A&E experience

Just had a notification on our local Nextdoor , that RBH are dealing with 160 patients in A&E.

Called 111 for DH. Ambulance arrived within 30 minutes. Had a good check over, put on oxygen. Booked into A&E. Blue lighted all the way. Straight into bed in A &E unit. Bloods done and antibiotics via IV. We were lucky. Treatment was excellent.

Thank you Katek she is recovering well the treatment was quick despite being in uncomfortable conditions. The problem appeared to be not a lack of medical staff but the room to put all the people. Ours is a quite new hospital but just seemed so short on space due to the fact I presume wards were full.
Before when she has been admitted it has been blue light and resus fortunately not this time.

Sorry to hear of your daughter's issues OP and hope that she's making a good recovery. As others have said,,certain areas of the country/NHS seem to be coping better than others. My son in law's parents were visiting them a few weeks ago when his father became very unwell with abdominal pain and vomiting. Their surgery said to bring him in for examination and once the doctor had seen him he was sent straight to A&E where he was seen immediately, admitted to overnight observation ward, had X-rays, blood tests and CAT scan. He was diagnosed with gallstones, treated with anti nausea medication, painkillers and antibiotics and discharged the following morning with a letter for his own GP. He could not believe the level of care he received. NHS is still working in places - just not enough of them.

We did have some negative treatment in Spain, Catterygirl. DD was treated appallingly when 8 months pregnant by the PAC in our very small village, so enlisted the help of a native colleague to transfer to the bigger town nearby. A few dodgy staff post natally too.

Overall though, Spanish healthcare was a huge improvement on the NHS. Treatment and referrals that would have taken the best part of a year in the UK were done in a few weeks.

growstuff, interesting, as the ambulance crew did the ECG at my home, then said I really should go to hospital for the blood test, just in case it was a heart attack.

It was a weird, semi-numb sensation in my arm - as if I were being gripped by a big hand. slowly moving up and squeezing. I felt that I had to go (wish I hadn't) as the kids were really worried (staying with me at the time) but then, on the way, the crew said it was a 1% risk!

Hetty58 even 2017, it seems it was a postcode lottery. In 2017, I was blue lighted into hospital. While still in the ambulance, I had an ECG and a blood test, which showed I was having a heart attack. The journey was about 20 minutes and during that time, I was given oxygen and aspirin and was already being prepared for the op. I was wheeled straight into the cath lab at Papworth Hospital and had a stent fitted less than an hour after I had phoned 999.

I lived in Spain too for many years. Great medical treatment but encountered quite a bit of prejudice. My GP insisted I speak to her in Spanish, which I was happy to do but a little concerned I might miss something important. Then I broke my ankle on wet leaves in our garden. The GP sent me to hospital. All the Spanish were allowed to be accompanied by several relatives but my husband was sent away. I was xrayed and taken to a room and made to climb a small ladder onto a bed. Not easy with a broken ankle. The female consultant explained to me that I would be put in plaster by a junior doctor who was learning. Well done junior doctor. You did a great job as even at my age I get no twinges except if it snows and happy to report it’s fine today with heavy snow outside. The consultant stayed to supervise I guess and asked for my SIP card. I didn’t have the tourist one but the full one entitling me to major ops. She couldn’t get over it and accused me of taking jobs from the Spanish people. I explained to her that I worked for Manuel because I spoke Spanish and English and because he owned an English newspaper he needed staff with excellent English. Talk about being grilled. A few weeks later, my son, only about 17, took me to the hospital for removal of the plaster. He parked in the disabled bay to drop me off and then look for a suitable parking space. Immediately people banged on the car window shouting that we shouldn’t park there. When I got out on crutches they apologised. So lots of prejudice which we pretty much ignored but great medical treatment. Just don’t ask me about the private dentists!!

Same in Brittany, France in November when people who live there were advised not to contact the Urgences ambulance service because capacity in the hospitals was full. Instead it was stated to contact the GP.

They actually told people not to bring sick children in to emergency in Melbourne last week because they couldn’t cope with the numbers. Awful.

This is the result of over a decade of underfunding. My last trip to a and e with my DH was in August. We were there for 10 hours in total. I don't know how the staff cope, they were excellent but literally run off their feet.

