I was shocked!

[Jcloughie]

Monday morning I woke up with Labrynthitus. If you have had it you will know how bad it is. As Marj had had it we worked out what the problem was. Before that I even feared it might have have been a stroke.

Though not nice, that was not the shock referred to in the title.

From what I have understood I need to deal with it and take the tablets and some time between 48 hours and 6 weeks, it should go.

Anyway. I called the surgery to arrange for a call back. In the pm I got a call asking me to come in, well there is no way I can drive so I had to ask a neighbour, When I tried to move I realised I would not get there. So the advised me to call 999.

999 put me on hold for the ambulance service. After about 4 mins they answered. They said it could be 5 hours plus as the would be prioritising. (As they have to). Hearing this I struggled to the surgery which was not so bad as I feared.

2 years ago I was red flagged by first responders for an ambulance, and that still took 4 hours coming at 3am. Also that meant the first responders could not leave me and attend to someone else.

We regularly look at the A&E waiting which seems contantly around 100, 120 2 days ago. Only a few years ago it was 60-70. There are often half a dozen ambulances trying to drop of patients.

I worry that the system, at least in Gloucestershire, is very out of hand. I wonder how much this is replicated around the country.

Don’t ask me what the answer is.



John

 

[otherclive]

You might know my answer. But hope you get better soon.

 

[woodsieboy]

Sorry to hear you are unwell, I can only speak from experience, when I needed an ambulance they arrived in 15 minutes and I was in RUH Bath within an hour, however the paramedics told me I was lucky I called at 7am on a Tuesday, if it had been a weekend it could have meant a much longer wait. I was triple stented by 2 pm and sent home the next day. We have a friend who needs a heart by pass, but the waiting list is 20 weeks+, so she has been offered a private operation at £22k waiting list 1 week, or wait until she experiences severe chest pain then present at A&E, this is in Wiltshire. My experience of Gloucester is also very good, they have treated my 3 year old grandson twice this year, in each case he was blue lighted to Gloucester Hospital in the early hours of the morning, and was seen within 30 minutes of arrival, my understanding is that although the hospital was busy he was considered a priority because of his age. I suspect Gloucestershire may have specific problems as IMO there seems to be a determination to close Cheltenham hospital, and focus on Gloucester, which may have some benefits financially, but is never going to be feasible without increasing capacity on the Gloucester site.

 

[Jcloughie]

Sorry to hear you are unwell, I can only speak from experience, when I needed an ambulance they arrived in 15 minutes and I was in RUH Bath within an hour, however the paramedics told me I was lucky I called at 7am on a Tuesday, if it had been a weekend it could have meant a much longer wait. I was triple stented by 2 pm and sent home the next day. We have a friend who needs a heart by pass, but the waiting list is 20 weeks+, so she has been offered a private operation at £22k waiting list 1 week, or wait until she experiences severe chest pain then present at A&E, this is in Wiltshire. My experience of Gloucester is also very good, they have treated my 3 year old grandson twice this year, in each case he was blue lighted to Gloucester Hospital in the early hours of the morning, and was seen within 30 minutes of arrival, my understanding is that although the hospital was busy he was considered a priority because of his age. I suspect Gloucestershire may have specific problems as IMO there seems to be a determination to close Cheltenham hospital, and focus on Gloucester, which may have some benefits financially, but is never going to be feasible without increasing capacity on the Gloucester site.

As I said red flagged by first responders who kept on phoning to push for an ambulance. Still waited 4 hours. And then a further 5 hours in A&E before being diagnosed with Sepsis. They thought they found me a place on a ward but when I got there there was none! They let me stay on the trolly.

I am presently waiting for a stent. The surgeon said I would need one in the future but now can’t get back to see a consultant. Previously waiting for 3 years for vascular surgery. At least that got me free from a mobility scooter.

Pleased to hear of your experiences, and quite rightly priorities have to be dealt with.

To be clear, this is not a complaint about the staff, just the lack of them.

Cheltenham itself is not closing. But the did attempt to close the A&E there. And only reopened it by public pressure. But is only providing a limited service.

Cheltenham A&E has a consultant-led Emergency Department from 8am-8pm and a nurse-led Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) from 8pm - 8am


John

 

[otherclive]

As I said red flagged by first responders who kept on phoning to push for an ambulance. Still waited 4 hours. And then a further 5 hours in A&E before being diagnosed with Sepsis. They thought they found me a place on a ward but when I got there there was none! They let me stay on the trolly.

I am presently waiting for a stent. The surgeon said I would need one in the future but now can’t get back to see a consultant. Previously waiting for 3 years for vascular surgery. At least that got me free from a mobility scooter.

