NHS A and E experience

🫂 I think you have more pressing things going on at the moment!

travelsafar

My BILaw went to our local hospital last week on the instructions of his GP. The person who dealt with him was furious and said ' lazy gps' they should have dealt with this at your surgery!!
Makes me wonder how many others are directed to hspt unnecessarily 🤔

Our GPS the same tell you to ring 111, or go to urgent care.

I think A&E staff are heroes, the lot of them.
Particularly the consultants.

It takes so much decision making, knowledge, ability to do a wide range of skilled practical treatments, it's always organised chaos & requires a very special sort of human. Yet they can't get private consultancies & earn £££kkk in their free time (which they do get more of than the juniors).

The locum A&E Drs cost a fortune, & there are shortages of highly trained staff for A&E, ongoing for years.

I don't know whether an "A&E" bonus would make a difference. The consultants from other specialties wouldn't like it, but it really is the sharp end & without the staff particularly at the higher levels (where it takes so many years to get the skills & experience they need, no quick fix is possible) no amount of extra beds or systems will guarantee a faster throughput.

She has successfully finished her treatment and is doing well, thank you Primrose 53. Glad to hear your son is doing well too

Casdon

It was probably a male bed, and or a bed on an appropriate specialty ward that was allocated to your husband Oldnproud, the lady probably needed a different specialty bed, on a different ward, in a female bay.

I read yesterday that the number of Covid related admissions has increased dramatically in the last month, that’s probably making an already critical bed shortage even worse. It doesn’t bode well for the winter.

I hadnt thought of that, Casdon. Though im pretty sure that he said it was one of the medical staff who told him that age had been the deciding factor. Still, sometimes need to take these things with a pinch of salt.

I read that too about Covid. I hope there was no one in the waiting rooms with it, as it spreads so easily in such overcrowded conditions.
My very elderly mum broke her hip a few months ago. As if that wasn't bad enough, she caught covid while recovering in hospital after her hip was operated on. Luckily, she seemed to only have a mild version, possibly because (I think) she had been vaccinated a few months earlier,

It was probably a male bed, and or a bed on an appropriate specialty ward that was allocated to your husband Oldnproud, the lady probably needed a different specialty bed, on a different ward, in a female bay.

I read yesterday that the number of Covid related admissions has increased dramatically in the last month, that’s probably making an already critical bed shortage even worse. It doesn’t bode well for the winter.

fancythat

Sadly, well in my limited experience, there is no respect of age either.

They go by medical need. Which is fair enough I guess?

A&e, coming in by ambulance. nothing as bad as your experience.
But the same, on a smaller scale, around here.

To be fair, from the corridor point of view, apart from everyone squeezing past everyone else, and some lack of privacy[everyone was staring at the person I was with, even some medical staff], whether it was a corridor or somewhere else, made little difference.
It was at least warm enough.

Actually, regarding age, it seems to have been benefited my OH this weekend (taken to A&E by ambulance with symptoms not too dissimilar to those of a mild heart attack he had in the past, though less 'intense'.

Surprisingly, to me anyway, there were no ambulance queues at the hospital, and things weren't chaotic inside either. That was approaching midnight on Saturday. But OH did overhear someone being told there were no beds available.

After OH had spent nearly 24 hours in a chair, only able to get up to go to thectoilet or to go see another doctor, they finally found him a bed. Meanwhile, a woman who didnt look much younger than OH was left waiting for one. We had talked to her earlier and know that she had been at the hospital some eight hours longer than OH. I sincerely hope that the decision that benefitted my OH was based primarily on need, not age alone. She was certainly not a 'young' woman, and as a result of it she might have ended up having to spent a second night in a chair - though as OH was woken up at 2pm and moved to a different ward, I would like to think that she got the bed she had missed out on earlier.. 😔

I won't go into all the other problems that we encountered, but enough to see that the whole system is on its knees and is barely fit for purpose. I can't fault the staff themselves though. Almost without exception, they are clearly doing the best they possibly can within the constraints of the failing system.

If it makes anyone feel better it is pretty similar here in Australia. The waiting times in emergency are very long,hours and hours and people are losing their lives because of it. If you go in an ambulance it is a lot quicker than if you just get there on your own, they prioritise ambulance patients. The private hospitals are slightly better but not brilliant,either.

Our hospitals differentiate between A&E and Acute Receiving units. My GP booked me in to Acute Receiving where I was seen really quite quickly.
Another time I was directed to A&E by NHS24 as the Eye Hospital was closed. It was very busy but there was a big electronic sign saying how many were waiting and counting down the hours. That must put a lot of pressure on the poor staff. I must say the place felt like a third world hospital with patients 'parked' all over the place. Every nook and cranny housed at least one poor soul on a chair wrapped in a blanket.

JenniRen

It's shocking in so many places now, Primrose53, we dread the thought of having to go into hospital. Bed blocking is a big problem. We need convalescent homes.

The staff are coping as best they can, trying to treat patients in corridors; a friend spent three days on a chair in a corridor having been taken in by ambulance after a heart attack.

I hope your husband makes a good recovery.

The problem is that hospitals are responsible for some of their own bed blocking because of bad organisation.

I have three times been booked into day surgery for a very minor problem. On 2 occasions, in different hospitals in different areas I have ended up occupying a bed for 3 days. Not because I was ill, but because minor problems like mine only get done when all major ops are dealt with.

I have no problem with that obviously, but why not have a separate operating area for those, like me that need minor surgery whether emergency or elective?

