97 Yr old Gran waiting 8 hours for an ambulance with a broken hip!

[LoveCherryTree]

My Gran, 97 years of age, given to this country in World War, paid her taxes and NI all her life. She fell today in her home at 12pm, she has a broken hip, my Father called 999 and it is now 8pm and still no ambulance.
She can’t go to the loo as she can’t get up, my Father who has Parkinson’s and my Uncle, who has throat cancer, both in their 70’s, sitting with her.
This country is broken beyond repair, I even tried to get a private ambulance and they said that it won’t make a difference because all the front line ambulances are sat at the hospital with patients inside because they can’t get them into the hospitals….I despair, so it’s better for my 97 year old Gran to be in agony and wet herself, I just can’t believe it! Anyone know a member of parliament I can talk to about this? I’m utterly disgusted!

It’s like it all over, A&E so busy Ambulances are stuck in q’s so unable to pick up those in need.
hopefully she get there soon.

In spite of all elderly accidents resulting in hitting the ground being recorded as "falls", not all are.

If someone trips over the dog and breaks their leg, it's an accident whether they're 7, 37 or 70.

A fall is due to an elderly person losing the strength in their legs due to infirmity, illness, age etc.

Saying an accident is a fall, impacts on travel insurance and gives false information on hospital records. The person may never have another accident again, ever.

Recording all accidents of the elderly as falls, is not only lazy but ageist.

It is not for you to judge the quality of life of another human being. I'm done with you.

I had a shoulder decompression op a couple of years ago. Presumably because I'm now in the over 60 category, I was asked how many falls I'd had in the previous year. (It had no relevance to my shoulder problem.)

Well said. My father fell down the stairs when he was carrying too much going upstairs. It was an accident.

I should add, any person with weak legs or balance can suffer from a "fall."

9 hour wait for my dDad a few weeks ago, then two weeks in hospital with a severe infection and on oxygen.

It’s a standard question on system one, the nhs computer system. There’s also markers for frailty which sometimes get applied to under 60’s which might be linked.

The NHS has been like this for ages though. Writing to your MP to tell them what they already know is pointless though.

@LoveCherryTree I hope your gran makes a complete recovery and that a formal complaint is made on her behalf.

The situation is a complete shit show disgrace.

It always goes the way of families getting blamed, social services being slow etc, but the truth is the number of available hospital beds has significantly reduced while the population of elderly has increased. There needs to be many more beds

This is such a disturbing read and I am truly sorry that your poor Gran is in this position. Wising her a full and speedy recovery.
I’m also sorry to say that this is not an unusual event. Two dear family members have been in hospital recently and elements of their stays were just horrendous. I’ve lost faith that things will ever improve.

@RosesAndHellebores So sorry to read about your ghastly experience in A/E.
Definitely complain. Nothing to lose.
I also had a fractured back when I went to A/E in June. Refused an X ray because ‘it doesn’t matter if it’s fractured, will take 6 weeks with paracetamol to heal’ Finally paid for my own MRI.
What a laugh! Not. Don’t suppose this Practioner has ever suffered the pain of a back fracture.
Again, sending the O/P & family all the best for the preventable situation.

The fact is, it matters a lot because of the possibility of osteoporosis. I hope you are feeling better.

Exactly the same happened to my Nan last year.
94 and waited 4 hours with a broken hip and arm.
Passer by ended up dragging her indoors so she didn't die of cold on the pavement.

@Jaboodyv2 It’s nothing to do with capability. Literally anyone can break a bone, I fractured my foot a couple of months ago, children break their arms, etc.

At 97, her bones will be more brittle and prone to breaks, but that’s unrelated to whether she can manage independently. She was just unlucky.

Sat on the floor next to my neighbour for 26 hours after she had a fall. Wasn't allowed to move her even tho I could have. She went into hospital lost 20kg in 2 weeks from neglect. Stopped talking walking eating etc. Came home and died. They don't care about the elderly.

Wow. You sound like a horrible person

This breaks my heart. Our health system is so broken that this is allowed to carry on so long.

"These people"

Charming.

Fabulous. Will be watching with great hope how it will be in 5 years with a Labour government. All will be working in fantastic order. Right?

The #1 reason France and Germany do better is that they spend more money. The social insurance based system does mean that politicians have less influence over spending. In the UK, politicians choke it off.

Insurance does add overhead cost but it depends on type. Leaving the US aside as it's massively complex and fragmented, the Swiss spend the most and there you are required to purchase insurance. The Dutch do that too, but their system is quite tightly regulated and they spend much less (Dutch healthcare is apparently regarded as quite tightfisted).

@RosesAndHellebores Thank you.
I do have Osteoporosis & this was my second fracture. Both innocuous reasons eg coughing.
In reality they are acutely painful & take far longer than 6 weeks to heal. Also painkillers don’t really work.
I hope you have had a Dexa scan to check bone density.

Best wishes to your Gran OP. Someone might correct me, but I think a leg fracture could be less serious than the hip.

If relatives transporting patients with undiagnosed injuries is safe, how come some enterprising person hasn't set up such a service? Because it's not, would be my guess.

I work in social care. Social care get blamed a lot but the truth is that many of the people we see should be receiving fully funded NHS care because they are dying, or are needing care because they are waiting for operations that would enable them to be independent or we are picking up the pieces when they are discharged home without care whilst be severely ill.