5hr Wait to see a Dr with sick child - how are we at this point

[IAmADancer]

Just that really. Called 111 as my DD is poorly, very high temp, vomiting, lethargic, can’t put chin to her neck as it hurts. Was told she had to attend A&E.

She is currently sat on a plastic chair, looking horrendously pale and feeling so unwell. Seen the nurse and been told it’s a 5 hr wait for a dr.

Why do we accept this as the norm, it’s awful. I feel so frustrated that this is the best we can expect and that a small child who is obviously poorly is left to wait this long

Gosh, I'm sorry. You had every right to be there, id have thought meningitis too, I'm sorry it was unproductive but I really hope the GP helps today and your DD is feeling better soon.

It's not that simple. Dismantling the GP contract undoubtedly impacted A & E access and out of hours care overall negatively.

Similar with my elderly dad, nearly 90, on his own as he cares for my mum and we live hours away, losing blood with extreme diarrhea and waited 13 hours

Its mostly about money, from the bottom up. How are people supported wth primary care needs, funding of doctors, nurses, HCPs, lifestyle support, then where are the physical bodies on the ground in hospitals of nurses, auxiliary staff, doctors, ambulance staff, then there is follow on social care which has been cut to decimation.

The concept of being more preventative, yes that needs a culture shift. The example given by the poster with the boy who had ongoing diarrhea and losing blood, should have had an option of being abel to be quickly stool tested and scanned without needing A+E and massive long waits.

And overall being more preventative as a society about our health even though no one wants to do that either

How so when it was replaced with the OOO GP system via 111, the problem is 111 nearly always either send an ambulance or tell you to go to A+E, they dont book an appointment with an OOO GP

I feel like Labour will make some improvements in the next 4 years.
As they're committed to it 100% as it's theirs to begin with.

With the possible exception of A&E, I think things are already improving. Quite a few dentists in my town are now taking NHS patients for the first time in years and, while a tooth problem isn't life threatening, it's bloody painful.

When I requested a GP appointment for a blinding pain in my temple last August, I got one the next working day, along with a scrip for steroids,and was referred to the hospital urgent care unit. That appointment was the following day, they agreed with the GP's concern that it could be temporal arteritis, prescribed steroids and booked me a consultant appointment for the next day. They also did x-rays to rule out anything else. Over the next 3 working days, I had a scan, a biopsy and other tests, and a follow-up with the consultant.

The consultant rheumatologist has also referred me to the oral-maxillo facial team to try and sort out a jaw problem caused by me grinding my teeth in my sleep.

I was really impressed.

Definitely not being unreasonable. I hope she starts to feel better soon. The NHS hasn’t been properly funded for a while, meanwhile there are more of us, more unwell (physically and mentally) and a lot of people not looking after themselves e.g. poor diet, not enough exercise etc. It’s a terrible combination and not going to get better anytime soon

I do wonder about the allocation of resources last night. No doctor in A&E for the children’s section seems a dangerous decision to make

Agreed. We were sent by 111 over the Christmas/weekend period as there were no available OOO appts. My daughter was then triaged and classed as non urgent so of course the other very sick/risk to life children took priority. We also would have had a 5 hour wait to see a Dr but as it was my daughter settled to sleep on a sofa so we made the decision to take her home and wait to the following day for an appointment. Medics are not monsters and they need to prioritise with the resources they have.

You did the right thing taking her to A&E. I’ve had meningitis myself and I was well enough to walk to the GP but got sent to A&E from the surgery. I had no idea I had it as I thought it was flu. The stiff neck symptom would be the most worrying for me. I hope you’ve managed to get a GP appointment or are back in A&E being seen too.

I agree.

The nearest A&E to me is in the city 8 miles away. There used to be another at a hospital 10 miles away, which was always a better bet. It was less busy and it didn't take any longer to get there because you didn't have to contend with city traffic. The hospital trusts merged a few years ago and what was A&E is now an "urgent care and treatment centre", although still open 24/7.

If you call an ambulance, they always take you to the city hospital, not the other one.

Since the mid 1990s cash funding has increased year on year for the NHS, by both governments.

