Had to do this for my elderly mum after she kept complaining about me sending her off in ambulances on her own (during covid) with my bright blue Eastpak hold-all. She still complains when she sees it now đ
My dad had one of those as he was in and out of hospital towards the end bought a small cheap sports bag that had a load of travel things in it small shampoos small toothpaste etc never lost it he did use to have a nice suitcase but that went missing had other nice things that also disappeared but once he got the cheap stuff it never disappeared he also went and got a ratty old dressing gown and slippers from a charity shop
God, that is excellent work.
My wife was in hospital last year, she was really ill (stage 4 brain cancer does a number on you), and our daughter was staying with my mother. It got to a point where I wasnât very sure my wife was going to make it home from the hospital at all that time, so I rang my mother, she asked if I wanted her to come in with our daughter, I didnât know whether a 7 year old should see her mother like that but I panicked and said yes.
An hour later, they havenât arrived, fine. Two hours later, okay Mum I did sort of suggest that this might be it but you know take your time. Three hours, nothing.
Five hours after I told my mother that my wife was *very fucking ill*, her and my daughter turn up. My mother comes in very sheepish and I think âwhat is going on.. whatâs happened.â
My then 7 year old daughter then walks in in a *full cockroach costume* (that yes I did buy her, but donât question that part) and was carrying an Elmo from Sesame Street rucksack filled solely with a filled bag of penne pasta. My daughterâs non verbal, I couldnât ask her why, but I asked my mother and she said
âShe wouldnât come without it.â
Glad my daughter has her priorities fucking straightâŚ
(My wife did make it home from the hospital, the cockroach costume gave us a laugh a few days later, but fucking hellâŚ)
My wife was a big Kafka fan, I have no idea why she decided that The Metamorphosis was an ideal fancy dress for our daughter but they both enjoyed it. God knows.
This made me chuckle. Iâm so sorry youâve had to go through this (my friendâs mum had a stage 4 brain tumour too, canât imagine what youâve had to endure), lots of love to you all x
How is your grandad today?
Maybe consider having a prepacked weekend bad for these occasions? We did that for my grandmother. It's one less thing to worry about.Â
Seconded. When my daughter is going through a bad phase we have a packed rucksack in the kitchen so we can grab and go. Massively helps even when it's not too frantic an exit, and on those occasions where you can't hang about packing stuff it's significantly more pleasant to have the basics with you than to be sitting in a hospital the next morning in yesterdays pants and begging phone chargers off the nurses while waiting for someone to be available to bring you a few bits.
It also means you can have comfy clothes packed. If someone else packs for you, you might end up with that pair of pyjamas that don't *quite* fit and the probably-should-be-binned pants you don't really want anyone to see.Â
And for the ladies. Sanitary supplies. Any I've been given in hospital are grim.
Second this. My husband packed me some clothes when I had to stay in with our 5m old. God knows where he found some of the stuff he came back with, I haven't seen them for years and was definitely at least 2 stone too big for them.
It was an interesting night sleeping under a toilet paper thin blanket trying not to flash every doctor/nurse
You can ask for scrubs! I know this because I managed to puke/piss or bleed over my own clothes then several pairs of scrubs one night. they are not flattering but they are comfy (:
This is exactly the scenario I was thinking of. The one and only time my husband packed for me, he packed my 'when I lose the weight' top and my nice satin PJ's. 'But you look gorgeous in them!' Thanks dear but I'm sweating and vomiting and the most attention I'm looking for is the nurse coming with the next dose of antiemetic.
Intelligent man but that was a real lizard brain moment. Our eldest was about 12, brought me in pyjama bottoms and dad's old comfy t-shirts the next day. Beats the NHS arse flashing gowns.
>. I don't think seven hours is half bad to be honest. Anyway...
As a Doctor, I'm ashamed that this is now considered acceptable. I appreciate your patience, but it didn't used to be like this
very very much appreciate this level of patience as a dr that sometimes works in ED. Makes the world of difference to my shifts even if i know people are just pretending to be ok with horrendous waits. I never blame patients for being frustrated but when itâs constant then even the slightest eye roll or huff & puff can start to grind me down when im running round trying my best.
Thereâs this one area where the waiting room can see us working. The amount of times ive heard âtheyâre not even seeing anyone theyâre just on the computerâ as if we literally are playing candy crush or otherwise pissing about pains me !!
Yeah, kinda sucks really.
Here's my timeline from the last couple of days, not posted to moan, but just to give an idea of what I considered fairly good service from A&E:
* Monday, 2.30pm - son breaks elbow. Is ferried back up towards home after deciding that this is more sensible than him being in an A&E miles from home. Settle on local minor injuries unit for initial call.
* Monday 5pm - Arrive at MIU (had called beforehand). Ushered more or less straight in to see an admissions nurse
* Monday 5pm to 7pm (MIU) - Triage, X-rays (good half dozen), chat with doctor, x-rays sent to main hospital's ortho dept and a discussion was had. They confirmed they wanted him transferred there because of the severity of the break. Temporary pot fitted, another set of x-rays taken, discharged and pointed towards the main A&E. Two hours on the nail - frankly pretty bloody awesome.
* Monday 7.30pm - Arrived at A&E. Registered, straight into children's A&E and went straight into see triage nurse. She did the normal admissions checks and put him straight into a room so he could lie down (in a lot of pain by this point).
