A week on an NHS Ward

[ClaretDiver]

I work for the NHS in Patient Transport and have colleagues who work on A&E ambulances. Firstly, the amount of waste on PTS is nothing short of scandalous. We have far too many ‘dead’ journeys where we are travelling large distances with no patients. I am aware this is a planning issue BUT….I would say that each and every week I turn up to take patients to their appointment, be it from their home or a care home, and they either have decided that are not going to attend or the appointment has been cancelled and they have not cancelled transport. This leads to us spending a large amount on diesel for no reasons. Multiply this across the service (we have 10 vehicles out of our station and we are a small/medium station) and you can imagine the cost.

Moving on to A&E side, too many members of the general public have the mindset that if they arrive at A&E in an ambulance they will be seen quicker and therefore instead of getting a family member to take them they call 999 for the slightest if issues.

This is wrong, you are triaged in the same way and therefore can sometimes end up waiting to be handed over for x hours….this means that that particular vehicle is out of action for that time as the crew have to wait until you are handed over. This has a massive impact on service levels for genuine cases.

I could go on but to lay the blame solely at the NHS feet is wrong.

[appleton]

I had twelve hours in A&E in my local NHS hospital in considerable pain from bones broken in a fall a couple of weeks ago as revealed by a CT scan.
I was given over the counter pain relief but no food and directed to the water fountain for liquids.
Part of my medical history is epilepsy but nobody appeared to be interested, treatment priorities were focused on the admitting problem. My seizures are triggered by lack of sleep.
Dumped in a corridor on a trolley without arms I was fearful of landing on the floor and acquiring further fractures.
At midnight I discharged myself with a bottle of morphine but no discharge letter.
My GP surgery offered me an appointment in 2 weeks when I tried to get strong painkillers or go back to a&e and try them.
I contacted medico.legal dept. They simply emailed me a copy of the scan report by return.
I thanked them back and was told these were the first thanks ever they had got. I always try to thank those who help others.

[IanMcL]

It's all very well saying I did it wrong - BUT.

I rang 111, they said take Rennies and see how it goes. I went ot the pharmacy, they said go and see the doctor on Monday if symptoms persist. And I ignored both and went to the hospital, and within an hour of going in the door (it wasn't Blackburn!) they diagnosed jaundice and pancreatitis and a dodgy gall bladder, and put me on a drip for 5 days.

Why do you think we have doctors? Because doctors are highly trained and are the best at what they do. They are better than pharmacists at diagnosing illness. Many people, whether you like it or not, will want the best medics for their particular problem.

If we had any other system where you could see a doctor promptly, it would be different.

I am not saying YOU were wrong. My comment relates to what tends to be an increasing practice and what causes A&E doctors to throw their arms in the air.

You tried the normal routes and yet thought there was something more going on, that required immediate action, on your part.

I would say - you did exactly the right thing.

Some years ago, I was suddenly doubled up in pain - real pain - in my stomach. I did not pass go or collect £200, I was driven straight to the hospital. Kidney stones.

It is those that just go, as they think they can't get a Dr's appt, that clog the system.

[mdd2]

A&E stands for Accident and Emergency
If a person's problem is neither a recent Accident nor a medical emergency then these people (patients) should not be seen in the A&E department. That they are and not turned away reflects failings in Primary care and social care. The shortcomings in hospital care (and there are many) are not the result of inefficiencies in A&E care but due to inappropriate problems being sent for A&E to manage and the staff are not trained to do this work which then leads to the staff being unable to fix problems they are trained to handle.
These issues then result in less time available for Staff to deal with problems they should be dealing with. Reduce the time for face to face assessment and you increase misdiagnoses, wrong investigations, wrong treatment and possible harm to people. Harm which not only affects patients but also those who make these errors ( most of us dont like getting it wrong-and that is not for self esteem.Very few in the NHS and medical care in general get up in the morning, go to work with the intention of hurting people; the intent is to try and help).

[Foreverly Claret]

Abuse of the system by " patients " is a big problem .I recently had to take my wife to A & E in Dewsbury with a suspected fractured wrist .When we arrived the place was heaving ..it soon became clear that almost every " patient " had taken 3 or 4 relatives to "look after " them .She was triaged almost immediately and we were warned that there was a long delay...this was at 8.30pm .At about midnight the A&E consultant came out and addressed the room .He told everybody that the expected waiting time was 7 and a half hours from first checking in and that all present should think about whether their " problem " really merited a visit to A & E that night...if not go home and seek advice tomorrow . I kid you not , the place almost emptied .My wife saw a doctor within half an hour and was sorted very professionally .I asked him about the Consultant's address and he said that one of their biggest problems was with the triage system being too lax AND some " patients " taking half their family along.
From a family viewpoint , I've had 4 colonoscopies ,a cancer scare which was resolved in a month.....scan , biopsy and all; my high BP and prostate problem is monitored regularly and I get free meds . My wife's macular degeneration and diabetes are monitored frequently and all her meds are free .On top of this , they saved her life in Leeds St.James's .
So my family's experience of the NHS is ,frankly amazing BUT, I did experience some problems when my dad was ill at the end of his life .There are obviously horror stories and mistakes are sometimes made and consistency is not what it might be but my personal experience of private medicine was definitely no better than that I have had under the NHS .I consider that I am pretty well off and pay plenty of tax but I couldn't afford private care at this time of my life.
My late dad paid £ 7000 some time ago for my mum's hip replacement at Gisburn Park ; my next door neighbour had an MRI scan for abdominal problems...£ 1500 etc.etc.
It's not " free " ,we pay for it through our taxes .Too many people have a strange sense of entitlement and abuse the system .

[GetIntoEm]

The comments above just reinforce my point about the NHS trying to blame patients for incorrect use. People are not medical professionals shouldn't be expected to self diagnose. If you're not well, to the point where you feel you need medical attention then you should receive it