A&e waiting times a joke??

[Moniq123]

Hi everyone,

DS (2.5) had a bad accident in nursery today where he fell down a few stairs and hit his head on the corner of the wall just above his eyebrow. His cut was quite deep and wouldnt stop bleeding, he clearly needed stitches or glue. We were sat in a&e foe 6 and a half hours and when we were seen from the moment we entered the room until we left was a grand total of 3 minutes exactly. Dr just disinfected it and glued it and stuck plasters over it. To think that this is just ridiculous?? I know there are other people with emergencies waiting to be seen but he was just causing havoc in the waiting room (understandably so considering hes only 2.5 and gets bored quickly!). I feel like ive been ran over by a truck, at the end of it had to get my in laws and my brothers in hospital to help my DH and I. Honestly can say I've never had a more exhausting day, never going back to a&e again i'd rather spend £200 going private for my own sanity! Didnt even check for a concussion, told me if he vomited or fell ill to come back in, i asked whether we would have to wait again and dr said yes. In my head i was thinking absolutely no way am i ever coming back here😂

With his cut eye they did a serious of tests as he had had a head injury they were extremely thourough.

Grabbing the popcorn for this, it's not going to go down well
6 adults to look after a 2 year old who is well enough to cause havoc? Pfb I'm guessing
I

Our miu does not see under 18s.

DD broke her arm at school last year. Went to local minor injuries but she had lost sensation so we were told she needed A&E and to wait for an ambulance. After two hours we were told it was probably better for us to drive as they didn’t know when it would arrive. We were given a letter for the a&e team to see us straight away and the doctor called ahead.

Arrived at a&e, tried to give them the letter but was told to queue. Got to front and before she looked at the letter (I told the receptionist what it said) she insisted on taking all DD’s details, including the postcode of the school. I said DD was feeling sick twice but she insisted on the details so DD threw up on the floor.

By the time we were seen it was 5 hours since the injury, doctor said she could have had permanent damage if she had waited any longer. The medical staff were amazing once we got there, she was in surgery within an hour and now you’d never know she had done it. But the administrative side was appalling, especially as every doctor she saw said she needed urgent treatment.

This! My daughter is a handful, but never would I expect a trip to A&E to require half the family ffs. And of course you'd have to wait your turn if you came back in again and not just get seen instantly. Do you think you deserve special treatment or something?

The wound wasn't that severe if the child was being allowed to race around

Either this is a joke or YOU are one of the major problems the NHS has to deal with. Commonly talked about are the lack of parking spaces and long wait times caused by people who don't need to be there, ie you.

1. Umpteen well adults pointlessly in the waiting room. Taking up valuable chairs/car park spaces.
2. It sounds very likely that your child didn't need A&E at all. At home, or minor surgeries clinic would have sufficed.

It's interesting that your take for him having a professional decide that what he needed was for them to apply some antiseptic and a big plaster wasnt 'oh bugger, sorry everyone, we clearly didn't need to be here. My apologies.'

Kids that age don't really know themselves do they ? They are tired and will still climb up the Everest if they can. My toddler nephew broke his leg last year and he was still trying to run on it despite crying in pain. Mn is a weird one where people expect toddlers to behave like adults and regulate their emotions. I've been to the a&e a few times and to be honest I get pissed off with drunk adults causing chaos than with small kids who don't know how to regulate their pain or emotions hence why they get seen first in most countries at least it was a lot quicker in my childhood with the nhs. When my 3 yo acts up at nursery or home, we usually know he is coming down with a bug because he is causing havoc. Saying that, beginning of this year my 3yo slipped off the glass digital scale and cut his palm on the glass edge. Before anyone says anything, we were getting ready to put him in for a bath where I turned my back for one second to reach for the shampoo. Que screaming with blood gushing out everywhere and the palm of his hand was literally split into two. We went to the a&e as the minor injuries unit was closed after speaking to 111 and waited 6 hours as well and it was a nightmare because ds was 2.5 as well like your dc. We swore we would go private next time as well which is sad because both his parents pay huge taxes and I'm not saying those that don't, don't deserve healthcare but what's the point of paying when you can't make use of basic healthcare or at least in a timely manner for a even a toddler. My mother sat in the a&e for 10 hours recently crying in agony with abdominal pain and they still don't what's causing it because of course they are far too underfunded to investigate it and now she's going private after paying decades of tax etc. The NHS isn't fit for purpose at all, so instead of focusing on op, shouldn't we just be asking what the fuck is going on with this crippling system as we are a first world country. Other Eu countries don't have this problem so there is something fundamentally wrong with our system that IS funded but we can't even receive the bare minimum in a humane way.

Gloucester Royal is having a shocking time with their A&E, one day there was 23 ambulances queuing outside ☹️
Lack of staff is a huge issue as well as bed shortages.