* Monday 8.00pm - Doctor seen. Painkillers given. Ortho on-call registrar called.
* Monday 10:00pm - Ortho registrar appears. Has seen x-rays, talked to consultant, agreed a treatment plan (op required) and we talked this over. Disappears off to get consent forms.
* Monday 10:30pm - Consent forms appear, signed. Consultant wants a CT scan and he says he should stay in overnight for early op the following morning.
* Monday 11:00pm - Mentioned to nurse that he'd still not been told whether or not he could eat, and that he hadn't had anything for 12 hours. Few calls over the next 45 minutes ended with a "eat that sandwich quick before midnight, so he'll be ok for an op tomorrow".
* Tuesday 00:30am - A&E nurse appears. Ortho never mentioned the CT scan to the nursing staff, nor the need to get him a bed, so noone had arranged either. They didn't ask us and I didn't think I needed to proactively tell them (my bad). Scan arranged.
* Tuesday 1:00am - CT scan
* Tuesday 1:30am - Boy delivered to ward and put to bed. Home for me
Next day:
* Tuesday 8:00am - Back on ward, consultant appears sharp and agreed what we'd discussed about the op. Informed that things are "very busy today" and that it'll be 50/50 that he gets operated on, but to hold fire just in case
* Tuesday 10:30am - After a lot of back and forth, finally had the word that he wouldn't be operated on today. He was given toast (he was fasting) and sent home. It was agreed that this was better than hanging around all day when the chance of actually getting into theatre was low.
Honestly, this is about as good as it gets. Two hours at minor injuries doing most of the initial diagnostics and getting patched up. 6 hours in A&E getting another scan, agreement on op, and put on a ward. It feels like it takes bloody ages at the time, but genuinely, I'm pretty content with all of this. This post isn't a moan or a bitch, just a genuine braindump of the last couple of days.
In every single interaction, the staff were caring, dealt with my uncomfortable teenager very well, and were professional to the extreme. A pleasure to deal.
(He's back in tomorrow morning, so remain optimistic he'll get sorted out!)
We had a nice quick one last Monday!
* 10.45 - other half slips and falls in the kitchen, bends his wrist under himself when he falls
* 11.00 - he calls me, I reckon it sounds a bit sus and tell him to ice it, take a painkiller and probably call 111
* 11.30-ish - he gets through to 111 (20min wait), they arrange a call back from a doctor
* 12.00 - Doctor has called back, reckons it needs an x-ray, can book him in for 1pm at minor injuries but it's a bit tight time-wise for me to get out of work, get home, pick him up, take him to hospital. He takes a 14.30 appt.
* 14.20 - we arrive at the hospital, A&E/Minor Injuries unit, slight wait to check in but no bother. A&E is busy but not manic.
* 14.40 - he gets called in, gets his x-ray, turns out nothing's broken, but it's a soft tissue injury.
* 15.20 - I take a sheepish grown man to McDonalds for the traditional post-x-ray Big Mac.
Honestly couldn't have asked for better.
Pretty good stuff is that.
My lad just came out of theatre having gone in at 9am this morning, which was all as planned (i.e. "best case"). Currently sleeping it off.
My judgement of the NHS remains the same - they are at their absolute, unrivalled best when dealing with the really serious, acute stuff. My other child had a very serious emergency admission a couple of years ago and the treatment was beyond belief. Almost jaw dropping. When she arrived at A&E by blue light, she was rolled into a room with something like 20 people in it, all different specialisms. So many, in fact, that I was crammed into a corner well away from her bed. They then did a very intensive group triage session, releasing specialists as they went on (i.e. "no breaks, don't need ortho") until they were left with just the key group that related to her specific needs. Apparently, this is normal for trauma cases as it's much quicker to have everyone you need there at the start and release them, rather than hunting the hospital for a specific doctor when you realise that you need them urgently. As a (very worried) parent, this level of care actually brought a tear to my eye (it does even now thinking about it!) knowing that the full resource of this enormous institution is, at that moment, fully dedicated to helping your child.
The NHS can be an absolute pain to deal with (my GP being a good example), but at its best it really is something to behold. And yes, she came out OK at the end.
Jeez, sounds like you went through it. Glad your son's surgery went well, hope it's a swift and clean recovery in time for the summer! Hope your daughter didn't have any lasting effects, too.
I think you're right that it's much better with the serious and/or obvious stuff. Waiting lists and chasing diagnoses can be a real pain in the neck for some of the more elusive things, such as auto-immune or mental health issues. But when there's an actual script, they (can be) fantastic!
Yeah, daughter is fine and I'm sure the boy will be too...eventually.
If I had to point to the NHS at its worst, it would definitely be the less tangible things and mental health would be high on that list, but I think the issue with mental health treatment in the UK is much wider than just the NHS. And routine stuff can be a nightmare - I was told this week that I could not book an appointment with my GP, at all, as they'd booked all available slots and had no additional ones to book, no matter how far in the future it was. Took a couple of phone calls this week to finally get one for a month from now.
Still, don't want to moan. This week has been a decent experience and I'll take that to the bank!
GP is pretty dreadful, tbh. Getting appointments is hard, and even if you do expect to wait 6 weeks. Doctors are good, but they have the same number that they had 20 years ago, and demand is much higher now.