Pleased to hear of your experiences, and quite rightly priorities have to be dealt with.

To be clear, this is not a complaint about the staff, just the lack of them.

Cheltenham itself is not closing. But the did attempt to close the A&E there. And only reopened it by public pressure. But is only providing a limited service.

Cheltenham A&E has a consultant-led Emergency Department from 8am-8pm and a nurse-led Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) from 8pm - 8am


John

I suspect covid is still playing games and too many people use AE in lieu of GP or self help. Then there is the difficulty of discharging elderly patients. Plus being short of 100000 staff doesn’t help.

NHS workforce: our position

The NHS workforce in England is in crisis: urgent action is required to tackle a vicious cycle of shortages and increased pressures on staff, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

www.kingsfund.org.uk

 

[Jcloughie]

I suspect covid is still playing games and too many people use AE in lieu of GP or self help. Then there is the difficulty of discharging elderly patients. Plus being short of 100000 staff doesn’t help.

NHS workforce: our position

The NHS workforce in England is in crisis: urgent action is required to tackle a vicious cycle of shortages and increased pressures on staff, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

www.kingsfund.org.uk

I agree, but some of the issues I described are pre covid.

John

 

[Hutch]

Sorry to Hear about your problem, ear problems are most painfull, colds etc would stop both Pilots and Engineers from flying. Upsetting balance etc, I never knew the real name for it.

In Milton Keynes we have a fantastic team of people, and I can only say from experience for my wife, dermitology, les than a week to see a specialist, myself ENT, 4 weeks and surgery within another month. A few friends , having "emergency stents" within hours at MK or Sent to Oxford.
But HMG needs more Nurses, Doctors, Radiologists etc and larger A&E units,
Being an Engineer, I can see that the medical system need a new "inbetween" person , as per the Pharmasist, and many more of them, ,
Less ! Fees for studying.

Ok rant over.
Get well John.

 

[Dustydog]

Sorry to hear you are not too chipper John. Nearly two years on , fingers crossed, I get my new knee on Monday at the BMI Bath Knee Clinic, all paid for by the NHS. Tomorrow I do the three hour round trip,drive for a PCR test and blood test. The blood and PCR are then shipped to The Great Western Hospital Swindon for testing. I live 10 miles from the GWH but am not allowed to have the tests there🤬How can that be right🤔🤔🤔

 

[otherclive]

I agree, but some of the issues I described are pre covid.

John

Sorry that I couldn’t provide a more comprehensive review of the problems facing the NHS since 2008. 😷 Just upping NI contributions aren’t going to make a great difference.

 

[Beachball]

Sorry to hear you are not too chipper John. Nearly two years on , fingers crossed, I get my new knee on Monday at the BMI Bath Knee Clinic, all paid for by the NHS. Tomorrow I do the three hour round trip,drive for a PCR test and blood test. The blood and PCR are then shipped to The Great Western Hospital Swindon for testing. I live 10 miles from the GWH but am not allowed to have the tests there🤬How can that be right🤔🤔🤔

Hi DD i hope the operation is successful and your recovery goes well

 

[Beachball]

As I said red flagged by first responders who kept on phoning to push for an ambulance. Still waited 4 hours. And then a further 5 hours in A&E before being diagnosed with Sepsis. They thought they found me a place on a ward but when I got there there was none! They let me stay on the trolly.

I am presently waiting for a stent. The surgeon said I would need one in the future but now can’t get back to see a consultant. Previously waiting for 3 years for vascular surgery. At least that got me free from a mobility scooter.

Pleased to hear of your experiences, and quite rightly priorities have to be dealt with.

To be clear, this is not a complaint about the staff, just the lack of them.

Cheltenham itself is not closing. But the did attempt to close the A&E there. And only reopened it by public pressure. But is only providing a limited service.

Cheltenham A&E has a consultant-led Emergency Department from 8am-8pm and a nurse-led Minor Injuries and Illness Unit (MIIU) from 8pm - 8am


John

I hope you are soon feeling better

 

[ProfJohnL]

Trying to provide a comprehensive health service is an enormously difficult job, and not made any simpler by Covid. As medical knowledge and diagnosis advances we can now suffer from more defined conditions than ever before, and there is an increasing array of treatments, and equipment needed. Not only are there more treatments, but the equipment and procedures are often eye wateringly expensively pushing the heath service's costs even higher. Yet the budgets don't grow as quickly.

All the issues noted in the thread so far are not unique and also occur in other parts of the nation. But all the decisions about what services are offered and where are often taken at a regional level, rather than national, which is why we get a postcode lottery for some treatments.

