To think only the patient and maybe one companion needs to sit in the waiting room?

[BoobsOnTheMoon]

I'm at the (very small rural) MIU, on my own, waiting to get a burn looked at. Every single other patient has at least one person with them. There is only one other patient who has just one companion and that's an 8 week old baby!

There's an older baby with 3 adults.

A youngish girl with 2 parents and 2 other children.

A man who has brought 2 young adults (well old enough to leave at home or in the car) with him.

An elderly lady who had 2 adults with her and then another 2 adults came in to join them, but there were no chairs left to sit on so they pulled over a couple of patient wheelchairs and sat in those. The whole group (elderly lady included) are doing the cryptic crossword.

Wtf? Easily 3/4 of the people in this waiting room are not patients. Surely thats not normal, or is it?

Even with a burn serious enough to attend a clinic…. Does t stop you whipping out your phone for a bit of mumsnet judging.

You don’t know what the heck the background is to each of those waiting

so butt out and just wait patiently to be seen

I am mumsnetting while waiting patiently and it's a burn on my leg. I don't hold my phone or type with my leg.

And yeah, I'm judging adults who aren't patients sitting in the fucking wheelchairs because there's not enough chairs for 4 companions per patient. That's just ridiculous.

Does it matter? It’s not going to affect how long it takes for you to be seen or the quality of care you will receive.

You have no idea of their background

You sound… unpleasant

You have no idea what is going on in another person’s life or who the people are that are accompanying them.

It is annoying. Even thinking of people that may need extra support it would be very odd that every single person there right now need multiple support. Unless it’s a massive coincidence!

Hope that you are seen soon and that you aren’t in too much pain.

They shouldn't be taking up seating designed for patients and shouldn't be disruptive.

I do often wonder why some people choose to turn up mob handed to medical appointments.
It's not exactly a fun day out is it?

I feel sad for people who clearly could do with support and are alone also.

Though some people can't get childcare or feel they need it. As long as people with appointments are prioritised for seating
I think it's just one of those things. Annoying as it may be.

I hate this. I had to take DS to the kids A&E a few months ago and I had the same thought. Every unnecessary person is more unnecessary germs in a confined space with no ventilation with very vulnerable kids. Just so gross. And the snoring waste of space dads taking up multiple chairs can do one too!

It is important actually. In my hospital people are literally spilling outside the waiting room as there is no space. People are sitting on the floor. Reception/ nurse in charge need to turf people out. In our local paeds ED there are signs saying one adult per child (that is a patient). It's not right that patients should have to sit on the floor so that adults who don't need a chaperone, but might get bored, have a friend. Its completely unacceptable when there is more than one

I recently had to go to a&e by myself and found it to be the same. The companions then weren’t offering up their seats for patients then coming in who were clearly ill or injured.
From a personal point of view (and this is a me problem rather than a them problem) I found it incredibly isolating to be there by myself when everyone else seemed to have an infinite amount of support.

YANBU OP, there will of course be some occasions where additional people are needed (such as an adult needing their partner with them due to ND or disability but they also have children), however I would wager that the vast majority of cases are not this and it's a complete waste of space in the waiting rooms.

When hospitals have to put up signage that chairs are primarily for patients there is something fundamentally wrong with society (I'm looking at you the waiting room for maternity appointments and scans)!!!

@NewJobNewMeNewLife I agree that companions taking up seats when ill/injured people clearly need them is unreasonable. The last time I took my elderly Dad to A&E it was packed. I got him settled and I stood by the entrance as actual patients needed the seats, as did some other companions.

I was hospitalised recently, quite serious cardiac issue and i'd collapsed once already so dh did stay with me (DS was with grandparents) because I was worried I would collapse again , but we were taken through to cardiology in about 15 minutes. Once that happened I said to dh you can go now and the doctor said no please stay keep an eye on her if she's sick or faints call someone immediately.

I broke my foot last year and he just dropped me off and picked me up. Both times there have been groups of adults there which I've found odd, not with elderly patients just 25-50 year olds in similar age groups waiting for hours. When I broke my foot an elderly lady with a head wound came in with her adult daughter, there were no free seats I would've given her mine but I couldn't put any weight on my left leg (5 fractures and a dislocation), but I did ask the group opposite all about 35 and only one a patient, if someone could give her a seat, one did with a large sigh and said I might as well go out and smoke, another of the group went with him saving her chair with coats and bags. It's just so unnecessary.

The bloody Boswells spring to mind. The main issue, however, is that there is no crowd control and departments appear to be heaving. Perhaps the staff prefer it because it acts as a disincentive.

It depends really. I recently had to take my baby to A&E. I had to bring their twin as they're tiny and breastfed and I didn't know how long I'd be away. That meant my husband had to come to watch twin while sick baby was treated. And that meant older child had to come too initially while nearest family member travelled to collect them.

Our local A&E has a sign as soon as you go through the doors about only having one person with a patient if necessary. It's just ignored by the majority.

The last time I was in A&E (by myself as DH dropped me off), there was a group of ~6 adults. The waiting time was 4+ hours, and during that time they ordered a takeaway which was delivered straight to the doors of A&E.

It'll probably continue like this until security or triage insist the one person rule is followed.

I feel the same about supermarkets too

I had to take DH to A&E at midnight a couple of weeks ago.

The waiting room was full of entire families - some of them had brought picnics along, ffs. It was ridiculous. More than once, the staff on reception had to tell people to shift so actual patients could sit down.

I think people are anxious about visiting hospitals even though they don’t show it so that’s partly why they take everyone with them

Im with you on this @BoobsOnTheMoon all those extra people mean less seats (and elbow room!) for the actual people that need to be there. ie the patient and if wished one companion. Unless there is a care need (small child, person with additional needs) there really is no reason for an entourage.

It is annoying, there have been a couple of times I’ve had to go to A&E and there have been no seats for me to sit in because they were all being used by families who were treating it like a day out with a picnic and devices playing shows or music out loud.

When I went in with a gallbladder infection, in intense pain, vomiting and with fever I ended up sat on the floor because the seats were all taken up.

I've noticed this is a trend, it makes the waiting room much more chaotic and stressful than it needs to be

YANBU, apart from a few difficult situations such as pp of twins most people could be there alone or with just one person.
Our son attends a spinabiffida clinic once a year in Oxford and every single.other child comes with an array of multiple family members, no less than 4 adults and once counted 7 adults + other children in a corridor of a waiting room.
It makes the whole place a hazardous place, also sweaty and claustrophobic, I hate it.

Exactly. The waiting room was busy and crowded and a bit noisy and hot because it was chock full of people who had absolutely no need to be there. Only about 25% of the people in there were actually patients. It would have been a much calmer experience had only the patients and a maximum of one companion been allowed in.

For those saying who does it matter - it matters to anyone who walks in and can't sit down because the place is full of people who don't need to be here!

It's a minor injury unit. Not A&E. Nobody there was seriously ill or injured, that's the nature of an MIU. This one doesn't even do X rays or stitches at the weekend. So it's not as if any lives are in danger or major traumas have been suffered.

Anyway I'm home now, burn assessed and treated, follow up appointment next week.

Completely agree! The things some people find to moan about 🙄