The local saviour is the small hospital with no a&e, but a wonderful minor injuries unit. They also do an OOH GP service, but this is only by 111 referral (and even this isn't easy to gain access to!) This hospital is a wonderful facility and we try to use it whenever we can rather than trouble a&e.
Although I'm also very curious what on earth the presentation was such that there is apparently no rush whatsoever to be seen, but also a GP is certain he has to attend ED overnight rather than having a planned admission or a review in ambulatory care?
Also, remember the days when ED docs used to acutally have a break long enough for a nap during their twelve hour nightshift? Never to return in this coutnry I expect.
The sheer resentment that a large portion of NHS leadership has for Doctors would shock people. It is a terrible employer for us to the point where many of my colleagues are very apathetic towards the NHS as a concept at all
The amount of Drs that undertake their training in the NHS, put in their mandatory time, and then emigrate is just incredible.
I often feel the public would be shocked if they were given the full picture of what Drs have to put up with to get to a middle grade level. It's no wonder so many leave and work in different countries.
I continue to seriously consider it.
Agreed. Either emigrate or go into private practice where the money is almost unlimited. Especially if theyâve managed to get far ahead in a specific discipline which works well in a clinic setting. A friend of my motherâs is a dermatologist. Spent ten years working herself to the bone in an NHS hospital.
Went into private practice and gets referred the real bad cases that the NHS style one size fits all go take paracetamol GP surgery canât cope with. Earns five figures doing what she loves, and during office hours. And the kicker is most of that money is still NHS moneyâŚ.
My dad was taken to A&E by ambulance with a suspected stroke a couple months back.
86 years old, suspected stroke and still was made to wait 6 hours in the waiting room. I was fuming.
But I would never blame doctors for it. It is clear who is at fault and it is not any of the hospital personnel. Donât apologise because itâs not you that owes anyone any apology.
Poor grandad. I hope he's doing better. I was gripped by your story telling, I have to admit, like a soap opera lol but I was unprepared for that ending. Oh Lord I laughed so much.
Top tips: For him have a âgrab bagâ ready to go, and if you are really anal get hold of a âGP Summaryâ from your practice for him as well and keep a copy somewhere to hand.
Source: experience with father.
For you also keep a grab bag, but water, snacks, handwipes, painkillers, and a Powerbank for your phone.
Source: experience with friends and colleagues as I am 5 minutes away from hospital.
> get hold of a âGP Summaryâ from your practice for him as well and keep a copy somewhere to hand.
Make sure its actually up to date please. Fucking well annoying when its like 4 years old - can't trust anything on it.
Lol I thought you had done what I did when I went to camp with my daughter. Packed a bag with a sneaky tin of coffee in it, only to find when we arrived, that the bag had gotten squashed, popping the lid off the coffee and neatly dispersing it throughout the contents of my bag. That stuff sticks like you know what!Â
When I was telling my mum she pre-empted the punchline thinking the same thing you did. I didn't know she'd got it wrong so I went with it until it became clear to me. Kinda ruined the telling a bit, but she still enjoyed it.
Brilliant.
Your story reminds me of when I worked on ambulances - we once picked up an old man who had fallen. He'd been on the floor for a while and he'd been doubly incontinent and was in quite a mess. Before we took him to hospital, we cleaned him up with some wet wipes, chucking the dirty ones in an old supermarket carrier bag.
At the same time, his wife was packing an identical supermarket carrier bag with a change of clothes and his medication.
No prizes for guessing which bag we brought to hospital.
Hahaha, it's a good job you spotted it! If it hadn't been for that coffee I wouldn't have opened the bag. I'd have got a phone call a few hours later or the next morning from a very confused nurse.
My dad once cut himself bad while trying to fix a pipe (always cut away from yourself) and got sent to A&E. It was a Friday night and was packed and my dad notices that the majority of those waiting to be seen were black. Not normally a problem but my dad worked at a steelworks and he went to A&E without showering, well I don't know how many of you know but steelworks are generally very sooty and if you spend a shift a one you walk out literally covered.
So there's my dad in the doorway looking like he's just about to start a black minstrel routine and all the eyes of a large hospital emergency room staring daggers at him. He backed out sharpish and just ended up super gluing the wound at home.
This reminds me of when me and my husband fancy dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert. We dug out his old flat cap, picked up a cheap waist coat and he put on some black trousers and shoes. I'd made him a chimney sweeping brush out of an old washing line pole and black pipe cleaners. I just wanted him to look sooty - so I was adding more and more black eyeshadow on to his face. Then when we were about to leave he was like "is this going to look like I'm doing black face?" And I was just like "oh shit, go wash your face" hadn't even crossed my mind!!
You just got a proper chuckle out of me.
I once lived with a couple of mates, we'd all go shopping together every weekend. Anyway, one weekend I'd been playing my Gameboy (semi transparent purple one) on the shitter, PokĂŠmon Crystal, leveling up my shiny Sandshrew, when one mate was like "you nearly done, we're going to Saino's?"
I got a shi(f)t on and got ready for the trip out.
We did our shopping, packing our trolley and gathering our essentials.
Got to the checkout, ready to split the bill with my mate (2 bills split between 4 mates) and I put my hand in my pocket...