Of course with such a complex beast as the NHS there is always room to improve.

We still have an amazing (but flawed) NHS which is still envied across the world, even in some other highly developed countries.

 

[Buckman]

Monday morning I woke up with Labrynthitus. If you have had it you will know how bad it is. As Marj had had it we worked out what the problem was. Before that I even feared it might have have been a stroke.

Though not nice, that was not the shock referred to in the title.

From what I have understood I need to deal with it and take the tablets and some time between 48 hours and 6 weeks, it should go.

Anyway. I called the surgery to arrange for a call back. In the pm I got a call asking me to come in, well there is no way I can drive so I had to ask a neighbour, When I tried to move I realised I would not get there. So the advised me to call 999.

999 put me on hold for the ambulance service. After about 4 mins they answered. They said it could be 5 hours plus as the would be prioritising. (As they have to). Hearing this I struggled to the surgery which was not so bad as I feared.

2 years ago I was red flagged by first responders for an ambulance, and that still took 4 hours coming at 3am. Also that meant the first responders could not leave me and attend to someone else.

We regularly look at the A&E waiting which seems contantly around 100, 120 2 days ago. Only a few years ago it was 60-70. There are often half a dozen ambulances trying to drop of patients.

I worry that the system, at least in Gloucestershire, is very out of hand. I wonder how much this is replicated around the country.

Don’t ask me what the answer is.



John

When I had a bad turn in late 2020, wife dialled 999 and ambulance was there within 20 minutes and that was during the pandemic. I was taken into A&E and 4 - 5 hours later I asked the wife to come fetch me as was feeling better, but still no one i n A&E had attended to me and they were not that busy with about 20 people. A follow up with the doctor at our local surgery the next day revealed my issue was really serious and required hospitalisation and treatment!
It does seem that services vary from area to area and it is a sort of lucky dip. Nothing wrong with the NHS staff, it is management that needs a kick up the rear in many cases!
Just to add I suspect many surgeries have signs outside stating if you are unwell go to A&E which puts pressure on A&E staff! In the past week it took my wife 3 attempts before she was able to see a doctor as the surgery doctor tries to diagnose everything over the phone.

 

[Buckman]

Oh dear, wife taken by ambulance to hospital last night due to severe pain in her chest. Stuck in A&E on a trolley in a corner and then they forgot about her until about 4am this morning. Although feeling a bit better as pain as subsided, but by 9am this morning she still had not been seen by a doctor, however things are now moving and waiting for results of various tests. Same hospital, but totally different experience to mine?

 

[Jcloughie]

Oh dear, wife taken by ambulance to hospital last night due to severe pain in her chest. Stuck in A&E on a trolley in a corner and then they forgot about her until about 4am this morning. Although feeling a bit better as pain as subsided, but by 9am this morning she still had not been seen by a doctor, however things are now moving and waiting for results of various tests. Same hospital, but totally different experience to mine?

Sorry to hear that Ian, been there and sympathise, wish Margret well from us both. Hope she makes a quick recovery. Where you able to be with her?

John

 

[Buckman]

Sorry to hear that Ian, been there and sympathise, wish Margret well from us both. Hope she makes a quick recovery. Where you able to be with her?

John

No unfortunately not. They do not allow you into the actual A&E area. Just been informed that due to a technical hitch the vampires require another blood sample! I cannot sit for very long on those chairs in A&E before developing really bad backache which just about cripples me.

 

[Beachball]

Oh dear, wife taken by ambulance to hospital last night due to severe pain in her chest. Stuck in A&E on a trolley in a corner and then they forgot about her until about 4am this morning. Although feeling a bit better as pain as subsided, but by 9am this morning she still had not been seen by a doctor, however things are now moving and waiting for results of various tests. Same hospital, but totally different experience to mine?

Hi Ian we can empathise and hope your wife Margret will make a full recovery and soon back together enjoying life as you wish for

 

[otherclive]

Oh dear, wife taken by ambulance to hospital last night due to severe pain in her chest. Stuck in A&E on a trolley in a corner and then they forgot about her until about 4am this morning. Although feeling a bit better as pain as subsided, but by 9am this morning she still had not been seen by a doctor, however things are now moving and waiting for results of various tests. Same hospital, but totally different experience to mine?

Sorry to hear about your wife. Hopefully they can diagnose the problem and have her back to normal before too long.

 

[Buckman]

Sorry to hear about your wife. Hopefully they can diagnose the problem and have her back to normal before too long.

Thanks all. She has just been told that she needs to spend another night in hospital while they do more tests. She is also going for a scan. Hope it is all negative and that she is okay.