want to see anyone. Getting an appointment is gold dust. Dentists are closing etc. I went to the gp for a lump the other week. It had gone down by the time I got my appointment. She scolded me for bot coming when it was there... I explained a called straight away but I couldn't get an appointment util now. She then just said oh it was probably from shaving... it wasn't! This is the second time she's dismissed me. I'm not going back to her again

I think that's the real unfolding horror story here. Preventative medicine, early intervention and non-urgent care just aren't in the budget any more. People aren't seen until they reach crisis point, at which point they need much more lengthy and expensive care. A&E is a shitshow because they are just firefighting, it's crisis management not healthcare and I honestly don't know how the workforce is surviving it. Chronic underfunding, understaffing and poor leadership have led to this. It's terrifying.

I don't know why there isn't rioting in the streets. Thousands of people are dead who would not be if they got proper care. People are pulling their own teeth out because there are no dentists!

I'm not originally from the UK and I genuinely don't understand why people in one of the richest countries in the world put up with such terrible health care. All the blame gets put on patients, I mean how dare people want to actually be treated if they're ill or injured.

Hopefully you’ll get what you’re expecting with Labour’s extra funding

Where is all my tax going then? Wasted on the covid response.

Yanbu
I wonder what would happen if you turned up and started waiting and waiting. And a loved one brought a camp bed for you to lie on?
I'm tempted to test this the next time I or another loved one is forced to wait days in A&E

I had reason to walk through our local A&E a couple of weeks ago, and honestly it felt like I was on the set of some post apocalyptic film. People everywhere in all sorts of makeshift set ups.

As others have said - there are bright spots of really good service. Our local GP has been fantastic with dealing with DH’s new chronic condition. Can get in for an emergency appointment whenever we need it and the attached dispensary is super speedy.

As above, your vote is the influence you all have here…

When my mum was ill we called an ambulance and I was put on hold. Didn't even make it through for minutes. Had no idea that was possible.
Then waited four hours for the ambulance. Subsequently she spent hours on a trolley in a&e , forced to soil herself as no one was available to help. So sad.

More recently ddad had a heart attack, was in resus for a few hours, then they said they were admitting him and needed a bed but in the meantime they sat him on a chair in the a&e waiting room until he was admitted.

Yes its an absolute scandal what is happening never mind what will be coming down the road if we don't get a grip on this somehow. The problems are piling. How many people are not seeing any GP while developing diabetes/high blood pressure etc which will ultimately develop into longer term emergencies. As a nation we are very complacent..too stoic and not complaining enough. Healthcare in many many other countries is much better. We deserve better.

I remember in the 90s the real fear about NHS waiting times and lack of ambulances etc. I was a teenager but it worried me.

Then under Labour it seemed to get better (not saying it was perfect, but not the shambles it had been).

Now it seems to be being run into the ground again. I think it's absolutely immoral of the government to let it happen. If they want to bring in a different system e.g. more like a European one - okay, do that. Or fund the system we have. Either will do. But just letting healthcare go to ruin with no alternative is just awful.

Australia system is better by far. There’s a reason why the NHS is unique, it’s not feasible in modern times

Its terrible but people must be living in a dream (Or Daily Mail readers) if they were unaware of the problems

Genuine question (not dismissing)… if the lump had gone down again by the time you had your appointment… why did you keep your appointment and not cancel it to open it up for someone else?

If you had to pay for that appointment would you have kept it and paid or cancelled it for free?

What amazes me (being sarcastic btw) is that the powers that be, cannot understand why the death rate is rocketing. It’s not rocket science is it? Cannot see a gp for something easily treatable, so it gets left and becomes something fatal. Even if you are ‘lucky’ to be diagnosed with something treatable, good luck trying to get treatment at a hospital within a timely manner. Almost makes you wonder if it’s planned - raise the retirement age for maximum productivity and reduce all forms of national health care in the hope that if you aren’t worked to death, or die of something which was treatable, then you certainly won’t enjoy a long retirement. It’s win-win for the fat cats at the top.

