Family member hit by cyclist and now in A&E where it is standing room only

Hello everyone! Thank you all for your sympathy and concern for my SiL He was seen about 4 and had x-ray. They thought a rotator cuff injury and were going to send him home but then had second thoughts and took him in for another x-ray and CT scan - verdict, dislocated shoulder. They put it back in place (he had gas and air for pain relief), but it popped out again, so he is now waiting for an operation and was second on the list, last I heard. He was given some morphine so that was a relief.

In answer to comments about the cyclist and cyclists in general - yes, Avalon, most are considerate. SiL recalls hearing a shout of ‘middle’ from behind but was hit while trying to work out what that meant and where it was coming from. It was around 5.30pm and the path was busy and noisy. pascal50, even a bell takes a few seconds to react to, if you hear it. My DH is hearing impaired and cannot hear a bicycle bell - I am always hauling him out of the way of cyclists.

Iam64, it’s good to hear you had a positive experience. Minor injuries units are good but tend to close early - our local one is 9-5.

Callistemon, 13 hours with a head wound is horrific. Thirteen hours on a hard chair is awful even if you’re not injured or ill!

nightowl and KATE1949, I am so sorry to hear of you experiences with your DHs. Good to know they both had good treatment eventually.

Katyj, I am so sorry for your experience with your Mum, and for your loss since. It’s hard when one of your last memories is of a bad experience but you were with her and caring for her and that is the main thing.

petra and Grantanow, I hadn’t watched the Dispatches programme last night because I couldn’t face it but did watch it this morning. I will also watch the debate after. The strain on staff is unbearable too.

Bellanonna, good to hear of another good experience.

Coronation, thank you for your support and sympathy.

I too, hope that Luckygirl is receiving treatment and that we will hear from her when she is able.

Thank you to all, including anyone I’ve missed replying to, for your support and sympathy. I really hope that things can be improved, especially for those older or more vulnerable.

As we haven’t heard from Luckygirl I hope that means she’s receiving treatment.

10 days ago my husband had heart pains. My daughter came round and rang 111, who in turn rang 999. An ambulance arrived in 10 minutes. He was given cardiac tests and then taken
to Kings at Denmark Hill, to cardiac admissions. Thoroughly triaged and then put on a cardio ward for 8 days. No waiting. I can’t speak highly enough about all the input he received as a (very) elderly man with poor prognosis. He is now home and happy to be here, feeling grateful for the excellent care he was given. A. Friday night admission would not usually be so easy but to be fair he didn’t go to A&E.

I hope we hear from Lucky soon and that she is being given all the help she needs.

When I was taken into hospital by ambulance with AF they took me straight to the heart hospital bypassing A&E.

I'm sorry to hear about your SIL. I hope he recovers well. Three weeks ago my husband was very ill. I rang 111 and after assessing him, they said they would send an ambulance but if we could get him to A&E quicker, we should do so. So we did.

The waiting time was 8/9 hours which kept getting longer with ambulances coming in with people with serious problems. My DH was assessed within an hour but waited 8 hours to see a doctor. My husband was very poorly but we just had to wait along with everyone else. DH was admitted eventually and treated. The staff were wonderful throughout and his aftercare was second to none. There were a few people complaining about the wait but it was pointless complaining. They were doing their best.

I hope your SIL is ok Litterpicker, and that you are ok Luckygirl and receiving care. My husband has AF and it is a horrible condition.

I wish I could be as positive as some of you about A&E. my poor husband has had two heart attacks in the last 18 months, and both times the conditions in A&E were dreadful. The wait for an ambulance for someone with chest pains and a long history of heart problems was two hours and I was advised to take him by car. I thought he would die at points on the journey, not conducive to safe driving. Once there, he was left to wait in the main holding area for hours with no monitoring and no communication. It is a truly terrifying state of affairs.

The treatment he received after he was admitted was good, but I’m not convinced the delay did not add to the damage to his heart. Even worse, it could have been too late for him, and sadly for some it will be.

I hope Litterpicker’s SiL and Luckygirl are both okay.

eazybee

^All my three adult children are runners, and one of them was hit by a car recently.^

Where was this person running on the road,?
Not surprising to be hit by a car if so.

Some sympathy for the runner hit on the pavement by a cyclist.
Rules about roads and pavements and cyclists and runners need clarifying and enforcing..

eazybee he was running in a country area where there are no pavements. The car emerged from a corner too near to the turn/hedging, and didn’t stop to look either way at the junction. Luckily, because it was a corner she was driving slowly, but with such a close turn she ran into my son and pushed him back into the hedging. The hedging concealed her view but she still didn’t stop. She was wrong. She should have stopped at the junction. It is a country area with no footpaths, and all pedestrians and many horses use the side of the road because there is no alternative. Of course my son doesn’t run in the road if there is a pavement. The driver knew the conditions and failed to take the correct action. She was driving a big four wheel drive too. My son was very lucky to avoid injury but was badly shaken up.

Katyj I’m so sorry to hear of your mum’s death. I know how much you have taken care of her in the last couple of years and finally managed to get her into a care home

M0nica

Luckygirl You will probably not be taken to A&E but fast tracked to the cardiac admissions ward. That is what happened to DH each time he had acute heart symptoms.

