To share ways to make A&E more bareable

[silvershark22]

Given lots of people find the 12 hour plus waits in A&E tough wondering what things make it barable.

Mine is an oodie can vbe warn if in a draftie place or rolled into hood to make a pillow or sat on to make uncomfortable chairs better.

Aside from the usual phone charger, snacks, water, jumper, as an a&e nurse one of the most important things you should take if you can is any regular medications you take, especially if they’re very important like insulin, parkinson’s meds etc. I’ve lost track of the amount of times people just expect A&E to stock and supply every single medication under the sun while they’re waiting and then it’s a 4 hour wait overnight to get their rare insulin or suspension form of medication from the on call pharmacist or (recently happened) transplant anti rejection meds! that they’ve missed doses of. There’s some really important meds and missed doses can have a real impact on people’s health. Oftentimes patients who are due a medication we don’t stock end up missing doses and the person accompanying them won’t go home to get it because they don’t want to lose their parking space. It’s incredibly frustrating.

I really wish our A and E dept would have changing facilities for severely disabled people. They obviously have regular toilets and a ‘disabled’ toilet but since our adult son is in a wheelchair, he has to be hoisted onto a bed/bench to change his pad. Our local hospital has a changing places facility but that is by the main entrance so I big trek across the site. You know full well he’ll be called the minute we leave the department.

in this situation you should he offered a space and assistance with a hoist but i’m aware this probably doesn’t happen often. at my work we have one “toileting cubicle” (for the patients being treated on the corridor) and half the time the trolley in there is taken to offload someone from an ambulance but i would always do my best to get another one in this situation.

This sounds so hard. If basic needs cant be met in the department should be somde sort of bettdr system to flag where you have gone and make sure you dont completely loose your place. Thinking of the pagers assistance use at airports but appreciate thuis is one way.

When going with someone who takes reggular meds should they just take to usual schedule or give to staff or what?

Its an odd consept that a hospital wont have meds, but appreciate that you have things for emergencies ratherthan every condition.

We are unfortunately very regular visitors to our local hospital and A and E. We've always kept a go bag since youngest was small. We have one with a few changes of clothes for him, wipes, wet bag, a change of clothes for me, portable charger, charging lead, several copies of an all about me document listing his needs and key information, a copy of latest consultant letters. Meds are kept in kitchen a quick to grab. I have a bag of toys that only come out for hospital appointments or visits including a stash of wrapped small party bags type toys so he can have something new regularly if having to wait for a long time, a light wight blanket to hide under, enough safe snacks to get through a couple of hours, water bottles and squirty squash and social stories about hospital/ waiting and communication board. Tablets have favourite films/programs downloaded as signal/WiFi very spoty. We also usually take one of his cushioned seat pads with us. I always have note book, colouring stuff and a few fidgets in my bag. He can be seriously ill and bouncing off the walls, in fact he seems to become more active when he pain.
When taken in by ambulance and no readily available care for oldest paramedics have made sure she has things to keep her comfortable too. She needs these everyday so easily accessible but in the past was prompted to get ear defenders, eye mask
Then we have two bags both with three days clothes that can be brought in if he is admitted and easily swapped for washing. I keep a box of safe foods in the kitchen which would get him through a few days and are organised for husband or parents to bring in. We are lucky to have a good support network and plans in place which makes things easier for us. My mum will bring in his favourite foods if he is well enough to eat after a couple of hours, keep us stocked in snacks and pop in to give me regular toilet breaks if a long wait. She keeps a stock of chocolates/biscuits for staff as we have always been so well cared for despite long waits.

That did not happen. Because people could have possibly died due to it. Not all emergencies prevent you from standing and cause pain.

A good idea is to have a week's supply in a pill caddy. Record the tablet, dose and day in Contacts on your phone. Mine's called Medicines.

Always tell a doctor or nurse if you’re taking any of your own medicines whilst in A&E so it can be noted in case of any contraindications of what the medical staff may be giving you. they may well say to hold off until you have been seen by a doctor. But for important critical meds these can be written up on a prescription chart and then marked as self administered by the patient so we can keep track.

Theres tens of thousands of medications in the BNF it’s not feasible or a hospital pharmacy to stock every single form and type of medication. if a person can only take liquid medications and we only have tablet forms, a lot of tablets can’t safely be crushed and dissolved. we don’t stock every single type of insulin. Patients should be aware of their medications and know which ones are critically important and prepare accordingly. Obviously not in a blue light emergency situation or when you’ve come from outside the home, but if you’re preparing a bag to bring to A&E. Please bring your meds.

After my last experience, I would also grab a wash bag, clean undies and plenty of sanitary protection if needed. I didn't and after a.life threatening wait in A&E, I was in hospital over a week. First 4 days with no clean clothes, sanitary pads or shower gel. I managed to get some pads from staff, but they weren't able to give me anything else.

Not who you asked but here are the current waiting times where I live

Sorry to hear of this experience. Its a shame you werent given any shower jell or toothbrush. Hospital pads can also be verry bulkie.

