Hospital waiting hours in emergency

R

Rose65

Senior Member
Location
United Kingdom
Friends of mine, elderly couple, just spent 14 hours overnight in the hospital as the husband was suspected of having had a stroke.
They sat in chairs all night, he's now been admitted and is very sick. She is exhausted. The night was filled with drunks, drug addicts,ranting and raving persons, ambulances backed up outside.

Another friend's mum broke her arm and they had a 12 hour wait.

Is this, the UK, now a third world country?
 

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Rose65 said:
Friends of mine, elderly couple, just spent 14 hours overnight in the hospital as the husband was suspected of having had a stroke.
They sat in chairs all night, he's now been admitted and is very sick. She is exhausted. The night was filled with drunks, drug addicts,ranting and raving persons, ambulances backed up outside.

Another friend's mum broke her arm and they had a 12 hour wait.

Is this, the UK, now a third world country?
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5 years ago.. my doctor sent me to the hospital as an emergency.. he said if I could drive there it would be much quicker because the ambulance would take too long to arrive.

O/h drove me and we got there at 11.30am.. when I gave the receptionist the letter from the Doc.. she said.. she was tired of Doctors thinking sending a letter would get their patients seen quickly... anyway.. after a couple of tests by 2pm.. we thought we'd be getting out before too long.. not a bit of it... we were still sat there at Midnight, everyone had gone home.. and they decided to admit me to a ward.... almost 13 hours. waiting.. and so poorly that I was admitted.. I could have died in the waiting room... I was in hospital for 5 days

Prior to that 5 years before.. my dd was throwing up, rolling around in pain in her abdomen... I drove her to outpatients ( A&E).. they said first come first served.. she was throwing up in the waiting room while they were attending to people with minor injuries first... 6 hours we waited while her Appendix burst , and she had to be rushed into the operating theatre...

It's got even worse in the last 5 years with the all the public including the hoards of immigrants now using the hospital as a GP surgery because we can't get appointment to see a GP any more..
 

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It should never be on a first come, first seen basis. The ER's near me always do a evaluation, when you arrive. Temp checked, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and pain level.

If there is blood loss, open wound, high temp, chest pain, trouble breathing, broken bones or a child in trouble, they will always go first. If you have a stomach virus, flu etc, migraine....you will have to wait. They will give you a bucket for vomiting, put you close to a bathroom. We have to remeber that patients are also coming in via ambulance, car accidents, heart attacks, gun shot wounds. The ER has to make sure they are ready for incoming traumas that are life threatening.

The ER is a place I will not go unless there is not other option. I would prefer to wait, if I can, to see my doctor the next day. If I need the care of a hospital they can call ahead and have my everything up for me to be admitted.

I can't imagine how it is in the UK. Your health care system is wonderful for economic reasons. It does somehow feel unfair with the wait times to see a doctor, have needed tests or emergency care.
 
Here you will see the triage staff first, even if you arrive by ambulance. They evaluate the situation and set the priorities. There were a few that try to game the system. There is a $75 charge for the ambulance so that is a surprise for some.

Like you Blessed, I will wait until the next day if I can.
 
Jules said:
Here you will see the triage staff first, even if you arrive by ambulance. They evaluate the situation and set the priorities. There were a few that try to game the system. There is a $75 charge for the ambulance so that is a surprise for some.

Like you Blessed, I will wait until the next day if I can.
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Be thankful it is only $75, it is about $600 hundred here. It is no charge if they come out and check you over, they charge only if you have to be transported. Many people have falls and just need help getting up. They will come, get you up, make sure nothng medical is needed, that is a blessing.
 
my mate just spent 15 hrs in the waiting room,he spent all night in a chair with just a blanket given him,,and he was there cause his cancer had returned its disgusting,when his turn came,he was rushed to a bed,and another op,,hes on the mend again
 
jet said:
my mate just spent 15 hrs in the waiting room,he spent all night in a chair with just a blanket given him,,and he was there cause his cancer had returned its disgusting,when his turn came,he was rushed to a bed,and another op,,hes on the mend again
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I can't understand that, my husband had a terminal cancer. He always went straight back and saw the doctor very fast. So many things can develop when you are taking chemo or being treated for such an illness. The NHS needs to look at the possible effects of the illness a person has and adjust accordingly.
 
hollydolly said:
5 years ago.. my doctor sent me to the hospital as an emergency.. he said if I could drive there it would be much quicker because the ambulance would take too long to arrive.

