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?

Is there enough seating for the patients? If so then it's not an issue

In relation to the comments nor regarding like families of 8 but those like ( the cut finger ) needing 2 adults. You have literal no idea the in and outs of anyone’s lives. After spending 2 years without going home on a children’s ward with daughter I learned no matter what was wrong and if it seemed less than my situation to never judge the persons actions because we have no idea of any multitude of factors.

things we now have to attended a&e for at times

any fever of 38 ( regardless of if she is running around like a maniac or has something basic like a snotty nose and a mild cough ) - all the time

when permitted and at times when her bloods are bad -
every head band
any fall
injury there bleeding from fingers to toes

if possible my sister will come with me because you know 20-30 a&e stays can be lonely and exhausting and sometimes I need to go get a drink or eat some food. Sometimes I need to walk out and cry silently to myself so daughter doesn’t see the worry.

I can tell you that there is many times I’m in a&e when tou may look at my child and think well why the heck are they here … but the reality is very different and sometimes people just need support.

I’m in Australia and have seen similar. I’m happy for adults who may need to bring multiple children as they don’t have childcare but there’s generally no reason for every patient to have multiple companions. If I went to hospital I would expect DP stay home with DD. When DD went to hospital I went with her and DP stayed home/went to work. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just that both of us don’t need to be there.

My son requires 3 or 4 carers with him. Even when he was young I would never have taken him on my own.

If your ds has severe and challenging special needs that is of course very different to the average person taking a spouse, a parent, an auntie and a best friend with them.

The op never confirmed whether actually treated

maybe missed her name being called out due to bashing out posts on this thread

Yanbu at all. No matter what is going on you don't need more than one person with you.

I did confirm that actually, in a post at 19.29. I guess you're too busy being unpleasant to actually read the thread properly

Oh sweetie, the irony! 😆

I agree with you op. The chairs are for patients, not for hangers on.
I don’t work in A&E but we ate similar in that we have limited space, and that space is for customers. All customers are told that we will accommodate only 2 people. We do not have the space for more. Staff are busy and working, we can’t cater for infinite numbers of people just sat around, treating it like some kind of social get together.

Maybe those people have a different dynamic. I’ve been in A&E on my own, via ambulance and then with 2 people via car when we were all very frightened.

I’d be glad that they weren’t all waiting to be seen.

It’s a a day out for some families. Same ones that all go food shopping together.

It’s the taking up the chairs which is the problem. I’d hazard a guess that the fit and well non patients don’t all rush to offer their seats to patients. Also by being there they are causing people to have to sit on the floor. They need to move out of the waiting area. If it’s full, it should only be for those who are sick and awaiting to be seen.
The staff are not going to suddenly go out and buy more chairs are they? Or start knocking through walls to create more space.

It would never cross my mind to order a takeaway to A&E or a MIU. I spent 9 hours in A&E recently with my sister and only had sandwiches on me because I was making lunch when she rang me to take her there. I didn't even think of a phone charger either.

I was talking about children who are already poorly. The last thing they need is another illness on top of whatever has brought them in. And got knows what germs are in that waiting room.

When I visit my oncologist there is a very small waiting room and seats are often taken up by family members. The worst one was when the patient was taken to the Day Unit for treatment and his 3 family members remained in the very small waiting area.

I don't think you understand irony.

You should have checked whether OP had provided an update before categorically stating that she hadn't.

I find her judgement of those waiting in A&E, when she knows bugger all of the background and their situation, “unpleasant”

hence the…. “Irony”

But it does though. It crowds the place up and the last time I was in A&E (after a long seizure) I ended up laying on the floor of the A&E because there was nowhere for me to sit because multiple families viewed this as a family day out.

thankfully I was seen in no time at all and only laid on the floor for 2 hours.

but yeah. Ofc it affects other people. People are so entitled and greedy.

YANBU and only knobheads would agree with the first few replies.

I hate using our walk in centre because it's like a family day out for some people...

I routinely have to attend the trauma dressings clinic in my hospital (having a series of 5 reconstructive surgeries for cancer, which require a lot of changing of dressings and nurses taking photos, etc).

It’s a small waiting area, maybe 8 chairs. Everyone brings someone with them. It is often standing room only. Here I am standing after having had major surgery with a big bleeding wound. The thing is everyone looks well, because they are mostly small wounds. So you can’t tell who is actually a patient until someone comes out and three people stand up to leave with them. 🙄

There have been times when I couldn’t drive myself to hospital because I was literally not allowed to drive due to the nature of the surgery I had. But Dh would drop me off and go have a coffee and come collect me. We didn’t bring both kids and clog up the whole waiting area. If I’d needed assistance, he would have walked me in to make sure I didn’t fall over and then gone to the cafe for a coffee.

All the folk telling you to mind your own business and that you have no idea what is going on in peoples’ lives are clearly the same people who take their whole family to MIU and hog all the seats.

Totally with you here OP, it’s selfish and annoying.

There’s been a million threads on this already OP! Why do you feel the need for another one, to go over the same ground again?

People have reasons for what they do; you just don’t know what they are. Accept it. If the hospital wants to chuck out unnecessary family members, that’s up to them, not you!

But it’s a social scourge that needs reiterating!!

why should clinicians be using valuable clinical time on crowd control / telling (repeatedly as the next cohort of morons turn up for the show) the spectators /people the obvious - this is for patients, a support person IF necessary ( like a parent for a child / young person) - everyone else go and find something else to entertain yourselves - doh !!!