NHS what’s going on? Everything closed? Nothing in the news?

[dealbreaker555]

Went to walk in - closed - sign up saying they’re looking after sick people and too busy.

called 111 and told they would get a gp call back then get a text saying their too busy and call ambulance if needed!

what is going on, can’t find anything on news?

I’m guessing it is secondary complications from Covid and other respiratory infections. It only needs a tiny amount of the population to have a serious bout with pneumonia or other complications to overwhelm services .

Due to my daughter being very poorly (not Covid related) we have had to go to A&E twice recently. A&E is on its knees it was like a war zone, waiting room full, beds everywhere in corridors.

We spent the first night 8 hours in Children’s a&e.

I would say a lot of concerned parents with children with high temperature (sniffles/cold symptoms) majority unable to see their GP. They looking for reassurance which is fair enough. Most sent home with medicine while we waiting for a bed to be admitted.

Adult a&e had a triage area which everyone has to wait in. Again I would say a high percentage of those there could have seeked help elsewhere, many when realising it would be at least 4 hours actually said I’ll come back in the morning - it’s a&e if it can wait then go to see pharmacy or GP.

People have forgotten what a&e is for, but then I know we lost our local walk in centre and now directed to use 111. I know when both my girls younger and I used the local walk in centre for that non-urgent situation. (& if you did get referred to a&e it went from the time you arrived at the walk in centre so no need to start queuing again)

We have two hospitals in our wider area, one has a&e one has a walk in centre but it covers a massive area and we need to get the smaller ones back open to make sure a&e is used for what it is needed for.

This. Also it would help if some people understood how viruses are spread. The amount of times I have seen grown Adults stand in a crowded place, and sneeze, or cough openly, without attempting to cover their mouths, and nose is unacceptable. As someone who is knocked down, by just getting a cold, I find it really annoying.

Consensus seems to be it’s the new Covid- and respiratory complications, strange there is no mention of it in the bbc news app at all - maybe it’ll pop up on Monday

There is a Covid spike at the moment.

We are quite blasé about it now, but it’s still a condition that kills. It can badly affect older people, and those already ill.. so greater pressure on hospitals and primary care.

Plus the regular winter flu spike.

Get you vaccines.

There have been a number of articles in the media about it over the past few weeks. That’s how we know it’s a thing!

Are you sure it’s a walk in? Only because where I am (south Wales) you have to call 111 first and they send you to minor injuries if needed. They won’t see you if you just show up. If they’ve closed entirely I’m guessing your hospital is struggling to keep on top of the winter virus patients showing up. Every hospital seems to have a battle on their hands from about this time of year.

I completely agree. In January I was hospitalised for suspected sepsis whilst on chemotherapy. There was no female bays on oncology so I was left on AMU. I watched as paramedics brought in elderly patient after elderly patient throughout the day. We were all swabbed for Flu and covid on arrival. Across the day I was moved four times as people in my bay kept testing positive for either of them and I was deemed as immunosuppressed. I purposely had my jabs before treatment started but I did wonder at the time whether these people coming in had theirs or even for their age group the pneumonia one. The ward sister kept apologising every time I was moved, she honestly looked exhausted by the situation. If you are in an at risk group consider getting vaccinated, yes you could end up still needing hospital treatment as they aren't perfect but why not try and prevent it in the first place? Obviously you'll never convince the vaccine deniers.

You can keep an eye on things yourself here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2026-to-2027-season

Weekly report (not sure where the daily report has home). Covid numbers increasing

thank you for sharing - great to see the stats. It says Covid is low tho.

@dealbreaker555 This was on the BBC 2 days ago
BBC News - 'Ominous signs' of winter pressures as NHS waiting list grows - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxnv03e9nmp4o

Yes but it’s talking about routine appointments, nothing about care being inaccessible

It is concerning me to be honest. It’s only October. We live rural, the hospital A and E is over an hour away, I’ve waited for 6 hours before and been told by a nurse to consider going home once symptoms had worn off because there was going to be no dr till the next shift which was four hours away. I avoid it.

I use GP when I can.
pharmacy doesn’t work for medicine we sometimes need on a emergency.

the walk in (which is a walk in) does have it, but was unexpectedly shut.

Nhs 111, where we can access it via a GP said we’d get a call back then changed their minds and sent a text at 4am

what would you do next time your kids was sick with breathing issues?

me and everyone else will be going a and e won’t they

my a and e has closed before due to demand… so they probobly will just do that

I wonder if it is just worth the drive to alder hey if it’s that good. It’s maybe still quicker to be Seen

this isn’t functional and it’s only October. So yes I think that does deserve reporting in bbc news.

Most people aren’t eligible for the vaccines!

Sadly NHS staff are no longer eligible for a free Covid booster, so they will have to pay privately (around £90) if they want to have one. This could have a knock-on effect on the resources available, as more staff may end up having to take time off if they are poorly with the virus.

It's tough for the NHS at the moment, particularly with all the autumn/winter bugs going around. Some pharmacies are able to give advice on a lot more conditions now, but I appreciate many of those are struggling with resources too.

I’m eligible for Flu & Covid vaccines .. never really understood why.

If you go on the NHS app to book, you can just tick you are eligible and nobody seems to check.

Vaccine take up seems to be fairly low.

There are a million online pharmacies that offer the same service though obviously not face to face. I've just received my cystitis antibiotics on next day delivery.

Out of interest how much does it cost form an online pharmacy?

For anyone in Cornwall, Devon or Somerset, the NHSQuicker app gives live info on A&E and MIU opening and waiting times.

You don't muck about when a child has breathing issues. Yes you go to A&E and you say my child is having difficulty breathing and they get triaged to the top of the queue.

I had a 2yo with breathing difficulties in the night - this was many years ago - and we got a same-day GP appointment in the morning because I didn't realise at the time how serious it was. GP took a blood oxygen monitor reading and phoned the hospital immediately and DC was bluelighted to hospital from the GP surgery in minutes. I was given a thorough bollocking for having left it so long to seek help. Fortunately after 24 hrs on oxygen and constant salbutamol all was well again (had to stay in for a 2nd 24hrs for observation) and I was firmly told to never ever avoid A&E again when a child can't breathe.

Yes waiting times can be long but they are long for the people whose lives aren't going to be endangered by waiting aroubd uncomfortably for hours.

Which area? In Kent the William Harvey was closed earlier this week to anything other than life saving energencies. It may still be, I haven't checked. It was all over local news/Facebook.

My local pharmacist can't even prescribe anti-biotics for a UTI. I ordered them via an online service last time and they came through the post. It cost twice as much as a normal prescription but worth it not to have to wait days to see a GP.

I paid about £20, so double the cost of a normal prescription. I guess you are paying for a Dr to privately assess symptoms etc also. I have used this service for myself and dd in recent months. IT's a great service.

Exactly- but what if your A and E was closed when you turned up. That’s what I’m worried about.

we often seek this other types of care to avoid the breathing issues getting bad enough for a and e visit.

we’ve also been to a and e before for breathing and been seen fast but would rather avoid getting to that point and remember for us it a whole hour away.

were not in Kent were in midlands