Take one of those fold up camping stools so you can put your feet up on it.

Its great you have a good support network. The bag of wrapped toys sounds a good idea when you know you have a high risk of going in. Feel childrens A&Es should have somewhere out of dirrect child sight but with vending machines with toys and crayons etc. maybe

This is absolute bollocks.

I waited 9 hours in a plastic chair and I had 2 seizures in those 9 hours. during those 9 hours there were many many trauma pre alerts on the speaker (you hear them in my A&E) not patient details just 'adult trauma call 5 minutes'

Between the seizures I could stand up.

So yeah, that's bollocks.

Following on from that, meaning I was being seen urgently as possible as it was urgent. I was admitted to ICU after I was seen. I was being monitored by the nurses outside the triage room and kept having ECGs but there was no space, no beds.

Another issue is bed blocking. That affect trickles down to A&E for patients like me waiting 22 hours for a bed. I was seen after 9 hours but there was no room. I ended up being on a trolley in the hall opposite where the doctors sit in case I seized again. There were no beds anywhere. They tried to put me in a normal ward under the car of 'out reach' team (someone qualified may be able to explain more what that means) just to get me in a ward with a bed. There was none. 22 hours.

Yes I could stand up in between. If I took that advice and went home I would've died.

Agree its really hard to get a bed. I honestly feel a number ogf the posters have never been admitted or known someone who has been. If there hadnt been a risk of seizures you may well have had even longer without a trolley.

That must be the wait till the initial assessment though. After that there can be lots more waiting for tests and tests results and you aren't always going to get a bed while waiting

Some breathtakingly naive posts here, from people who have been lucky enough to not have to go to A&E for many years.

About six months ago I lost my vision while I was out at the shops- everything went dark and I was totally blind. I went to A&E where the triage nurse thought I might have had a stroke- I had to then wait in A&E for 14 hours for an MRI, totally blind the entire time. I was incredibly scared.

The NHS is on its knees, if you haven’t experienced that yet then you are very lucky.

If you've got time to charge your devices before leaving then you probably dont need to be at A and E. I agree though it's nicer if they are.

Mine is wear layers.. a and e seeks to verge between icy and boiling

That's like saying if you haven't called an ambulance you probably don't need to be at A&E. Because surely if it's emergency you call an ambulance?

The thing is even while waiting for an ambulance you probably have time to charge devices. They often talk of a couple of hours wait,in all but the highest catagory of calls.

Hope you are now ok. This sounds very scary. Hope you waited somewhere comfortable.

Great idea!

@cornucopiaoflove I too have spent many many hours in waiting rooms between seizures! I once face planted a pool of vomit (not even mine!) which was pleasant I'm used to this after years of it but ironically I was recently accompanied by a family member who works in this area of NHS who said I should have always been classed as a "falls/injury risk" (?) and always should have been put on a rails up trolley/bed under supervision. Funnily enough when she took me to A and E this actually happened for the first time! Apparently I should have been put into minors (it was just a broken bone) with the cubicle door sheet open, but as they didn't have a free cubicle I was in the corridor. I didn't give a fuck as I was so very grateful not to be on a chair - it's awful that our bar is so low isn't it!? All I have been offered by receptionists in the past, even post waiting room seizures, is a wheelchair rather than a waiting room seat but NHS relative said wheelchairs are considered more risky than a seated chair?! So next time I, or whoever takes me, will be asking for a trolley at triage!

@RobynsMama it's very interesting to hear from an experienced professional viewpoint on the thread. I'd be interested in your opinion on trolleys for epileptic patients! Firstly though, thank you as it's a fucking hard area to work in - sometimes I read "NHS staff member was rude to me" type threads and think I would have told them to fuck off, and the staff member involved sounded like an angel Some of the patient behaviour I have witnessed has been horrific. I think a lack of security staff can be as bad as a lack of clinical staff. A patient (and this wasn't A and E) punched my DD - they should have been having 2 to 1 care but of course there wasn't enough staff, and security took forever to come from the other end of the hospital. Two strong HCAs pinned him (and so many patients complained their call bells weren't being answered in the meantime of course!) Your comment about hoists is also interesting, a lot of wards where DD has worked haven't had enough hoists and expect manual handling instead from staff - DD is 7.5 stone and five foot!

(After the inside advice, I also now take in boxes of pens as thank yous rather than chocolates/biscuits as they are apparently more appreciated, and can be used by everyone! I also take two boxes so night staff don't miss out )

Re meds, I have a dosette with a daily box marked with the day and four compartments divided into times. This goes in my Proper Hospital Bag but I also keep two duplicate days boxes in my Outside Home Handbag. All my meds are listed in my NHS records but staff seem to find it much easier and quicker to see the green prescription paper slip so I take that too. There is no way I would expect A and E to stock them as a few are very niche and hard enough for chemists to obtain with plenty of notice. I genuinely had no idea that some people expect A and E to keep and dispense every single patients already prescribed usual medication!