AIBU to question my husband's treatment in a hospital waiting room?

[SadlyNotATroll]

Posting here for traffic sorry. DH had a routine blood test on Thursday and was sent straight to hospital after some concerning numbers relating to his kidneys I think. He was there all day Thursday having tests and sent home. Was called at 10:30 on Thursday evening saying he had to go back in the next morning. I don’t want to over share his personal details on the internet but he is being treated with IV antibiotics but isn’t actually being told what for. Last night they had no beds and he slept in a chair in the clinic waiting room. I say slept but he didn’t sleep at all. Today he’s still there and being told he will be needing to stay in over the weekend but they have no beds. He has no privacy and is sat upright in a chair.

I get that the NHS is in dire straits, I really do. But how can he be treated in a waiting room chair and be expected to sleep and recover there? Do we have any recourse at all? Please don’t think this is a nurse/NHS bashing thread. The staff have been wonderful and it’s not their fault at all.

Unfortunately it is what it is the other option is no treatment

He absolutely should have had access to a bed. Unfortunately, if there isn’t a bed there isn’t much the staff can do.

I suppose the only thing you can do is take a camp bed in and some confy pillows. Or unhook the bag and go home. Go back for another onem

No beds means no beds. Presumably he doesn't have broken bones or something where sitting on a chair would actually make his illness worse? It's not good but if he doesn't actually need to lie down medically they'll have to leave him there until a bed becomes free. I hope you can bring him some pillows etc?

It's horrible to be in such a helpless position. You have no say because you can't change the situation and your DH needs the treatment. As someone else mentioned, can you bring in a camp bed and blankets (blow-up mattress or something)? Can he stay at home and you bring him back?

Sounds pretty standard. Our NHS is far from the envy of the World.

I work for the NHS and he would not be told to come in and sit in a chair for an entire weekend.
Unless I have misread your post, something is not right here.

They should put the bedblockers on chairs. They’ve had their treatment. IDK why they don’t do this.

I'm just having lunch after nursing patients in a hospital corridor on trollies since 7:30am (some been there over 48 hours since admission). It was ridiculous. How old is your DH? He's getting his antibiotics which is very important. Can you/ family visit frequently and make sure he gets food, water and movement?

That's our ‘world beating’ NHS at the moment. 🙄

Not a great situation to be in.

Here in Scotland IV antibiotics can be given in a day clinic if there's nothing else that the patient needs to be kept in for. So much better than having to hang around for a bed or for staff to get to a patient. The clinics have big upholstered chairs which are actually quite comfortable.

This happened to my 80 year old mother! I got sent home and told to return at 2am to collect her. On my way back to the hospital they phoned to say they’d found a bed. When I returned at 9 the next morning she was still sat there. It took over 24 hours for a bed to be made available. Have to say it was after I totally kicked off! So so bad and sad!

Has he not asked what the iv antibiotics are treating?

I don’t think there is much that can be done unfortunately, other than choose to self-discharge without treatment. Unless you have private care and can sort a transfer to a private hospital. But presumably they are trying to get everyone they can out of there if it’s that overcrowded in the heatwave. So he is probably safest staying there for IV antibiotics (it’s possible they aren’t sure where the infection is yet, either that or they’re so rushed off their feet nobody has had time to explain it to him yet, which is also poor). However it’s well worth pointing out that he’s already been sitting there overnight and is struggling with it and asking if he can be prioritised for a trolley so he can lie down when one becomes available.

It’s been in the news that hospitals are overwhelmed with seriously ill people not even being able to get a trolley in a corrridor and having to sit in a chair overnight. It is absolutely appalling though and I’m so sorry for him and for you. It’s not what should be happening in a country that is one of the 5th richest in the world or something.

I’m a GP and yes we are in the middle of a crisis with the heatwave, however it wasn’t exactly unpredictable and should have been better planned for. Also there needs to be more slack built into the system the way there used to be 20 years ago, so that when there is a crisis there is a reserve capacity to use. This has been a slow car crash coming at us for years now. It’s not uncommon for corridor care to be a thing at the best of times. And it should have been seriously addressed several governments ago.

I was very ill myself with gallbladder problems a couple of years back and was admitted twice due to blockage and serious infection; they thought it might burst at one point. The first time I sat in A and E for almost 24 hours and thought I might black out as I was in so much pain and I was so faint with my blood pressure so low, I remember looking longingly at the floor. I am not a pushy person and was a lot younger than others being admitted but eventually I did say to one of the nurses that I was really struggling and worried I would pass out, and that my sitting rather than lying position was actually making my pain so much worse. After that they did find me a trolley within a few hours. When it’s busy these things can go in noticed so don’t be afraid to point it out and ask nicely that you get to lie down when possible.

When I did get admitted I had a corridor bed with no easy access to a toilet or sink let alone a shower, no power outlets, no privacy, no access to oxygen etc if it were needed. The second time I was crammed into what used to be a store cupboard along with another woman who was vomiting copiously and I was terrified I would get norovirus from her on top of already being so ill which would have been a disaster. Again no easy access to a toilet or sink or shower. And no access to oxygen if it became necessary. The NHS is no longer fit for purpose.

Neighbour (aged 30) sat in a chair? A&E for three days having IV antibiotics for early sepsis. No space on a ward, no space for a bed, no alternatives available.

She had a liver transplant as a kid and has complex health problems and is a frequent flier unfortunately, so she wasn't surprised. Knackered but not surprised.

@Darragon so you would move frail/elderly/vulnerable patients from a bed and stick them in a chair, would you?

Just think about that approach for a moment - there is a reason why “they are beds blockers”…..they need extra care which can’t be provided in the community 🙄

You are wrong.

Seen it hundreds of times

Unfortunately this seems to be more and more common.

i have a friend who is dying of cancer and she had a heart attack which apparently is a common side effect from the chemo she is on and she was ok a chair in a and e for overnight.

it’s shit, I’m sorry.

i’m terrified of being ill myself.

What they said was that he will need to stay until at least Monday and “if that means a chair all weekend then so be it” (or words to that effect - I was there for the conversation but may have misremembered the exact wording)

This is a really similar situation including transplant history (not of affected organ but another) to my husband

To clarify I don’t think anyone should be turfed out of a bed for him, especially an elderly person. But to those saying he doesn’t need to sleep to recover, that is frankly ridiculous. Rest is one of the most important aspects of convalescence.

None of us would want to sit up in a chair all weekend. And that sounds astonishingly bad for your back. How depressing. And of course somebody should tell you what the antibiotics are for. That is just poor communication.

He is early 40s. He’s also a coeliac and they haven’t given him any food yet because they keep forgetting his dietary needs so we’ve provided all his food so far. Thanks for your hard work, we appreciate you

I mean you can complain ... how will that help?
There are no beds. And staff don't have a magic wand to create any.
How would you feel if... on that basis... he was sent home without any treatment?

That sounds awful but it also unfortunately sounds like there is no alternative.

However,

"he is being treated with IV antibiotics but isn’t actually being told what for"

Surely he (or you if he's in no fit state to do so) demand to be told what he is being treated for! They can't just treat you and not tell you what the treatment is for!