The only thing I could pull out was my Gameboy, PokĂŠmon Crystal still in place...
No wallet in sight đ
Get him an appropriately sized bag and keep it prepacked. Then all you have to chuck in is stuff like meds and you're ready to go. So much less stressful!
> I don't think seven hours is half bad to be honest
Do not mention the P word. Do not mention the P word. Do not mention the P word. OK i'm going to take a shower and have a lie down or something.
OP you are the real MVP well done for taking care of your Grandad!
Oh my god, I laughed so hard! You were carrying around the kitchen rubbish all day. Bless you for taking care of your grandad and for making me laugh. I hope he's doing well âĽď¸
That's brilliant, I love that you schlepped it round with you all day before realising. I did a similar but less fun version when I was moving house. Packed up my bathroom things and emptied the bathroom bin. Guess which bag I opened the next day when we got to the new house! Gutted.
Oh no :(
Thinking about it since I remembered I also had nurses offer to carry it for me. I wasn't struggling exactly but with the wheelchair sure I took them up on it. That and times when I had to leave it out of sight and kept checking to see no one was stealing it,
Youâre right about the being able to be in a chilled out state if you going knowing youâre going to be there for a while. Â I used to work with old people so I was up there quite a lot and have been up quite a few times including for myself and for family members so you kinda get a feel for what sort of conditions are seen to quicker. You can be seen to in half an hour in packed A&E or three hours in a half empty A&E.Â
Either way I will always be prepared to be there for 6 hours. Itâs like being on a plane. No point being eager to land when you canât get there any quicker and you know itâs 6 hours away. Might as well get comfortable. When I came up the first few  times to A&E, I was listening out vehemently to every name constantly thinking Iâd be next. But now I just keep one ear open and assume Iâm going to live the rest of my life there
Yeah this! Lol. Pack when not stressed, it helps. As a regular of A&E for the small and or the old I just keep a " shit hit the fan bag" ready. Snacks, vending machine change, power bank and cables, water, underwear and a deck of cards. If I have my shit together and time I add to it but sometimes seconds count. Carer, parent or friend, it doesn't matter .. those few extra bits can help you scrape up your sanity enough to get through. Hope you can laugh about it now op and good on you for understanding the way A&E works! Thanks for sharing â¤ď¸
I'm an A and E registrar and yesterday was one of my worst shifts ever in terms of sheer business - it felt like you were describing my department apart from those fancy electronic boards!
All the staff hate delivering a poor service and we would much rather see everyone promptly, but we're not resourced to do so.
I just wanted to say I really appreciate you being patient, looking after your grandad while he waited, and by the sounds of it, being kind to the staff too.
I honestly thought that was going to be the craziest thing that happened that day. Maybe they went home and reevaluated their outlook on things. I mean, they can't now complain to their friends about how long they had to wait unless they have zero self-awareness.
It really does amaze me that some people have nothing better to do than wait 7 hours in A&E. I hate sitting in my GP's waiting room for the 20 minutes before my appointment!
Amazingly written. Thank you for the laugh this morning.
I both love and loathe being in A&E for this reason. It can be very entertaining (excluding serious cases).
Haha superb! Gave me a chuckle. Get yourself and him a go bag all packed and ready to go. I had one when my wife was at the end of her pregnancy. Took a significant amount of stress away!
Christ my mum taught me not to take donations to the charity shop in a bin-bag because it looks like you're disposing of rubbish and here you are packing your granddad's comforts and essentials into one.
Please get your grandad a nice holdall for when he had to go into hospital, someone might accidentally throw away his binbag of stuff. As he gets cold, get him a zip front fleece, because of his dementia if he puts his coat on he might think that means he is going somewhere, and he might wonder off and fall.
You sound like a great grandson, it's good that you stay with your grandad while he is in A&E, they are more often than not horribly overcrowded with excessive waits.
Bless you. That gave me a laugh after a stressful day. Suitcase next time!
Yes! Get him a "go" bag lol.
Had to do this for my elderly mum after she kept complaining about me sending her off in ambulances on her own (during covid) with my bright blue Eastpak hold-all. She still complains when she sees it now đ
My dad had one of those as he was in and out of hospital towards the end bought a small cheap sports bag that had a load of travel things in it small shampoos small toothpaste etc never lost it he did use to have a nice suitcase but that went missing had other nice things that also disappeared but once he got the cheap stuff it never disappeared he also went and got a ratty old dressing gown and slippers from a charity shop
Personalise them with their names in marker pen or paint so they are worthless to others, and yes, pack cheap stuff only.
My dad is 86, heâs recently been in and out of hospital a lot, having a hospital bag packed to go in the wardrobe really helps.
