Callistemon21
choughdancer
Fleurpepper that article by the A&E registrar is so good. It probably won't help much, but would it be okay to share it on Facebook?
It's being shared widely on social media already, I think.
It's good that it is being shared. After I posted it There were lots of comments and lots of further shares.
Apologies for the length of the following personal account!
Although I now realise that I was quite lucky, my experience of A&E in April seemed horrendous at the time.
I fell on a loose paving stone and broke my hip. I was with my daughters, and the eldest instinctively put her foot out and saved me from injuring my head too. They rang for an ambulance and were told it would be a 5 hour wait, and to get to A&E via Uber. None of us knew that it was a break at this point. They tried getting a taxi, but none were available. I suggested that I tried getting up, supported by both girls, to see if I could manage in a car. The moment I tried, it was agony, and it was clearly impossible for me to walk, and I really didn't want to be heaved unto a taxi by an Uber driver! I decided to wait however long it took for a paramedic.
Passers-by were SO kind, bringing me things to cover me and a cushion to take over from DD's foot! Fortunately I had some painkillers on me, so took those, and I think I must have been in shock as I don't remember being in much pain lying there.
One of the passers-by said he was going to get an ambulance to come by force of will (probably shouting at them! I feel guilty about this now) I'm not sure how long it took to come but it was probably only about 2 hours. When it arrived, the kindest nicest paramedics jumped out, but they couldn't lift me into the ambulance because there was a lamppost in the way! They tried everything, manoeuvring the ambulance to get closer, but the bloody lamppost was still in the way. Fortunately three firemen came along by chance, and heavily sedated with morphine and laughing gas I was lifted into the ambulance.
These two paramedics had had a HORRIBLE day, having been abused by a patient earlier, but they were so lovely to me and kept me topped up with laughing gas all the way to the A&E. There was a wait of several hours in the corridor before I could be examined, but eventually I was x-rayed and told it was a break and that I would need an operation the next day. BUT there were no beds, so I had to stay in A&E for over 24 hours. I wasn't given enough pain relief often enough and kept having pain spasms, which I was told might damage the break further, but they were involuntary, so I couldn’t help it! The bell was put out of my reach (my younger daughter stayed with me until 2am and made sure it was in reach up until then). I did get cross and kept begging for pain killers. Afterwards I was told that on A&E they had to get every dose of painkillers signed off by a doctor, so had to wait for a doctor to be free enough to prescribe them. I can just imagine how difficult for the nurses to get these when the doctors must have been up to their eyes with patients and saving lives! But at the time I was in agony.
I had a sleepless, painful night, still having pain spasms. I am a Type 1 diabetic, and fortunately I had testing equipment and insulin with me so could test and adjust my insulin as needed.
The anaesthetist came the next day; I told her that my blood sugars were a bit high, but she said to be on the safe side I should keep it at that level for the operation. I was told my op would be at 10am, then at 12 noon, then 3pm. In the end it was at 2pm.
Meanwhile to my surprise the nurses had put me on an insulin drip! I explained what had been said by the anaesthetist about keeping the level up, but they assured me they knew what they were doing. My blood sugar levels kept dropping, but whenever I asked for it to be taken out, they said 'don't worry, it'll be fine!'. Once again the bell was put out of reach, and I started to go down below the safe level into hypoglycaemia. I tried to attract attention as I knew I could go unconscious quickly. I was in a closed room on my own and had gone through all my sweets. I screamed and shouted, but for a long time no-one came. Eventually someone came and rescued me with shot of glucose.
I was then able to have my operation, but again there were no beds available so I had to spend most of the next day in the recovery department. Again I was in a lot of pain, as (as I found out afterwards) they, like A&E aren’t set up to deal with pain relief. Eventually I was given a bed in a ward and felt as if I was in heaven, as it was set up to deal with ongoing pain, with getting the right post-op exercise etc.
From what I am reading things are MUCH worse now. No wonder people are dying waiting in corridors and in A&E.