It's got even worse in the last 5 years with the all the public including the hoards of immigrants now using the hospital as a GP surgery because we can't get appointment to see a GP any more..
Click to expand...
The NHS was set up with the best of intentions, medical care for everyone, no matter who you were, your station in life or your income. Impeccable principles, how it's morphed into what it is beggars belief. Trying not to get political, I do so agree with the NHS' founding principles.

A year before lockdown my left leg was giving me some serious grief. our doctor sent me for an x-ray, I needed a hip replacement. The waiting time was just over two years. My wife suggested that I get a quote from The Nuffield hospital, they are a private practice outside of the NHS. It was expensive but not astronomical. "When can you do the surgery?" I asked, "Next week, if you like." I did like, and had it done the following week. The aftercare, all in the cost, was second to none. I was back at work within six weeks.

Much as I enjoy being pain free I still get the occasional hang-up that I jumped the queue, not because my condition warranted it, but because I had the money to pay for it. So much for agreeing with the NHS' founding principles.
 
I understand, I have also had a hip replacment. The time before that was much more painful that the surgery. I think that the NHS was founded with the best intention to take care of everyone. The reality is hat people are having to wait to recieve proper care. You were lucky that you could go private and cover the cost. There are so many, still waiting, still in pain for their turn. God forbid, if it would be a terminal problem, like a fast moving cancer that could take their life while waiting to be seen.
 
jet said:
it was a different world when NHS was set up,and the UK was so different,
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There is the problem, if he went in and had a cancer background, he should have been taken back and examined right way. Cancer that returns after treatment can be aggressive, taking ones life in a very short time.
 
Rose65 said:
Is this, the UK, now a third world country?
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I don't think that we are good enough, to be a third
world Country, in many cases such as seeing a health
specialist, or any doctor in A&E, we have great long
queues, then the doctor you finally get to see, is very
tired, having been on shift for over 24 hours!

Mainly, our health system is "second to none", but it
is under pressure, because of walk-ins, who probably
are not registered with any General Practice surgery,
so on top of causing a block by being there, they now
have to fill in a form, several forms, to be given a NHS
number, then they may have trouble speaking English,
here where I am this is a big problem, so the reception
staff are tied up in many ways that are not health related.

Mike.
 
horseless carriage said:
The NHS was set up with the best of intentions, medical care for everyone, no matter who you were, your station in life or your income. Impeccable principles, how it's morphed into what it is beggars belief. Trying not to get political, I do so agree with the NHS' founding principles.

A year before lockdown my left leg was giving me some serious grief. our doctor sent me for an x-ray, I needed a hip replacement. The waiting time was just over two years. My wife suggested that I get a quote from The Nuffield hospital, they are a private practice outside of the NHS. It was expensive but not astronomical. "When can you do the surgery?" I asked, "Next week, if you like." I did like, and had it done the following week. The aftercare, all in the cost, was second to none. I was back at work within six weeks.

Much as I enjoy being pain free I still get the occasional hang-up that I jumped the queue, not because my condition warranted it, but because I had the money to pay for it. So much for agreeing with the NHS' founding principles.
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I had private medical Insurance, I was on my husband's policy... when he left 2 years ago.. he cancelled my part of the policy....
 
Mike said:
I don't think that we are good enough, to be a third
world Country, in many cases such as seeing a health
specialist, or any doctor in A&E, we have great long
queues, then the doctor you finally get to see, is very
tired, having been on shift for over 24 hours!



Mike.
Click to expand...
...and usually a very junior Doctor...
 
Teacher Terry said:
In the states if you arrive in an ambulance you are put in a room and seen immediately. If you get yourself there you can wait forever.
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It used to be the same in the UK...ambulance patients were priority....

