It's not A&E that's the problem - it's people!!!

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Was in A&E last night. Busy east London Hospital...
3 hours in and out. Staff amazing. Tests done etc... Facilities (not pretty) but fine. Had a seat. Seen in privacy and treated with respect and care...

However the people waiting were awful.. one woman kept coming in a racially abusing the reception staff... security kept taking her out. Stopping the staff from getting on with their jobs.

Entire family (6 of them) eating a curry and having very loud family time up the back of the waiting room - so loud that the Dr.s calling people's names were not being heard... causing delay.

2 homeless people sleeping across multiple chairs (not begrudging them a warm spot to sleep.. but they should not have to be there.)

2 woman came in just to charge their phones up!

It's not the NHS that is on its knees it's society. And A&E is the harsh reflection of society!

That has not been my experience. I had a 12 hour wait.

The NHS is absolutely on its knees, very well documented and publicised. I had a 12 hour wait in London hospital recently.

The people you described sound annoying but do you think people should not receive A&E treatment just because they're annoying?

So A&E need to be stricter on what they allow to happen in there. People are always going to take the piss if you let them get away with it.

There is a small % of “frequent fliers” using a and e.

It’s a social care problem.

Whilst I think A&Es/the NHS are very much also on their knees, I agree with your point. Last time I was at the walk-in, about 8 early teenagers were coming in to cross a busy waiting room to use the water cooler. Apparently they'd already been in that afternoon, and when I left I saw them hanging out nearby: it was just a place to go for a drink! Like the women in your post re charging their phones up ... It's not a convenience store!

Agreed. Also aside from parents of young children it should be one accompanying adult maximum. The people who brought a curry in - it's not a bloody day out. I took my parents in once with Carbon dioxide poisoning. We had to wait behind a family of about 6 who clearly were regulars and all there for no apparent emergency. They were most put out and kicked off when my parents were rushed through ahead due to being a genuine emergency.

It's also A&Es though.

Under funded, under staffed and in this area of East London there's a standard 6-8 hour wait to be seen, even if you're elderly and find it difficult to sit in a hard plastic chair.

Meanwhile, the councils in their wisdom keep building more and more flats so everything's gridlocked.

I never been in and out in 3 hours. 10+ hours maybe

And as for 3 hours in and out, you were extremely lucky.

Most people here are waiting up to an hour and a half, just to pick up their prescription from the hospital pharmacy.

Oh, all the a&e staff must be lying about the long waits in corridors then.

3 hours in and out? I can only imagine your illness was very uncomplicated and not very serious. Even then near me you'd be waiting 12 hours. But yeah, the people are what makes it horrible!

I went to a&e recently. The told the person in front of me it would be a 14 hour wait, I was ready for the worst, but I was seen immediately and was out in an hour. The nurse giving the meds said 75% of the people they see don’t need to be there; they should be at the GP, the eye hospital etc. I’m sure there are differences in areas, but me and my DC have always been seen quickly
on the occasions we have had to go.

Not my experience. I waited 10 hours. Most people waiting were sitting patiently, working on laptops, bless them, trying to put in a day's work while bleeding. Meanwhile the medics were run off their feet because they were so colossally understaffed. There was no system of triage in place, insufficient rooms. Everyone so frazzled; the departments weren't communicating with each other so we were sent for the same test three times and snapped at for losing two sets of paperwork that we had never been given. I don't blame the staff but they were massively incompetent due to being at breaking point.

It took me 7 hours from triage (That took two hours) to see a Dr last night.

I said to the nurse who did my obs before I left that they must be really busy… she said no!!

The people in the waiting room were not abusive at all. Some of them were really obviously very sick; others (like me) had injuries which needed to be checked and treated.

The food vending machine was broken, and it cost me £3.60 to get two cups (half full) of really horrible tea.

I was amazed that people were so patient tbh- some had been in there far longer than us, with only water to drink, and nothing to eat.

I was in and out of A and E 2 weeks ago in under 4 hours. Broken and dislocated shoulder ..2 sets of xrays, shoulder put back in.
I was clearly seen quickly as I was screaming in agony!!!

My husband went recently as he cut his hand badly and needed stitches. He said 80% of the room was time waster. Pretending to faint, getting all the staff over, going out for a fag then coming back in and having loud phone calls and then pretending to collapse again. It was awful

Not at my local a and e.

The hospital is pretty much closed for visitors as flu and Covid are so bad.

They've just announced extended hours at all the minor injury places as they don't want people catching covid etc from the hospital,

Of course not, but given that there are regular complaints about people sitting on floors in waiting rooms I would question whether every member of the family of 6 was requiring an emergency treatment or had an accident.

I don't think 3 hours is the average... I was just very impressed. Maybe that speaks volumes about expectations these days.
I'm not suggesting that annoying people shouldn't be treated. It was more that there were people there that did not need to be there. Like the reception staff were taking about it... not just me making medical assumptions!

And if you well enough to eat a curry perhaps it's not an accident or an emergency! (perhaps it is... idk but they ALL seemed fine).

It is a social care problem. But also a society problem.

There seems to be no level of respect anymore. Like if you in a&e be quiet (unless you broken your shoulder...you go for it), be respectful, don't order food in or have a party, don't rant down your phone for hours at full tilt, don't scream the n-word at the reception staff...

It's a&e not carnival...

Was in and out in 4 hours the other week including xray and ct. However even late evening some people were treating it as a family outing. Why do you need four adults per patient with baby in tow, eating, drinking, smoking and complaining. Plenty of chairs in main waiting area yet some still insisted in sitting in an area set aside for cancer patients and the immunocompromised.

The amazing staff in my local A&E probably saved my life recently. I mean, it was chaos, but they still managed to care, and do the necessary.

The waiting room was divided into 2 areas - triaged and quite poorly, being admitted; and really should simply be at the GP (I gathered all this from their conversations before I lost consciousness!). But as people can’t get into their GP in any kind of timely manner, if at all, they have nowhere else to go when they’ve run out of meds (no exaggeration). No one appeared to be there for fun though.

We need to fix GP services and social care, and stop expecting A&E to be the only solution for people who simply need a GP appointment.

Been in A&E earlier this week. It was a 10 hour wait after triage.
People who came in drunk, or in handcuffs, or with a police escort were fed and watered, and seen within an hour or two.

Once in the service was brilliant. In depth interview, Dr performed a couple of procedures, sent for scan and Xrays, results were brought, medication prescribed, all within under 3 hours.

Had I gone through the GP, I would still have been waiting for a call back.

I think you should have only one person to accompany you and that’s if you really need someone.
As someone who had to go frequently I used to tell my DH to go home.

I seriously doubt ppl came into A and E to charge their phones!

I call BS on you being in and out in 3 hours unless you were there for the most basic of blood tests and a BP check. I live abroad and we have minimal wait times because it isn’t socialized healthcare and I’ve still never been in and out in under 3 hours, more like 5-6 sometimes 8 once scans and tests are done. But then I wouldn’t be there for anything other than an emergency. This story doesn’t add up at all OP. Anyone even abroad knows how badly the NHs is struggling. What a ridiculous post. If you were there for quick bloods maybe we could say you’re also part of the issue.