From the opposite side of the A&E dept, my dd is a junior medic in A&E. They are awash with patients. Their adult dept was so full there was a queue to even get into the waiting room, never mind see a doctor. The corridors were like a slalom ski event with trollies stacked everywhere. In the 8-bedded paediatric dept, they had 23 children waiting to be seen.

On the other hand, over two shifts, when she sees between 6 and 8 patients per shift, all except one were suffering from common-or-garden colds. The exception was one adult with flu. Whether people are turning up at A&E with colds because they can’t see their GP or whether they’re concerned about Strep A or something else, it’s hard to know. It seems that the NHS we all grew up with has gone.

My eldest son loved in Spain and when he went to the Dr in great pain
He was sent to the hospital immediately
It turned out he had an abscess on his appendix.
The treatment He got there was amazing.
He has had to go to the Drs since and gets in very quickly
Regular blood tests as he had Diabetes,and much praise for the Spanish hospitals and Drs
Much better than he got here even before the pandemic

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

The contrast to this was a trip to A&E when I lived in Spain (admittedly 4 years ago, but...). I was in, seen and home within 2 hours. I had lab test results, treatment and was advised to return immediately if things worsened again.

It's certainly got worse - but it's hardly a new situation. You only realise just how pitifully short-staffed and under-resourced things are when you go in. Absolute bloody murder!

Back in 2017, I was blue-lighted to hospital by ambulance, waited some time on a trolley, then was shunted/offloaded into a waiting room - with severe back spasm and numb left arm. The ambulance crew then left. (I should have just refused to leave the trolley, like the very drunk man, next in the queue).

There were metal benches, with dividers. I couldn't sit, so stood (sort of, doubled over) for hours, got a blood test (check for heart attack) then waited for more hours - couldn't cope - so my son helped me to lie on the floor, on a blanket he'd managed to find.

My painkillers had worn off, so I was going home, couldn't take it, son agreed - but stopped me removing the drip from my arm and got a nurse to do it. Suddenly, a miracle, all at once, knowing I was off home - my blood test results were available - and fine. I hobbled to the car, still with back spasm, and got strapped in across the back seats!

If it happens again (the disk problems causing heart attack symptoms) I'll be glad to have an ECG from the brilliant ambulance people - but I'll skip the hospital and blood test, thanks all the same!

Similar experience for my DD. I took her to A and E at 9 o’clock on a Tuesday morning. Sitting in a wheelchair until 2.30 in the afternoon, in terrible pain and vomiting continually. Was found an easy chair in a crowded tiny area and eventually got a bed in a corridor the following morning and then on to the ward at 9 o’clock that evening. 36 hours.

My BiL just over a week ago was admitted via A & E, with chest infection.
Prior to leaving the house the crew check timings at the local City Hospital. Only x2 Ambulance's in waiting area.
He was taken in, no waiting assessment sorted.. Admitted to Medical Assessment Unit.
He was surprised and impressed, discharged after 5 days.

The big plan for our nhs is going exactly how the government ( and previous ones) planned.
They will at some time tell us it’s broken ( as if we didn’t know) and the only rescue will be private insurance companies.

Thank you for your good wishes she does seem to be improving. If only the GP had done blood tests to get the right medication this could have been avoided.
She does have a history twice she has ended up in intensive care through pneumonia as type 1 diabetics are particularly susceptible.
Sadly she does have private medical insurance but that doesn't kick in in these instances

The government can’t even be bothered to meet with the nurses which seems to me to be an obvious move, so don’t hold your breath waiting for improvement.

Sorry to hear about your experience of A&E which mirrors my recent visit with DH. Although it may seem a waste of time, we must email our MPs about our experiences, without such information it would be understandable if backbenchers said they had not had any complaints from any of their constituents. I hope your DD is recovering.

I am very sorry to hear of your daughter's horrible experience, rosie1959, and yours, GagaJo. It does seem that you are by no means alone and we can only hope for a government which will take the NHS seriously before it is too late.

However, I know someone who had a dislocated shoulder the other evening. It was X-rayed, treated and re-X-rayed after a wait of no more than 30 minutes. The staff were kind, considerate and thorough, and seemed to have time to be so.

The same applied, in a different hospital, when a friend had a broken leg this year. The point I wanted to make is that there are times when the NHS is still working as it should, but of course that is not of interest to the media on the hunt for "good stories" (which are anything but).

Yup. I was dismissed a week ago after waiting all night. For an infection which my GP sent me straight back to A&E about 10 hours later.