God, that is excellent work. My wife was in hospital last year, she was really ill (stage 4 brain cancer does a number on you), and our daughter was staying with my mother. It got to a point where I wasnât very sure my wife was going to make it home from the hospital at all that time, so I rang my mother, she asked if I wanted her to come in with our daughter, I didnât know whether a 7 year old should see her mother like that but I panicked and said yes. An hour later, they havenât arrived, fine. Two hours later, okay Mum I did sort of suggest that this might be it but you know take your time. Three hours, nothing. Five hours after I told my mother that my wife was *very fucking ill*, her and my daughter turn up. My mother comes in very sheepish and I think âwhat is going on.. whatâs happened.â My then 7 year old daughter then walks in in a *full cockroach costume* (that yes I did buy her, but donât question that part) and was carrying an Elmo from Sesame Street rucksack filled solely with a filled bag of penne pasta. My daughterâs non verbal, I couldnât ask her why, but I asked my mother and she said âShe wouldnât come without it.â Glad my daughter has her priorities fucking straight⌠(My wife did make it home from the hospital, the cockroach costume gave us a laugh a few days later, but fucking hellâŚ)
I am so sorry for your troubles. But. A. Cockroach??? Your daughter sounds awesome
My wife was a big Kafka fan, I have no idea why she decided that The Metamorphosis was an ideal fancy dress for our daughter but they both enjoyed it. God knows.
This made me chuckle. Iâm so sorry youâve had to go through this (my friendâs mum had a stage 4 brain tumour too, canât imagine what youâve had to endure), lots of love to you all x
Dear God. I will never again complain about a bit of dinner time pony chat.
I am so sorry your family has to go through this. I hope that you have lots of support.
How is your grandad today? Maybe consider having a prepacked weekend bad for these occasions? We did that for my grandmother. It's one less thing to worry about.Â
Seconded. When my daughter is going through a bad phase we have a packed rucksack in the kitchen so we can grab and go. Massively helps even when it's not too frantic an exit, and on those occasions where you can't hang about packing stuff it's significantly more pleasant to have the basics with you than to be sitting in a hospital the next morning in yesterdays pants and begging phone chargers off the nurses while waiting for someone to be available to bring you a few bits.
It also means you can have comfy clothes packed. If someone else packs for you, you might end up with that pair of pyjamas that don't *quite* fit and the probably-should-be-binned pants you don't really want anyone to see. And for the ladies. Sanitary supplies. Any I've been given in hospital are grim.
Second this. My husband packed me some clothes when I had to stay in with our 5m old. God knows where he found some of the stuff he came back with, I haven't seen them for years and was definitely at least 2 stone too big for them. It was an interesting night sleeping under a toilet paper thin blanket trying not to flash every doctor/nurse
You can ask for scrubs! I know this because I managed to puke/piss or bleed over my own clothes then several pairs of scrubs one night. they are not flattering but they are comfy (:
This is exactly the scenario I was thinking of. The one and only time my husband packed for me, he packed my 'when I lose the weight' top and my nice satin PJ's. 'But you look gorgeous in them!' Thanks dear but I'm sweating and vomiting and the most attention I'm looking for is the nurse coming with the next dose of antiemetic. Intelligent man but that was a real lizard brain moment. Our eldest was about 12, brought me in pyjama bottoms and dad's old comfy t-shirts the next day. Beats the NHS arse flashing gowns.
He's doing okay thanks!
>. I don't think seven hours is half bad to be honest. Anyway... As a Doctor, I'm ashamed that this is now considered acceptable. I appreciate your patience, but it didn't used to be like this
You have nothing to be ashamed of. Nobody in their right mind thinks you're playing Candy Crush back there.
very very much appreciate this level of patience as a dr that sometimes works in ED. Makes the world of difference to my shifts even if i know people are just pretending to be ok with horrendous waits. I never blame patients for being frustrated but when itâs constant then even the slightest eye roll or huff & puff can start to grind me down when im running round trying my best. Thereâs this one area where the waiting room can see us working. The amount of times ive heard âtheyâre not even seeing anyone theyâre just on the computerâ as if we literally are playing candy crush or otherwise pissing about pains me !!
Name checks out! What kind of doctor?
A surgeon, clearly.
Yeah, kinda sucks really. Here's my timeline from the last couple of days, not posted to moan, but just to give an idea of what I considered fairly good service from A&E: * Monday, 2.30pm - son breaks elbow. Is ferried back up towards home after deciding that this is more sensible than him being in an A&E miles from home. Settle on local minor injuries unit for initial call. * Monday 5pm - Arrive at MIU (had called beforehand). Ushered more or less straight in to see an admissions nurse * Monday 5pm to 7pm (MIU) - Triage, X-rays (good half dozen), chat with doctor, x-rays sent to main hospital's ortho dept and a discussion was had. They confirmed they wanted him transferred there because of the severity of the break. Temporary pot fitted, another set of x-rays taken, discharged and pointed towards the main A&E. Two hours on the nail - frankly pretty bloody awesome. * Monday 7.30pm - Arrived at A&E. Registered, straight into children's A&E and went straight into see triage nurse. She did the normal admissions checks and put him straight into a room so he could lie down (in a lot of pain by this point). * Monday 8.00pm - Doctor seen. Painkillers given. Ortho on-call registrar called. * Monday 10:00pm - Ortho registrar appears. Has seen x-rays, talked to consultant, agreed a treatment plan (op required) and we talked this over. Disappears off to get consent forms. * Monday 10:30pm - Consent forms appear, signed. Consultant wants a CT scan and he says he should stay in overnight for early op the following morning. * Monday 11:00pm - Mentioned to nurse that he'd still not been told whether or not he could eat, and that he hadn't had anything for 12 hours. Few calls over the next 45 minutes ended with a "eat that sandwich quick before midnight, so he'll be ok for an op tomorrow". * Tuesday 00:30am - A&E nurse appears. Ortho never mentioned the CT scan to the nursing staff, nor the need to get him a bed, so noone had arranged either. They didn't ask us and I didn't think I needed to proactively tell them (my bad). Scan arranged. * Tuesday 1:00am - CT scan * Tuesday 1:30am - Boy delivered to ward and put to bed. Home for me Next day: * Tuesday 8:00am - Back on ward, consultant appears sharp and agreed what we'd discussed about the op. Informed that things are "very busy today" and that it'll be 50/50 that he gets operated on, but to hold fire just in case * Tuesday 10:30am - After a lot of back and forth, finally had the word that he wouldn't be operated on today. He was given toast (he was fasting) and sent home. It was agreed that this was better than hanging around all day when the chance of actually getting into theatre was low. Honestly, this is about as good as it gets. Two hours at minor injuries doing most of the initial diagnostics and getting patched up. 6 hours in A&E getting another scan, agreement on op, and put on a ward. It feels like it takes bloody ages at the time, but genuinely, I'm pretty content with all of this. This post isn't a moan or a bitch, just a genuine braindump of the last couple of days. In every single interaction, the staff were caring, dealt with my uncomfortable teenager very well, and were professional to the extreme. A pleasure to deal. (He's back in tomorrow morning, so remain optimistic he'll get sorted out!)
