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'm sorry for your loss. I'm finding this entire thread full of smug and callous responses that seem to be devoid of understanding. Its not black and white and everyone's circumstances are different. I too have been part of the family crying in the corridor because we were having to watch our mum die.

I always question how dictators manage to get and stay into power. And then I see posts like this. The most authoritarian nonsense ever!

Ban people from bringing someone to appointments UNLESS they need assistance? Are you okay?? Are you a robot with zero empathy?

Stop trying to ban totally normal things that barely happen anyway. Far more things to worry about in our hospitals like the fact they're underfunded and unable to treat patients properly.

What does any of that have to do with making young children sit in A&E for 6 plus hours, often into the early hours in the morning?

My DH usually comes with me to cancer appointments and I used to go with my mum to hers. An extra pair of ears can be really helpful and he sometimes remembers things I've forgotten, even though I usually make notes. Also it means I don't have to go through it all with DH afterwards, when sometimes I don't want to talk about it.

I do agree with the idea that you should limit the number of people who go to appts along with the patient but I am all for a patient bringing a relative or friend. The amount of info we give can be overwhelming, and an extra ear and questions can be so helpful. In addition, particularly with older patients they can often downplay symptoms or struggles and only admit them when prompted by their adult children.

The pp who said about designing hospitals better is actually right. Too often waiting areas are an afterthought - in my hospital the waiting area for the part of the fracture clinic is essentially a corridor and there seems to have been little consideration for the fact that a lot of patients will have full leg casts on/be in wheelchairs.

These are completely separate issues.

I was in A&E at the start of the year with my 3 week old baby, and there was a woman in with her teenager daughter who had CHICKENPOX
so she needed medical assistance and went to .. a hospital. Blame the triage, not the patient. You are triaged when you walk in, or should be!

The number of people who brought children into A&E because they had “sprained” their wrist or ankle, was incredible.

but that's where you are being sent to? Kids get injuries, they need to be checked ,more often than not you are sent to A&E. Again, don't blame the patient.

I think it depends. I had an appointment (I think it was a heart scan or to fit a heart monitor) and my mum was asked to wait outside as the hospital is tiny

I'm under 3 different hospitals. All put in their letters to only bring someone if you need to. I can't drive and with one the procedure I have done, I struggle to walk after. No way I could get on a bus after.

At one set of appointments I have, I need someone because there's a lot of things regarding my childhood / family history that gets discussed and I know very little about it

Which communities are you thinking of specifically?

what, as opposed to leave them home alone?

You know most people only go to A&E because they have to, not as a fun outing, but that's no excuse for leaving kids home alone while you are there.

Did you miss the part where there were 2 adults present?

What are you on about?

The children wouldn’t be at home by themselves. They would be with the other adult that is usually sitting with the mother in A&E - the father, the granny, the auntie, the friend etc.

Not only I did not, but I already pointed out that the poster who was complaining about the other family was in the hospital with their own husband 😂. So 2 adults as well.

Absolutely normal for 2 parents to be around.

You can leave your own husband take your child to hospital without you if you like, you have no right to police what other parents do.

Maternity was the worst. Men sitting leaving heavily pregnant women to stand. Personally felt their pregnant partners were just as bad/ignorant as I'd of been telling my husband to stand and give his seat up. Thankfully once midwives and hca's were told they kicked up a fuss.

So one adult to be with the patient as advocate, chaperone or note taker and that means the children can't be left at home.

Most people do not go to hospital/the GP with an entourage. A&E by definition is a special case because its always unplanned and its not surprising if people end up going with sometimes having extra people there. If its outpatients there is more opportunity to arrange for eg children to be looked after (until the appointment runs four hours late and the childcare runs out).

One person is reasonable. You don't know if they needed emotional support or not, maybe they're there for a pregnancy related reason and want their partner, maybe that's their lift and they didn't want to leave them in a hot car, maybe they're nervous about seeing doctors because of some past trauma, who knows? And we've no right to ask, really.
More than one is getting silly and I think it should be banned unless you can give good reason in confidence to a member of staff.
3+ is just unnecessary and shouldn't be allowed full stop

Court adjourned 😄

5 is bonkers. Two should be the maximum unless there's a justifiable reason e.g. two parents, plus other kids if there's no way of getting a babysitter. Definitely can't see any reason for 'boon' companions. Yep, that's a new one for me too.

The maternity department at my hospital has signs up asking people to please be aware they are in a maternity unit and there are pregnant women around who may need their seat more than they do.

It bloody well is!
I was waiting in A &E last year with my baby and it was so full people were sitting on the floor and hanging about in the corridors. The nurse came out ( all matron style!) and loudly announced that only the patients themselves who were here to see a Dr were allowed to sit on the seats! She made everyone else get off them and I shit you not, about 75% of the seating area became available!!!!

I'm one of five children and when we were all little, hospital/GP visits often involved all of us. There was often no-one four or five children could be left with. I have a distinct memory of having a troublesome toenail removed, with my four siblings gathered around the trolley. My toe was stuck with a needle full of local anaesthetic, then the doctor wrestled with the nail till it fell off, all with four children watching the gory display. 😝 (It grew back again, which is a whole other story.)

The girl with chickenpox didn’t need medical assistance. She just had chickenpox. That’s why they were there. They basically called round the entire family from the waiting room to let them know.

The “sprained” ankle/wrist kids mostly don’t need medical assistance either. Hence, why they were all told to go home. Note that they never come into A&E saying they think their child has broken their bone. Sprained is essentially code for “there’s fuck all wrong with it”, but I suppose giving your child some paracetamol and ibuprofen and looking at their wrist/ankle again in the morning doesn’t get as much attention compared with “sitting up in A&E all night”.

No, my husband drove us to the hospital. His intention was to park the car and join us, given that I'd had a baby 5 days before, but we actually followed the rules and he stayed outside.

There were constant signs and announcements about no extra people being present and even security guards. It was pretty obvious that this was a common problem and when I spoke to someone about it they confirmed as much.

Don't you think it's selfish?

She "just" had chickenpox is your opinion, not a medical diagnosis from a doctor, so it's irrelevant.

The “sprained” ankle/wrist kids mostly don’t need medical assistance either.
Until they have an xray, they don't know, and YOU certainly don't know.

giving your child some paracetamol and ibuprofen and looking at their wrist/ankle again in the morning doesn’t get as much attention compared with “sitting up in A&E all night”.
that's just neglect and would be lazy parenting if anyone did that in the real world.

You can't have been in need of much medical attention yourself if you had so much time to assess and judge everyone else around you, maybe don't clog the A&E nex time? 😂

Yes, i was waiting for an outpatient appointment recently and a member of staff told someone to give me her seat (the person she was with had gone into her appointment) The woman looked quite taken a back.

I had to take one of my baby to hospital when he was 3 days old and I couldn't care less if I was being judged or not, or called "selfish".

His dad has as much right to be around as I had, we are equal parents, and I needed support after surgery. None of it is anyone's business.

Paediatric is usually faster anyway, but if people want support in A&E, have one adult running around making the wait a little bit less painful, a little bit more comfortable while the other adult is staying with the patient, good for them.

Busy bodies having an opinion on other families should mind their own business frankly.

I have been in A&E for my kids more often than I'd like , or other hospital appointments, and it's VERY rare I only see one parent, more often than not it's 2. No one is judging, they can't be, they're there as a couple (partners, friends, whatever)!

That’s understandable with children if you have one parent. If there’s two parents then one stays at home - unless obviously it’s a serious medical situation but I don’t think anyone’s talking about those.