If this were a business and you kept pouring ever larger amounts of cash in, and performance kept plummeting, You'd say your model is broken and do something about it.

But no one wants to admit it. We could double, triple or quadruple the amount of money going into the NHS and it still would not be enough.

It is frightening that no one wants to have a grown up conversation about an alternative model. We just want to stick our heads in the sand and hope it's still there when we're old and decrepit and needy.

We also PAY for the veterinary services

NHS needs a root and branch overhaul

100% agree

For what it's worth, I agree wholeheartedly with what you say here. Also, given the symptoms I would have taken my dc to a&e too.

The thought of going to A&E now fills me with dread after I was sent there last year. Yesterday and last night I was in a lot of pain, burst ovarian cyst (as it’s happened before), pain killers were barely touching it, I also had chest pains. I refused to go to A&E because I knew if I went I would be sat in a hard plastic chair and ignored for 5 hours only to be sent home with some stronger pain killers. Last time I was blue lighted, given the highest dose of morphine to get me into hospital, as soon as I got there I was put in a hard wheelchair and moved to A&E where I had to wait hours to be seen. A&E was full of people and I have to say that they all had good reason to be there (bad injuries and illness), people were lying on the floor to try and get comfortable but there was not much space…..just hard plastic chairs, elderly people who should be in beds, people throwing up, people bleeding everywhere, it was awful.

Of course when it’s a child you have no choice but to go and sit there, because if you don’t and they take a turn for the worse you would be to blame, but something needs to be done about the wait times and the comfort of waiting areas.

A quick update - went to GP and she called the hospital consultant immediately. We are now back at the hospital but have gone straight to the children’s ward.

Her heart rate is fast and she still has a temp. There is a faint rash on her chest. We are waiting to see the Dr

I'm so glad your GP has taken action

Sometimes a direct line to the ward is what is needed

Hope she is now treated and recovers well

Sending hugs

So you've bypassed A&E?

How and why? Your hospital must work very differently to ours!

Op ignore the people criticising you. Mum's instinct is so important.

I'm glad you're being seen and I hope your little girl gets better soon

I’m glad you’re back. I once took my then 6 year old to A and E with the same symptoms, plus small purple marks. I thought they were felt tips at first!

When I took her into triage the nurse more or less told me she’d seen lots of ‘neurotic mothers’ over the weekend! I had 6 kids by then and had probably visited A and E around 3 times over the years. I went mad! Was a bit louder than I should have been, through fear and tiredness probably as it was out of character for me.

We had to wait 5 hours with my kid slumped in a pushchair as she couldn’t hold her weight well. Security stood quite close to me all night.

When we finally saw a Dr he rushed her onto an antibiotic drip and admitted her immediately. Fortunately her meningitis left her with little more than poor hearing in one ear but we were bloody lucky.

Most GPs can get a child admitted in an emergency.

And yet the system still doesn’t cost as much as those in other countries with comparable levels of obesity.

Pretty normal in some areas. We often do the same in my area of Wales if you can manage to see a helpful GP. The hospitals are in special measures here so an “appointment” with a doctor in A &E via your GP means “only” a 3-5 hour wait rather than an 9 hour plus one if you have to go via A&E reception. It does depend on a willing GP though or the specific illness/injury .

Really - this is good to know (as a mother to a disabled child under several consultants at different London hospitals we've never been able to bypass A&E although thankfully haven't needed to attend too often - touch wood!)

Fingers crossed, OP, that she gets seen and treated quickly now you’re in hospital. She sounds very poorly and I’m glad you’ve pushed to make sure she gets care.

Please don’t judge the people sitting up and watching iPads. Not all illness is visible. I’ve spent a fair bit of time in A&E with a child with kidney disease - we’ve been sent to A&E to get seen urgently when he’s had blood in his urine, a mild headache and a mild temperature. He was sat in a chair chatting but they needed to check urgently he wasn’t on the way to full kidney crisis. We got such a mouthful from another parent when he got called in ahead of her child - you really can’t tell what’s going on from how people look in the waiting room!