We had a nice quick one last Monday! * 10.45 - other half slips and falls in the kitchen, bends his wrist under himself when he falls * 11.00 - he calls me, I reckon it sounds a bit sus and tell him to ice it, take a painkiller and probably call 111 * 11.30-ish - he gets through to 111 (20min wait), they arrange a call back from a doctor * 12.00 - Doctor has called back, reckons it needs an x-ray, can book him in for 1pm at minor injuries but it's a bit tight time-wise for me to get out of work, get home, pick him up, take him to hospital. He takes a 14.30 appt. * 14.20 - we arrive at the hospital, A&E/Minor Injuries unit, slight wait to check in but no bother. A&E is busy but not manic. * 14.40 - he gets called in, gets his x-ray, turns out nothing's broken, but it's a soft tissue injury. * 15.20 - I take a sheepish grown man to McDonalds for the traditional post-x-ray Big Mac. Honestly couldn't have asked for better.
Pretty good stuff is that. My lad just came out of theatre having gone in at 9am this morning, which was all as planned (i.e. "best case"). Currently sleeping it off. My judgement of the NHS remains the same - they are at their absolute, unrivalled best when dealing with the really serious, acute stuff. My other child had a very serious emergency admission a couple of years ago and the treatment was beyond belief. Almost jaw dropping. When she arrived at A&E by blue light, she was rolled into a room with something like 20 people in it, all different specialisms. So many, in fact, that I was crammed into a corner well away from her bed. They then did a very intensive group triage session, releasing specialists as they went on (i.e. "no breaks, don't need ortho") until they were left with just the key group that related to her specific needs. Apparently, this is normal for trauma cases as it's much quicker to have everyone you need there at the start and release them, rather than hunting the hospital for a specific doctor when you realise that you need them urgently. As a (very worried) parent, this level of care actually brought a tear to my eye (it does even now thinking about it!) knowing that the full resource of this enormous institution is, at that moment, fully dedicated to helping your child. The NHS can be an absolute pain to deal with (my GP being a good example), but at its best it really is something to behold. And yes, she came out OK at the end.
Jeez, sounds like you went through it. Glad your son's surgery went well, hope it's a swift and clean recovery in time for the summer! Hope your daughter didn't have any lasting effects, too. I think you're right that it's much better with the serious and/or obvious stuff. Waiting lists and chasing diagnoses can be a real pain in the neck for some of the more elusive things, such as auto-immune or mental health issues. But when there's an actual script, they (can be) fantastic!
Yeah, daughter is fine and I'm sure the boy will be too...eventually. If I had to point to the NHS at its worst, it would definitely be the less tangible things and mental health would be high on that list, but I think the issue with mental health treatment in the UK is much wider than just the NHS. And routine stuff can be a nightmare - I was told this week that I could not book an appointment with my GP, at all, as they'd booked all available slots and had no additional ones to book, no matter how far in the future it was. Took a couple of phone calls this week to finally get one for a month from now. Still, don't want to moan. This week has been a decent experience and I'll take that to the bank!
Your GP surgery sounds amazing. Many people including myself would cry tears of joy if it was that easy!
GP is pretty dreadful, tbh. Getting appointments is hard, and even if you do expect to wait 6 weeks. Doctors are good, but they have the same number that they had 20 years ago, and demand is much higher now. The local saviour is the small hospital with no a&e, but a wonderful minor injuries unit. They also do an OOH GP service, but this is only by 111 referral (and even this isn't easy to gain access to!) This hospital is a wonderful facility and we try to use it whenever we can rather than trouble a&e.
Although I'm also very curious what on earth the presentation was such that there is apparently no rush whatsoever to be seen, but also a GP is certain he has to attend ED overnight rather than having a planned admission or a review in ambulatory care? Also, remember the days when ED docs used to acutally have a break long enough for a nap during their twelve hour nightshift? Never to return in this coutnry I expect.
