To think people should be banned from taking someone with them to medical appointments unless they need assistance (and then just one person)

[CurdinHenry]

Sick of standing waiting for appointments while one girl sits on her arse with her five boon companions in the waiting room because people can't do anything by themselves.

I usually have one person because I can't drive. I once (and I have no idea how common this really is) had both grandparents with me as granddad had an appointment before. We went to the cafeteria as we had some time before my appointment

It's probably more common than you'd think in the specific context of medical appointments because some ailments/injuries/treatments are going to make driving inadvisable or impossible for people who would normally drive. Anything where you're having sedation or anaesthetic means you can't drive; if what's wrong with you is making you feel ill you may not be fit to drive; and similarly if you've injured hands, arms, legs, feet, back, eyes ...

Another point is, of course, parking. It can take so long to find a space in hospital car parks, or in the streets near the hospital, that unless you want to arrive really early, it's better to have someone drop you off and find parking while you go and check in.

She has literally said in the post you’re quoting that it wasn’t for anything serious.

I don’t understand how all these people have the time to spend in hospitals, just mooching around.

No, it's an expression - just means great friend

Father in law was in A&E very recently and staff were telling anyone who was not a patient to stand up and leave the chairs for actual patients.

Hopefully this will deter those who aren’t essential.

I have certainly witnessed what looks like a day out for extended family and friends at non emergency hospital clinic appointments innumerable times, often with accompanying children allowed to be a pain in the arse to all other waiting patients and loud conversation and phone / tablet activity from the adults.

There's a sign to that effect in my local A&E and, as mentioned upthread, in my experience people do heed it and will offer seats when it's busy.

You may wonder why I sound as though A&E is a regular thing - unfortunately round here both GPs and 111 divert everything, urgent or not, to A&E once the GP's daily ration of appointments is full (i.e. by 08:30 am)😞 Chronic under-resourcing.

You see it in A and E, whole families of 5-6 members with elderly gran. Sometimes eating KFC.

It started during covid ime.

"I think some people just enjoy the drama of being at the hospital, to be honest."Pretty much hits the nail on the head in some (obviously not all, before someone piles on me) cases. Selfies in A and E - really?

Here's a radical thought. Rather than policing patients or restricting the support they can have how about running clinics roughly on time?

Most of the problems PP are describing are a consequence of lengthy and unpredictable waits, even for long scheduled appointments.

I do feel sorry for kids who are dragged into sitting in waiting room/area when the group they are in has two or more adults. They are boring 🥱 places to be

Obviously there are examples here where it’s impossible to leave kids alone but that was with one adult

I bet these families that bring their whole family with them to hospital are the same ones that take all of them to the supermarket. You don’t need 3 adults and 4 kids attending hospital and going to the supermarket.

My friend was in hospital following emergency surgery. Visiting hours - only two people at a time per bed. How the ward was set up was 4 or 6 beds per hub.
Everyday a lady had her 6 children (or partners - friend was unsure) come round together. Nursing staff said two maximum and the others can sit in the area outside the ward. They ignored the staff.

Well that's ok then eh. People don't always need physical assistance but need emotional support at appointments.

@fidskbecause the CQC regulations actually give the patients relatives the right to refuse to leave 🤦🏻‍♀️

My son sometimes has 4 carers with him. You wouldn't want less there if he gets upset.

yeah I have a choice of two hospitals to go to, but my rheumatology team do either one hospital on a monday and another on a tuesday. I was sent to Calderdale Royal today where the parking has been restricted, so I went in an uber taxi today. I've been going on my own the last few times because its just regular chronic treatment.

A boon companion is a close buddy. It is a literary term which derives from the French word for good, ‘Bon’.

Dentists don’t tend to be packed full of people unexpectedly needing urgent care in an unfamiliar environment and not knowing what’s wrong, no appointment and general uncertainty

I got the impression too that the patient sitting on her arse was a problem and to be judged for being a lazy lowlife sitting on her arse (ie sitting down)

There are enough people attending routine hospital appointments with an entourage for it to be an issue.

Well, either:
a) some posters are indulging g in serious exaggeration about the hordes occupying hospital cafeterias and sitting on their arses in every available space, or
b) some people have family members they love or ‘boon friends’ (🤭) they want to support while they’re in hospital

Are there? Do you have data on this? I'd like to know the timeliness of clinics where this is being reported as an actual problem (with data). I've only seen this become a problem where clinics were running massively late with insufficient seating for the late running.

If routine hospital appointments ran even vaguely to time then the odd patient bringing additional support would not be a seating issue and there also would be less frustrated patients worrying about the parking charges, childcare arrangement timings or paid work.

A&E is always going to be a challenge due to unpredictability of attendance but even here good comms and triage can make a massive difference.

And that’s not even to mention the Great Food Shortage in hospital cafeterias by the drama loving throngs of people putting their arses on chairs there and eating all the pies 😉

I see this sort of behaviour constantly, nothing that has been mentioned here is an exaggeration.

The thing is that as much as you might wish to join your family of at least two more relatives you might have to reconsider if you work.

So, it’s clear that many are free from any work requirements.

I couldn’t care less about who visit the hospital cafeteria.

I don’t even care about getting a seat in the waiting room (I’m fit and healthy and can stand no problem).

But the OP did ask if she was being unreasonable to think that people should be banned from taking others with them to hospital appointments. I agree with her (to an extent).

I think people taking extended family and friends with them to hospital appointments, especially when they all go for lunch together in the hospital cafeteria as if it were a big day out, is really, really sad. And I think there are some people out there who really enjoy the drama of a hospital visit. Which again, is really sad.

And I also didn’t realise just how many people there were with fuck all else to do on any given weekday.

The OP said that people can’t do anything by themselves, and she’s not wrong.