I agree Rosienose

At my hospital and replicated everywhere one of the biggest issues is patients in our beds who don't need to be in hospital.

We have 1000 beds. Usually 200 people in them that should be at home or in another care setting.

They're not as social care is the cinderella service that this government has ignored for 14 years. Crazy given our ageing population.

These 200 people mean elective operations get cancelled daily as no bed for the patients after theatre...adding to waiting lists and risking their health. And of course the sickest emergency patients stack up in A&E. And so the cycle of despair goes on..

We try our best but social care needs a strategy, investment and due care and respect. Our old and sick deserve that.

@Boomarang because I wanted to get it checked. It was in my armpit and a rash on my breast. She wouldn't even look at my breast.

I also explained the lump has been there before but she wasn't interested. It comes and goes. If there a 2 week wait for an appointment do you suppose I just forget about it....

It’s truly awful and horrifying, my poor Dads NHS ‘care’, or lack of, was appalling. My Dad has sadly passed and we all live with the traumatic memories and how badly he was let down.

The NHS have been telling us for years how bad it is getting. I remember posting a video back on 2019 before the election that was made by NHS workers asking people to not vote conservative because they were killing the NHS off., and I have posted years before then about the way austerity was affecting medical care. This didn't happen overnight.

I work in maternity. I worry about the care my daughter's will get when they decide to have children yet know they are amongst the lucky ones because they have a mum who works in that field. I worry about us getting unwell and requiring NHS emergency care, we have looked into probate cover but that doesn't cover emergencies. I worry about my colleagues who are being traumatised and burnt out yet still work themselves into the ground to ensure care is being given. You read stories about a mum pulling her child's tooth out with pliers because they can't access dental care. I count myself so lucky because we have an NHS dentist, since when was basic dentistry seen as a luxury. It's a shit show and it's been happening for ages.

Over the last 2 years off my dads life and recently with my mum we had a lot of dealings with the NHS

whilst the care was excellent it was breathtakingly inefficient and wasteful I dread to think how much money was wasted

£1000’s of wasted meds duplicated unnecessary appointments
past from pillar to post sometimes in a complete circle about issues dealt with numerous people wasting there time and mine
The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing

so the staff responsible for organising this are responsible it’s not purely the government’s fault

"GPs don't want to see anyone. "

Not true.

Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and our teams have just had the busiest November on record, with more than 31m appointments delivered – a 30% increase on 2019, yet with 646 fewer fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs.”
“The average number of patients per GP in England is now an eye-watering 2,290, meaning each GP is responsible for 147 more patients than in December 2019,” she said

amp.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/22/patients-england-waiting-times-gp-appointments-nhs-figures

18 year old - severe Crohn's flare up - a week of vomiting and no eating - 48 hours of no liquid. Consultant (via phone call with IBD team) orders admission - this has to go through A&E (how mad is that?) - wait there for 24 hours - IV fluids take 20 hours to arrive. I have no words.

GPs do want to see patients, they just can't see all the patients that need to be seen because there's a lack of GPs. You make it sound like they are just saying behind their desks laughing about the poor sods trying to get an appt

There is a systemic issue with healthcare in this country. There's no dot joining between primary and secondary care, ICB's, public health, prevention, allied health professionals.

There is also an element of health inequalities that means people can't or won't take action with their health until it's chronic and harder to treat (another system issue relating to education, poverty and geography).

There is a lack of political will to provide the people needed (charging people to train to become HCP's?) and there is a cultural issue that the population doesn't understand the process - triage, scans, tests, clinical decision making, risk assessment, bed planning and resource planning takes time and management when you've got a constant flow of patients. Some people come last in it unfortunately. It's a complex, messy problem. I'm not sure people understand how complex or messy it is until you are at the sharp end of it. It's a system for humans, run by humans so it's never going to be perfect. It's also got pain, suffering, high emotion, high numbers, tension, a finite number of spaces to run it in and political influence influencing it. It will be interesting to see where we end up with it.