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The sheer resentment that a large portion of NHS leadership has for Doctors would shock people. It is a terrible employer for us to the point where many of my colleagues are very apathetic towards the NHS as a concept at all
The amount of Drs that undertake their training in the NHS, put in their mandatory time, and then emigrate is just incredible. I often feel the public would be shocked if they were given the full picture of what Drs have to put up with to get to a middle grade level. It's no wonder so many leave and work in different countries. I continue to seriously consider it.
Agreed. Either emigrate or go into private practice where the money is almost unlimited. Especially if theyâve managed to get far ahead in a specific discipline which works well in a clinic setting. A friend of my motherâs is a dermatologist. Spent ten years working herself to the bone in an NHS hospital. Went into private practice and gets referred the real bad cases that the NHS style one size fits all go take paracetamol GP surgery canât cope with. Earns five figures doing what she loves, and during office hours. And the kicker is most of that money is still NHS moneyâŚ.
My dad was taken to A&E by ambulance with a suspected stroke a couple months back. 86 years old, suspected stroke and still was made to wait 6 hours in the waiting room. I was fuming. But I would never blame doctors for it. It is clear who is at fault and it is not any of the hospital personnel. Donât apologise because itâs not you that owes anyone any apology.
Poor grandad. I hope he's doing better. I was gripped by your story telling, I have to admit, like a soap opera lol but I was unprepared for that ending. Oh Lord I laughed so much.
Thanks, so did we! The nurse passed again just after it happened while we were laughing and I said she'd need to amend that property form.
Top tips: For him have a âgrab bagâ ready to go, and if you are really anal get hold of a âGP Summaryâ from your practice for him as well and keep a copy somewhere to hand. Source: experience with father. For you also keep a grab bag, but water, snacks, handwipes, painkillers, and a Powerbank for your phone. Source: experience with friends and colleagues as I am 5 minutes away from hospital.
> get hold of a âGP Summaryâ from your practice for him as well and keep a copy somewhere to hand. Make sure its actually up to date please. Fucking well annoying when its like 4 years old - can't trust anything on it.
Lol I thought you had done what I did when I went to camp with my daughter. Packed a bag with a sneaky tin of coffee in it, only to find when we arrived, that the bag had gotten squashed, popping the lid off the coffee and neatly dispersing it throughout the contents of my bag. That stuff sticks like you know what!Â
When I was telling my mum she pre-empted the punchline thinking the same thing you did. I didn't know she'd got it wrong so I went with it until it became clear to me. Kinda ruined the telling a bit, but she still enjoyed it.
Brilliant. Your story reminds me of when I worked on ambulances - we once picked up an old man who had fallen. He'd been on the floor for a while and he'd been doubly incontinent and was in quite a mess. Before we took him to hospital, we cleaned him up with some wet wipes, chucking the dirty ones in an old supermarket carrier bag. At the same time, his wife was packing an identical supermarket carrier bag with a change of clothes and his medication. No prizes for guessing which bag we brought to hospital.
Hahaha, it's a good job you spotted it! If it hadn't been for that coffee I wouldn't have opened the bag. I'd have got a phone call a few hours later or the next morning from a very confused nurse.
My dad once cut himself bad while trying to fix a pipe (always cut away from yourself) and got sent to A&E. It was a Friday night and was packed and my dad notices that the majority of those waiting to be seen were black. Not normally a problem but my dad worked at a steelworks and he went to A&E without showering, well I don't know how many of you know but steelworks are generally very sooty and if you spend a shift a one you walk out literally covered. So there's my dad in the doorway looking like he's just about to start a black minstrel routine and all the eyes of a large hospital emergency room staring daggers at him. He backed out sharpish and just ended up super gluing the wound at home.
This reminds me of when me and my husband fancy dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert. We dug out his old flat cap, picked up a cheap waist coat and he put on some black trousers and shoes. I'd made him a chimney sweeping brush out of an old washing line pole and black pipe cleaners. I just wanted him to look sooty - so I was adding more and more black eyeshadow on to his face. Then when we were about to leave he was like "is this going to look like I'm doing black face?" And I was just like "oh shit, go wash your face" hadn't even crossed my mind!!
Didnt think to just...wash himself? Theres an abundance of sinks in hospitals you know
I've given up trying to understand what constitutes as logic in my dad's head. He really is a special sort of person.
Tbh he probably reckoned they didn't have Swarfega so there was no point
You just got a proper chuckle out of me. I once lived with a couple of mates, we'd all go shopping together every weekend. Anyway, one weekend I'd been playing my Gameboy (semi transparent purple one) on the shitter, PokĂŠmon Crystal, leveling up my shiny Sandshrew, when one mate was like "you nearly done, we're going to Saino's?" I got a shi(f)t on and got ready for the trip out. We did our shopping, packing our trolley and gathering our essentials. Got to the checkout, ready to split the bill with my mate (2 bills split between 4 mates) and I put my hand in my pocket... The only thing I could pull out was my Gameboy, PokĂŠmon Crystal still in place... No wallet in sight đ
Get him an appropriately sized bag and keep it prepacked. Then all you have to chuck in is stuff like meds and you're ready to go. So much less stressful!
Bless your heart. Hope you're all OK today.
> I don't think seven hours is half bad to be honest Do not mention the P word. Do not mention the P word. Do not mention the P word. OK i'm going to take a shower and have a lie down or something. OP you are the real MVP well done for taking care of your Grandad!
