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

[eqpi4t2hbsnktd]

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!

It totally works like that in the USA, of course. 🙄

My mother recently spent almost two days in A&E, she wasn’t seen by hour 12. She had sepsis, she now has permanent kidney damage due to repeated delays in treatment and incorrect treatment.

Three hours? What the fuck were you in for? A splinter in your thumb?

I don't see how people charging phones or eating curry or having a kip in a warm space impacts a&e waiting times. Unless they're requesting medical assistance with any of those activities.

I've been to A&E multiple times with children. Both the patients and staff havn't been a problem (poorly children/babies crying or throwing up isnt their fault).

There have been times the wait is as short as 1 hour (oddly once was during peak flu season when the local papers were warning against going to A&E unless it was necessary because the hospital was supposedly rammed. The waiting room was almost empty).

There have also been times of waiting 10/12 hours. Because there just isnt enough staff on duty.

Seriously?? I don't live in the UK and can't imagine anyone doing any of that in our local hospital, and I'm sure they would be asked to leave if they did. It's a hospital, there are really sick people there - it's not a drop in centre.

My disease will see me disabled and in a wheelchair before 60, just like my mother before me and many, many other women. The NHS will not prevent this but will offer me mobility aids when the time comes. I bought myself a little more time with surgery. This is exactly what should be funded and not IVF, anything to do with gender reassignment or methadone for drug addiction etc.

I'm sorry to hear about your mum.
My post wasnt very well worded. What i meant was those who are not an accident and emergency and can wait 12 hours shouldn't be there.
I've worked in A&E previously and there are so many inappropriate attenders e.g. people with toothache, broken fingernails, very minor ailments which can be treated by a community pharmacist or other service.
If people used services appropriately then we wouldn't have 12 plus hour waits for those patients like your mum who desperately need treatment quicker.

The problem is, if you're unwell and don't know why, how can you tell A)you might be there for 12 hours and B) Is it safe for you to wait 12 hours?

This is your opinion, and I happen to largely agree with your priorities.

This is why a proper national conversation is required about what we want, how we want to pay for it, and how much of what we pay we are prepared to spend on private companies’ shareholders vs. investing in quality improvement.

I agree with you actually. I don't think the NHS in its current form is sustainable and it shouldn't be held on to as some sort of sacrosanct deity, but neither does there have to be an all or nothing model.

But where does it end firstly you stop treating fertility and addiction then you stop treating anyone who doesn't fit within the bmi, anyone that drinks, smokes, has mental illness anyone with a disability. Health care is health care nobody gets to decide who's worthy and not worthy of treatment or life. Can you remember during covid when there was talks about if the nhs got overwhelmed anyone over 60 would get turned away. This is not the society we live in where any of this is acceptable thank God.

BMI and/or smoking is a bar to surgery here already. I've been declined NHS surgery on a very painful hernia because my BMI is too high, due to stage 3 lipoedema that the NHS won't treat. There isn't enough money to fund everything and the NHS should focus on saving life and limb of patients before anything else. If I become disabled then I can't work as much/earn as much as I take more resources up. Infertility while sad isn't life threatening and I don't see it as my job to support people who smoke/drink/drug/eat too much through my taxes either. I'm loving your theory but sadly the numbers don't stack up!

But they do stack up the issues with the nhs aren't financial its bad management

Well iv got a hospital appointment this afternoon so I'm off to spend some of the nhs money

Oh, the NHS is absolutely badly managed but it doesn't negate the amount of people trying to access it's services, and the amount of things it's trying to do. Hence I think some other way of managing both resources and people is needed!

Very adult response. Go you! 🙄

What. i do have an appointment i cant help I have multiple medical conditions and disabilities so I have to use the nhs a lot

Agreed! People turning up who have not had an accident and it's not an emergency!

A friend took her family of 4 to A&E because a 1 year old had a funny coloured poo. Completely unnecessary and a waste of everyone's time. *spoiler- the baby was absolutely fine, nothing wrong.

Absolutely agree.

It would certainly help if people didn't abuse A&E, not saying waiting lists etc aren’t long, but you see some sights in there.

Poster can’t even be polite and decent on here.

DM was in A&E less than three hours. There were two people ahead, a teenager with an injured foot and a drunk showing his genitals and vomiting on the floor. This was early on a Monday.

It's not always the patient's fault, I was sent to A&E by the walk in centre. A couple of years ago I went to the walk in centre with what I later found out was a Bartholins cyst. I couldn't get a face to face or telephone appointment with my GP so thought the walk in centre was the best bet. When the nurse triaged me she immediately said I needed to go to A&E. I wasn't examined, I only described my symptoms and she sent me on my way. When I got to A&E I was asked what I was doing there, why hadn't I gone to the walk in centre as it was more appropriate!

I felt like I was wasting A&E time but I'd tried to go elsewhere and been told I needed A&E. To be fair my GP surgery is much better now and I'm pretty sure I would get an appointment, but at the time appointments were like hens teeth.

@PinkSparklyPussyCat

But you have just proved my point. You didn't have an accident or an emergency. You didn't need to be at their the walk in or A&E. You have added extra waiting time for people who actually need it.

You should have seen your GP. I know the service many receive isn't great, but they can not refuse you an appointment.

What's the point of the walk in centre if you can't get medical attention when you need it? According to the website 'Walk-in Centres provide nurse-led medical treatment when your condition is urgent but not an emergency, and can provide a quicker and more appropriate route to treatment than hospital Accident and Emergency departments (A&E).'

I suppose I could have waited a few weeks for a GP appointment but as I was off sick because of it that wasn't really appropriate. I was sent to A&E by the nurse, maybe you should take issue with her for sending me? Surely if I'm so terrible she should have sent me home rather than to A&E.

Was in and out within 2 hours with my son yesterday, all the staff were amazing. I work in a busy London hospital (took my son to a different busy London hospital yesterday as it was closer) and the NHS is most definitely on it's knees.
Massive underfunding of all services means A&E is the funnel for most medical care.
Fewer GP's and fewer GP appointments mean people attend A&E instead, or come to A&E because they can't get the referral they need to specialities because the GP doesn't have the funding anymore.
The racist lady was probably a mental health patient who also should not be in A&E- she should be assessed by a more specialist team in a more appropriate setting.
It's just gonna get worse!

It's disgusting that they misdiagnosed your MIL like that. Are/have you made a complaint? How is your MIL now?

That's outrageous!
I hope you've made an official complaint