Last time I was booked in in advance, turned up, was immediately made nil by mouth, so sat in bed in a ward all day waiting to be fitted in between major ops. At 10.00pm I was told I would be done the following day and could have a sandwich. The following day I was offered breakfast because already they knew I would not be going to theatre before lunchtime I was finally operated on, probably only 10 minutes or so in theatre, at 9.30pm. This meant a second night in hospital. The following day I spent most of the morning waiting to be seen and discharged. Finally as it moved to midday I said I would discharge myself.

Suddenly the doctor appeared was with me about 30 seconds, looked and said OK and signed the form. The pharmacy after saying my pills would be ready later in the afternoon and refusing me a scrip for an outside pharmacy produced my pills. At 12.30 I was free and we had recourse to the nearest pub!

I blocked a bed for 2 of the three days, because the hospital was bad;y organised. How many times a day does that happen in how many hospitals. How many thousands of beds would it free up for really ill patients

travelsafar

My BILaw went to our local hospital last week on the instructions of his GP. The person who dealt with him was furious and said ' lazy gps' they should have dealt with this at your surgery!!
Makes me wonder how many others are directed to hspt unnecessarily 🤔

I had this with my mum , we had a doctors appointment and they checked her bp which was a bit high , so they sent us to A&E . I did say it might be white coat syndrome and we had been rushing a bit . But they insisted. The consultant in A&E wasn’t happy and said the GP should have waited a bit and rechecked her bp.

fancythat

I dont know about other hospitals, but our hospital divides between those who arrive in a&e, and those who arrive by ambulance. The ambulance side is a different area to a&e.

My local hospital does the same .

A&E seems to mean Anything and Everything nowadays.

My poor mother had a fall on the eve of her 90th birthday. Went by ambulance to Lincoln County Hospital where she was triaged and sat in a very uncomfortable wheelchair (she has osteoporosis and painful back, usually needing cushions for support) for 6 and 1/2 hours.
While we were waiting a woman kept coming through from the triage area complaining that her 3 yo daughter hadn't yet been seen and she was throwing up again.
My mother was eventually seen by a doctor who not very gently cleaned the dried blood from her head wound and stapled it.
The next day she managed to get through the day's celebrations with all the family but shortly after they left she began throwing up, then shortly after that, so did I.
Thank you, mother of the little girl with Norovirus!
My partner looked after us both till he had to go home as no-one was looking after our cats, then inevitably was ill too.
(At least we had an en-suite there!)
Another chap had brought in his partner with a suspected stroke and she was still waiting to be seen when we left!

The NHS needs more money spent on training staff and building hospitals .We all need to pay more taxes.

Is the fact that Ambulance staff have to stay with their patient due to the fact that if they are waiting at hospital their ambulance is out of use therefore fresh patients cannot be brought in? Cynical?

My BILaw went to our local hospital last week on the instructions of his GP. The person who dealt with him was furious and said ' lazy gps' they should have dealt with this at your surgery!!
Makes me wonder how many others are directed to hspt unnecessarily 🤔

One thing that blocks A&E is the practice of making GP requested admissions go via A&E. My GC has a chronic condition which flares up now and again. When they contact the GP about this he rings the hospital and talks to the relevant department who say they need to be admitted. But in order for that admission to happen they are instructed to go to A&E rather than the ward. It's crazy. They sit there for hours before getting to where they are meant to be.

The a&e peple could and did walk.
The ambulance ones didnt.

I dont know about other hospitals, but our hospital divides between those who arrive in a&e, and those who arrive by ambulance. The ambulance side is a different area to a&e.

Local surgeries are the problem as are the umbrella companies that have taken them over. Our local surgery is now in a group of six and people need a car to get to them all, apart from the local one, which is now very limited in what they do and the hours in which they see patients.

People are getting no response on the phone after 11 hours of trying here, which means that A&E becomes clogged

Dancinjay

I have spent a lot of time in A&E over the past year with my daughter who was undergoing treatment for cancer and needed frequent treatment that wasn't available in oncology. Yes we were in there for hours, more than 8 on several occasions, but we were triaged within 10 minutes and never did we feel that we were forgotten or pushed to the back of the queue. The nursing staff and drs managed to stay positive and dealt with stressed patients with calmness and efficiency. I cannot fault the treatment and care that we received.

Same here. My son has just finished a year’s treatment for pancreatic cancer. 10 hr surgery at Addenbrooke’s hospital followed by 6 months chemo at our regional hospital. In between that he also had kidney stones so we had to go to hospital again. The chemo nurses were good. Surgeons brilliant and as he was undergoing cancer treatment he was prioritised for any in between stuff.

Hope your daughter is doing well now Dancinjay.

I have spent a lot of time in A&E over the past year with my daughter who was undergoing treatment for cancer and needed frequent treatment that wasn't available in oncology. Yes we were in there for hours, more than 8 on several occasions, but we were triaged within 10 minutes and never did we feel that we were forgotten or pushed to the back of the queue. The nursing staff and drs managed to stay positive and dealt with stressed patients with calmness and efficiency. I cannot fault the treatment and care that we received.

I am so sorry you went through this.

I was ambulance to.local a&e a few weeks ago and likewise spent several hours in the ambulance outside with this highly trained crew of 2 just twiddling their thumbs doing nothing. They said they spend a large amount of their time doing this.

I feel sorry for all the staff ... they are doing their very best and trying to provide good care against the odds. It must be soul-destroying.

Should have edited, sorry. I will just say that all 3 options are at least 20miles away.