To think the current A&E wait times are mad

[Iamunsure]

I live in west Midlands and the current wait times in our area's A&E is currently 9 hours to be seen for general and 6-7 hours for children A&E. We took our DC to A&E as asked by 111 triage. It's absolutely mad with people sitting on floor for hours to be seen.
How are the waiting times in your area and how's your experience been. I think it's absolutely mad and gone massively downhill for NHS.

It depends what you are in for. How long does it take to go through triage?

The last time I went to A&E (Christmas Eve) , I was 2 days post-chemo and had developed unexplained bruising. I had been given a 'priority card' which I showed them and I was seen within 20 mins and put on an AB drip.

Only time I took ds in, he'd fallen at school, taken a chunk out of his knee and needed someone to get the grit out and clean/stitch the wound. Plenty of blood, no chance of him dying of it though. He was dealt with after about 3 hours by a nurse. It was the middle of a Tuesday afternoon.

I spent 48 hours there in A and E with my 80 year old dad in a wheelchair - after 49 hours he got a trolly. It was like a field hospital in a war zone / major incident. They put blankets out at night. Patients were left for hours and hours in the waiting room waiting for x-ray and blood results..........usual medications were missed, food, water.............horrific
I feel for the staff trying to work in those conditions.
My local A & E has had issues for years before covid, it can't cope with being the only one in the area since they closed all the smaller ones.

I think what everyone has got to remember is the nurses and doctors aren't standing in a room rubbing their hands together laughing saying let's see how many more hours we can keep them waiting. Ridiculous I think some people think that.
I wouldn't be in their profession for all the money in the world.
They are doing their best in very difficult situations.

It isn't just the NHS. The country is falling apart.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/13/uk-stop-kidding-ourselves-rich-nation-gone-bust

Yes, people need to be aware of what is happening in the country especially when there will be a GE in the near future.

I was in a&e at our nearest Children's hospital with dc2 last week. We were in and out within 2 hours (including triage, xray and temporary cast applied to wrist)

There were however lots of people in the waiting room who had been waiting for 5 hours plus (and were complaining loudly about it!) I can only assume that triage had decided they didn't need to be seen quickly.

Absolutely everything @applepie4u put in their post. You see it on here all the time too.
Elderly relatives in hospital and doesn't want to pay for care, wants family to do it but they cant, advice is 'refuse discharge! Take the keys away so they can't send them home!' And you've then got someone medically fit in a bed that people down in ED are waiting for. The social issues are off the scale!

I live in mainland Europe - my local hospital will usually see A&E patients within an hour. More than an hour's wait would be unusual - my partner was there recently and they apologised that the wait would be longer than usual as somebody was in need of more urgent care. I think he waited an hour to be seen, total. Treated and home within 2 hours. Never any feeing that people are "misusing" the system or going there with non A&E-worthy problems.

In fact, when as a worried new parent I took my sick baby daughter to A&E for something that turned out to be pretty minor, and apologised for wasting the doctor's time, I was told "it's our job to decide that there's nothing seriously wrong with your child - and that's why you were right to bring her here, if you were concerned".

It shocks me to read the stories about wait times in the UK, or that people think that this is somehow justified, or normal. It's really not...

They is alot more demand on the nhs too as population in uk has exploded.

People living longer.

GPs are 100% part of the problem - I’ve lost count of the amount of times ours has told us to take DD to A&E, despite her clearly not needing to be there and being told to just go back to the GP🤦‍♀️ I feel embarrassed even turning up as I know we’re wasting their time but what else can you do?

Wouldn't want to live anywhere else as still think uk best country in world.
Sorry I'm biased but alot of services gone to pot.

They can't win though as we've all seen the stories of gp missed something and pt deteriorated. They can't do right from wrong. If they didn't sent pt and there was something more they would be in right s...

You really think that A&E was an appropriate place to go for tonsillitis as our GP couldn’t fit her in an appointment that day?

My friends say patients complain that dr didn't know something about them.
Typical comment
'Have they not read my notes'

Remember the size of your notes !!!!and amount of time dr got.
Highlight main illnesses to dr, bring medicine with you etc etc, do something yourself. Don't expect to be spoonfed there is not the staff or time unfortunately. Use your initiative like you do when you are complaining about the nhs.

Reference previous poster
Everyone knows tonsillitis can be very serious and some cases are admitted and on iv antibiotics.
Remember sepsis

I don’t think most of us think it’s ok or normal. But what can we do aside from using the next election to vote for a party we think might do better 🤷🏼‍♀️

I don’t want to emigrate so I stay here, hope things will get better, and just try not to get ill!

I think though that a lot of Brits would say that although the NHS is on its knees, most of the people who work in it are excellent. Most hospital Drs would still tell parents they ‘did the right thing’ in bringing in their poorly child (even if the child turns out not to be very poorly).

My DD was sent to A&E by the GP last week for suspected meningitis. We were seen within minutes of arriving. I was really surprised having read all about these appalling wait times. However then I heard a nurse tell someone that someone else in the waiting room was kicking off because they'd been there for 19 hours (this was childrens ED). I guess if it's not life threatening you won't be a priority if a continuous stream of emergencies are coming in. I definitely got some angry looks when we were rushed straight though but I can't fault how well they looked after her (it wasn't meningitis fortunately).

Because immigration is the Tories current thing. If they can push the Rwanda bill before the next election they think Rishi and the party will be saved therefore they're throwing money at it left right and centre.

And while we're all focused on those antics the NHS slips ever further out of the limelight.

I think I’d be inclined to side with the actual A&E doctors (rather than a random MN poster with a bizarre love for the NHS) who have told us on multiple occasions that there was absolutely no reason for her to be there, the GP should’ve just properly assessed her. They didn’t do anything on any occasion that a GP couldn’t have done. No red flags, just lazy incompetence

Properly reading notes is not only
a) their job
b) essential for clinical safety

There is no excuse

Source: worked as an AHP in the NHS for 20 years (before it went down the drain)

we live in yorkshire.. i recently went to a&e with a suspected stroke... it took them 6 hours to simply speak to someone... i was in a&e a total of 29.5 hours before they finally admitted me and kept me in for 5 days! while we sat there, we saw people come who had come to a&e because they couldn't get to their GP..

Because people mis-use A&E instead of going to a pharmacy or their gp.

But GPs need to stop fucking about and bring back booked appointments instead of all this call on the day for an appointment.

People want to see a doctor so they go to A&E.

I also think triage could do with telling people to go home rather than admitted them.

I last went to A&E for myself 5 years ago because I was pregnant and bleeding, triage should have just told me what I waited 6 hours for a doctor to tell me, we won't scan you now, here's a letter, go to maternity services in the morning. During my wait, there was 1 lady with heavy periods who should have gone to her gp. 1 guy moaning about his wait but was in and out within 3 minutes of seeing the doctor so not whatever his issue was could clearly have been dealt with by a gp.

I did not say doctors don't read notes
Of course they read notes that goes without saying but they can't read four folders full so it's good if pt can help and fill in blanks quickly too. All helps too make things smoother for both pt/dr

Is this sandwell hospital?