Either way ring them. better lying in an ambulance outside the hospital with help to hand than staying where you are.

Not always. I had to stay in A&E twice because there were no available beds. Every experience is different.

I'm just popping in to see if Luckygirl has come back with an update.
Also really hoping the OPs poor SiL has been seen and safely discharged home.

Luckygirl You will probably not be taken to A&E but fast tracked to the cardiac admissions ward. That is what happened to DH each time he had acute heart symptoms.

Either way ring them. better lying in an ambulance outside the hospital with help to hand than staying where you are.

All my three adult children are runners, and one of them was hit by a car recently.

Where was this person running on the road,?
Not surprising to be hit by a car if so.

Some sympathy for the runner hit on the pavement by a cyclist.
Rules about roads and pavements and cyclists and runners need clarifying and enforcing..

Sorry son in law

Litterpicker. I’m cross on your behalf it is totally unacceptable! I hope your DIL is okay and see ASAP.
My own mum was taken to A and E last bank hol Saturday, absolute chaos, there was no room available,poor mum was on a trolley in the middle of the dept with a bleeding head wound which wasn’t attended to for several hours. She was sent back to the care home after 30 hours and has since passed away.
Lucky girl I hope you’re now safe and being cared for.

I watched the NHS Despatches programme and the conditions at the Shrewsbury A&E were indefensible. People waiting in Fit to Sit area for hour after hour, patient had to urinate into a bottle in public, patients in severe pain waiting a long time for pain relief, etc. Complete evidence of 14 years of Tory underfunding and mismanagement. They must go.

Why don't cyclists use bells.. surely it should be compulsory on a shared footpath.. I hope your SIL is seen quickly

I’d be angry about the cyclist. Shared walk/cycle paths are all very well until you get a mad speeding cyclist who zooms up from nowhere and whizzes by you just inches away, and you are aware one step out and you would have been mown down. Fortunately most cyclists are considerate, don’t pelt like a bat out of hell, give you warning and are polite and friendly. Cars have to give cyclists ample room so they should do the same on shared paths. Also use the very expensive specially built path and not ride up the dual carriageway next to it as some do.
Very sorry to hear of sil’s injury.. It is very painful and a long waiting time at A&E is the last thing he needs. I hope he gets seen soon.

Litterpicker I hope your SIL will be seen soon, waiting times in many A&E departments are totally unacceptable.
DH had a nasty fall a few months ago, hitting and cutting open his head. The wait for an ambulance was so long that kind friends took him to hospital, which is some distance away. Despite the fact that it is a new hospital and he was fast-tracked, we were there sitting on hard chairs for over 13 hours. The huge waiting room was full with people standing outside too. The staff were kind and efficient but overwhelmed.

Luckygirl I hope the reason you haven't posted is that you phoned 999 and are now in hospital being cared for.

I hope your son in law recovers soon. You're all in shock at the moment, but it's also frustrating that no action will be taken against the cyclist.

LitterPicker
Did you watch the Dispatches program last night? There are no words to describe what is going on in A&E depts.
last year 19,000 people spent over 20hrs in A&E

I would say to anyone that if you do go to A&E by Ambulance keep checking that your on the system. The amount of people that are not registered as being there is unbelievable 😡

Lucky had a similar experiencexa few weeks ago and decided not to visit A&E.
Another attack so soon surely means you need intervention, Lucky? I hope you are now receiving the necessary help.

Those of us with heart issues, know that by phoning an ambulance, you will not be waiting hours in A&E.
It has happened to me twice and as a result I was quickly triaged, issues identified and my treatment plan changed, during a stay in coronary care.

Wishing you all the b.est

Luckygirl3

I am on hols in a shepherd's hut. I am sitting in the bed with chest pain and AF wondering what the hell to do. I cannot face sitting for hours in a and a.

As a fellow AF sufferer I was always told if it was accompanied by chest pain or/and breathlessness to go to A&E. An ambulance would respond quickly to someone experiencing your symptoms and you would get seen faster than just turning up in A&E under your own steam. Good luck. Look after yourself.

How are you Lucky?
Any news Litterpicker? I live in the north west, high deprivation, usual difficulties in A and E. I fell, couldn’t move my right arm. Daughter took me to A and E. I was triaged to minor injuries within 10mminutes. X-ray an hour later. Three hours after arriving, I was on my way home with my arm in a sling, pain killers and clear advice on physio. They called me back two weeks later to update the fracture, confirmed I didn’t need surgery and I was seen again by the hospital physio. Excercise given along with first appointment with my local nhs physio, two weeks later.
Yes, it was chaotic, with people under the influence causing problems and very busy but what a difference with Litterpicker’s sil, hope there’s progress there

Luckygirl, I hope you followed the advice from the Gransnetters above and have been checked out?

I didn’t see last night’s ‘Dispatches’ programme (couldn’t face it), but it is unbearable to think of the unnecessary suffering caused by this crisis in the NHS. My heart goes out to the staff who hang on in there.

I have not heard anything more from my DD about my SiL so I am hoping he has been seen and they are both asleep.

Just wondering if Lucky is OK and how Litterpicker's SIL is.