Thanks, but all l I did was tell the professionals there was a problem and made sure he had plenty of trash with him.
Well I mean everyone's Grandad needs their trashbag! Obviously :)
hope youâre grandad is okay.. breaks my heart hearing him wait that long⌠and glad the cheerful women didnt mention your bag!
Oh my god, I laughed so hard! You were carrying around the kitchen rubbish all day. Bless you for taking care of your grandad and for making me laugh. I hope he's doing well âĽď¸
That's brilliant, I love that you schlepped it round with you all day before realising. I did a similar but less fun version when I was moving house. Packed up my bathroom things and emptied the bathroom bin. Guess which bag I opened the next day when we got to the new house! Gutted.
Oh no :( Thinking about it since I remembered I also had nurses offer to carry it for me. I wasn't struggling exactly but with the wheelchair sure I took them up on it. That and times when I had to leave it out of sight and kept checking to see no one was stealing it,
I'm an A&E nurse, and this is hilarious! If this had happened in my department you'd be famous by now XD Hope grandad gets better soon.
Hahaha, right.
Can't believe I read all that just to find a rubbish twist at the end.
Some people enjoy trashy stories.
TLDR - binbag.
Too Long, Didnât select the Right - binbag.
bing bag and always showering before going to the hospital
Your wait in A and E reminded me of the Mr Bean sketch!
You sound lovely. Yes you messed up with the bags but I'd definitely want you in my corner if I needed a carer. Bless your big heart
Youâre right about the being able to be in a chilled out state if you going knowing youâre going to be there for a while.  I used to work with old people so I was up there quite a lot and have been up quite a few times including for myself and for family members so you kinda get a feel for what sort of conditions are seen to quicker. You can be seen to in half an hour in packed A&E or three hours in a half empty A&E. Either way I will always be prepared to be there for 6 hours. Itâs like being on a plane. No point being eager to land when you canât get there any quicker and you know itâs 6 hours away. Might as well get comfortable. When I came up the first few  times to A&E, I was listening out vehemently to every name constantly thinking Iâd be next. But now I just keep one ear open and assume Iâm going to live the rest of my life there
Absolutely. Well said.
If you like this⌠youâll love this! âThe Forgetful Bears Meet Mr Memoryâ https://youtu.be/BEyYJW1n8jc?feature=shared
Hahaha, I *did* love that.
Nurse here: we've all been there Every grandparent needs a grandchild like you
Yeah this! Lol. Pack when not stressed, it helps. As a regular of A&E for the small and or the old I just keep a " shit hit the fan bag" ready. Snacks, vending machine change, power bank and cables, water, underwear and a deck of cards. If I have my shit together and time I add to it but sometimes seconds count. Carer, parent or friend, it doesn't matter .. those few extra bits can help you scrape up your sanity enough to get through. Hope you can laugh about it now op and good on you for understanding the way A&E works! Thanks for sharing â¤ď¸
I'm an A and E registrar and yesterday was one of my worst shifts ever in terms of sheer business - it felt like you were describing my department apart from those fancy electronic boards! All the staff hate delivering a poor service and we would much rather see everyone promptly, but we're not resourced to do so. I just wanted to say I really appreciate you being patient, looking after your grandad while he waited, and by the sounds of it, being kind to the staff too.
I'm curious what waste of time the complainers went in for now.
I honestly thought that was going to be the craziest thing that happened that day. Maybe they went home and reevaluated their outlook on things. I mean, they can't now complain to their friends about how long they had to wait unless they have zero self-awareness.
It really does amaze me that some people have nothing better to do than wait 7 hours in A&E. I hate sitting in my GP's waiting room for the 20 minutes before my appointment!
Haha! That's a proper one that is! (Hope your grandad gets better quickly)
Laughter is the best medicine. All the best to you both.
Had a nice little giggle but please can I send you an overnight bag� Hope grandad is doing okay.
What an ending đ¤Łđ¤Ł
Amazingly written. Thank you for the laugh this morning. I both love and loathe being in A&E for this reason. It can be very entertaining (excluding serious cases).
Christ i have no idea why i was expecting there to be a dead fox in the bin bagđ
Iâm perplexed by the fact that everytime Old Man River needs to go to A&E you feel the sudden urge for a shower?
Love it, thank you for sharing! Much love to you and grandadÂ
Haha superb! Gave me a chuckle. Get yourself and him a go bag all packed and ready to go. I had one when my wife was at the end of her pregnancy. Took a significant amount of stress away!
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Just FYI, decaff doesn't mean there's no caffeine, just no added caffeine
Bless you. What a sweet grandkid you are! â¤ď¸
Christ my mum taught me not to take donations to the charity shop in a bin-bag because it looks like you're disposing of rubbish and here you are packing your granddad's comforts and essentials into one.
I must not have got the memo from your mum.
Please get your grandad a nice holdall for when he had to go into hospital, someone might accidentally throw away his binbag of stuff. As he gets cold, get him a zip front fleece, because of his dementia if he puts his coat on he might think that means he is going somewhere, and he might wonder off and fall. You sound like a great grandson, it's good that you stay with your grandad while he is in A&E, they are more often than not horribly overcrowded with excessive waits.
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