In the UK now, the ambulances are queued up.... and then when they do gain access.. the patient is more often than not left in a corridor waiting to be seen
https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/40-ambulance-queue-to-access-hospital

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2938616000000578-3104390-Shocking_A_huge_queue_of_patients_on_trolleys_at_Royal_Stoke_Uni-a-14_1433061040111.jpg

Patients are being treated in the wrong places in UK hospitals, such as corridors and waiting areas, leaving them at risk of poor care, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns today.

Hospitals are so overstretched and understaffed that patients are ending up being looked after in clinically “inappropriate” settings, where personnel may not have the right skills.

More than one in four hospital nurses (27%) have seen patients being cared for in places that are not set up for that purpose, according to a poll of over 20,000 nurses and midwives by the RCN.
An A&E nurse in Northern Ireland told how she had seen “patients waiting more than the safe recommended time for triage, patients being triaged and nursed in corridors [and] patients waiting in excess of 12 hours for admission, with no extra staff to nurse them as ward patients”.

Children with mental health problems are ending up on paediatric wards, which are designed to treat physical rather than psychiatric conditions, because of the widespread lack of beds in specialist mental health units for under-18s.
Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, warned that the NHS is now so overloaded that patients being treated in the wrong place risks becoming a “new normal”. People stuck there may have to wait longer to be assessed and treated, she added.

“It’s scandalous that nursing staff have to treat patients in the corridors, waiting rooms and even in the back of ambulances outside of hospital entrances. This has to avoid becoming a ‘new normal’.


“When care isn’t delivered in the right setting it means that, despite nursing staff doing everything possible to provide the best care, there can be delays in assessment and treatment, or patients may not be treated on a ward where staff would have the specialised skills for their condition. This is ultimately putting patients at risk,” Cullen said.
 
hollydolly said:
5 years ago.. my doctor sent me to the hospital as an emergency.. he said if I could drive there it would be much quicker because the ambulance would take too long to arrive.

O/h drove me and we got there at 11.30am.. when I gave the receptionist the letter from the Doc.. she said.. she was tired of Doctors thinking sending a letter would get their patients seen quickly... anyway.. after a couple of tests by 2pm.. we thought we'd be getting out before too long.. not a bit of it... we were still sat there at Midnight, everyone had gone home.. and they decided to admit me to a ward.... almost 13 hours. waiting.. and so poorly that I was admitted.. I could have died in the waiting room... I was in hospital for 5 days

Prior to that 5 years before.. my dd was throwing up, rolling around in pain in her abdomen... I drove her to outpatients ( A&E).. they said first come first served.. she was throwing up in the waiting room while they were attending to people with minor injuries first... 6 hours we waited while her Appendix burst , and she had to be rushed into the operating theatre...

It's got even worse in the last 5 years with the all the public including the hoards of immigrants now using the hospital as a GP surgery because we can't get appointment to see a GP any more..
Click to expand...
Oh my god, those are horrific accounts.
 
jet said:
my mate just spent 15 hrs in the waiting room,he spent all night in a chair with just a blanket given him,,and he was there cause his cancer had returned its disgusting,when his turn came,he was rushed to a bed,and another op,,hes on the mend again
Click to expand...
That is beyond awful. It's a lot worse than I imagined.
 
jet said:
my mate just spent 15 hrs in the waiting room,he spent all night in a chair with just a blanket given him,,and he was there cause his cancer had returned its disgusting,when his turn came,he was rushed to a bed,and another op,,hes on the mend again
Click to expand...
There are hundreds..nay, thousands of stories like this UK wide.

People literally dying in hospital corridors.

I read a piece in the Guardian where the lack of nurses are being blamed..
..absolutely piffle... the lack of Hospitals are first and foremost to blame.. then the lack of Doctors is next... Nurses are not medics.. they can only do minimum they can to keep a patient comfortable until a very hard worked junior doctor can see them

God help anybody who gets ill and admitted to hospital on a Friday night.. qualified doctors just don't work on the weekend..

I could go on and on... but it will end up political, so better not...

My mother who was a nurse would be astonished to see this if she was here..
 

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