1- being glued up isn’t the same than a plaster
2- the child will have been checked for head trauma
3- not every area has a minor injury clinic. I don’t so a ‘small issue like a cut on the face’ means a trip to A&E

I wouod have thought that after that many years of people complaining that people go to A&E for no reason they would have learnt THAT NOT EVERY AREA HAS A SMALL INJURY CLINIC.
Lucky you if you have btw. Because I’m sure that the OP would have preferred that option if it had been there tbh.

Exactly. This was years ago, but we waited over 3 hours in paed A&E. My ds at 7 had smashed his head at bowling and they examined him and apologised for the wait, but said he was probably ok as they would have asked us to wait anyway so they can observe him.

he did have concussion, but fine after a couple of days.

we recently spent over 8 hours at the same A&E as he had a broken thumb.
the reception has cctv so can observe the waiting room.I dare say they knew this little one was fine because of their demeanour.

@Moniq123 if your child was causing havoc, it’s going to help the healthcare professionals to assess that he’s ok.

the issue is that the staffing levels have not been adjusted since pre pandemic it there is more demand. We have to be patient. It’s not their fault.

@Moniq123 waiting is a part of life. If you go to the hospital at any time, plan to have to wait. Take drinks and snacks. Take a book, an iPad, chargers and power pack.

you have a VERY long and painful road ahead if you’re unable to cope with a bit of a wait at A&E without bothering your h and in-laws! Woman up.

A&E have always had long waiting times depending when you go...that's why you should avoid it unless needed..

When i was a child ( many many years ago) the wait was the same on a saturday night when i had broken my arm earlier in the day...

When i attended with my 6week old baby ( many years ago) i waited longer..theyset me right outside the nurses room because they knew how unwell she was...

When my toddler shoved a stone up her nose i ensured she was able to breathe and took her the next day at a quieter time..

Learning some basic first aid and assessment skills...

I've taken my late dad to A and E a few times. Once I did have to take both my kids as it was school holidays and I had no childcare (which I know is not ideal)
I am fortunate that the only time I've taken either of my DC our local hospital has paediatric A and E and we were seen fairly quickly. (I've waited hours with my dad before though)
I've also cut myself fairly badly but been seen a a minor injuries unit (probably 2 hrs wait)
It's not a joke because it's not in the least bit funny....but the worse thing is there is no obvious or quick solution that will speed things up. If you have been in a hospital or watched any fly on the wall documentary about A and E, youll know they are working flat out, they're not taking extended breaks or scrolling on MN while people in the waiting room sit there for hours!!

The op's child had a cut on his face which requires plastics. The basic first aid is all well and good by all means go old school use vodka, light up a knife and stick it on the wound but it's the face so unless people are happy to walk around with a permanent scar on their faces for the rest of their lives but I wouldn't want that for my child. I've commented a few posts up and mentioned my then 2.5 yo cut his palm very deeply which required plastics to attend his care and use stitches as they did to avoid scars in the future and it was his palm. The doctors etc are excellent, the staff are great. The problem is the system.

The op's child had a cut on his face which requires plastics.

They actually glued it, which the practice nurse at my GO surgery can also do.

Oh for the love of christ. 4 adults to control one toddler?

I've had a 5 hour wait in A&E with two under 2, a 7 year old and 9 year old with ADHD and a broken arm. Not saying it wasn't stressful keeping 4 bored kids quiet but I didn't need 4 people for 4 kids never mind one!

But as per the original question, I agree that waiting times ARE a joke ... GPs should be doing more, there should be more minor injury units, they shouldn't have shut down all the local hospitals...
A non urgent GP phone call for my 4 year old (teacher asked to check his hearing as he was struggling at school) was a 2 month wait. GPs are all still hiding behind covid.

Not necessary. The service my GP has provided has been above and beyond throughout and beyond locksown. I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. I actually feel the system works better. The hypochondriacs don't come down everyday now

My gps have been amazing.
phone call appointments same day, or face to face if necessary.
i’ve had things sorted out quickly and better than pre covid.
my surgery is run off it’s feet.

A well looking child with a minor injury who only waited 6 hours during the biggest crisis for A&E for 20 years? That's an impressive department. Now go and vote out the Tories who have spent the last decade fucking over the NHS.

GPs should do more? With what? Thin air?
the whole NHS is underfunded and under resourced, including GPs.

Precisely. Can voters please remember this at the ballot boxes.

I left some things out, sorry for everyone thats triggered but my son is hard to control. He's been referred to speech and language, and behavioural therapy. We suspect ADHD as that's what his dad has too. We've been asked by nursery to find one that meets his "needs". So yes, he is not your average toddler. Besides, they weren't in the waiting room, they were outside of the building as DS kept running in and out, so they were helping us when he was outside so we dont miss his name being called! Sorry to everyone who got offended 😂

@Moniq123 and you couldn't have put that in your original post?

I wrote it so late at night i just wanted to go off to sleep, so i wrote an overview. if i knew it was going to cause 5 pages of people complaining i most definitely would have