Police action IS needed.

[chapeau]

Well you are quite correct there mdf. However GP services in that part of London were pretty poor prior to 2004 and if you did get one to turn up they would more often that not just call 999 and send a 'Dear Doctor' letter stuck on the patients chest. And then block up A&E. But they would be seen, eventually.

Yes, you do need to know how to 'work the system'.

As for a police investigation - this would usually result in clinical staff closing ranks, and if anybody was needed to blame, somebody who didn't train in the UK would be preferable.

Doctors and the police generally work well together too and the police wouldn't want to mess that relationship up.

 

[JBR]

Now of course being seen Out of Hours means instead of someone very ill being seen at home you have to Hawk your poorly family member out of bed and drag them down to A&E.
Running A&E departments though has become expensive as every drunk thinks its clever to waste taxpayers money practically living in these places. A&E depts aren't just a GP with a black bag as they need to have full teams on site in case a pile up happens on the Local MWay or another disaster occurs.

Yes, here is a major problem that affects us all and seems to be continuing unabated. Why are these yobs still tolerated? Yes, I know that they cannot be turned away just in case there is a genuine injury, but they seem to take over casualty departments, especially on a Saturday night.

At the risk of going slightly off-topic, alcohol is certainly the cause of no end of problems in this country (yet not so much in some other countries for some reason), including such things as fighting and criminal damage. I have occasionally thought what would happen if it was obligatory to possess an 'alcohol licence' in order to be allowed to purchase alcohol. Obviously, habitual drunks would not qualify.

I can see the value in outlawing alcohol, as happens in countries such as Saudi Arabia. Of course, this would unfairly penalise the sensible drinkers such as myself. Perhaps a middle way would simply be to have much stricter punishments for drunks causing trouble. That might alleviate some of our casualty department problems, including the oft-publicised several hours' wait to be seen.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I remember how long it used to take to waiting in my local casulty, I would go there and book myself in and then come back the next day for my turn which dramatically cut waiting times with drunkards.

 

[chapeau]

If you are having to wait for a long time in an A&E you really need to question why you are there

 

[Mikefromlondon]

If you are having to wait for a long time in an A&E you really need to question why you are there

wasn't me, my wife she fell and broke her wrist, so they told us that it would be at least 8 hrs before our turn might come, it was late at night, so we went home and came back early in the morning and we still had to wait another couple of hours, though I checked with the reception in case our name may have come up whilst we went back home, she was horrified that we did , but I told her that we only nipped back to have something to eat!

And then of course once our turn came it was another 2 hours before her wrist was casted after setting it right and after her xrays and the usual slowness all around in hospitals, you are never told what is going on, they just ask you to wait here and wait there, and oh we will be taking you for xrays in a few minutes, which usually means in about an hour!

They seem to work like zombies, two pr three doctors discussing one patient like they are not too sure what they need to do to a patient!

 

[chapeau]

Well, junior doctors like you find in a cas dept aren't as experienced as they used to be (working time directives) so you should be happy they are discussing things with their seniors.

To be honest. If I had a stable wrist fracture (easy to determine) I'd not hang around in an A & E overnight. I'd want to be seen in fracture clinic the next day. Take some paracetamol, go home and have as good a night's kip as possible. See the orthopods the next day and not a junior in the middle of the night.

 

[JBR]

Well, junior doctors like you find in a cas dept aren't as experienced as they used to be (working time directives) so you should be happy they are discussing things with their seniors.

To be honest. If I had a stable wrist fracture (easy to determine) I'd not hang around in an A & E overnight. I'd want to be seen in fracture clinic the next day. Take some paracetamol, go home and have as good a night's kip as possible. See the orthopods the next day and not a junior in the middle of the night.

But can you just turn up at an orthopaedic clinic without a referral?

 

[chapeau]

A&E would make the appointment. Then you go home, or hang around. A broken wrist isn't going to kill you overnight, it's going to be a bit sore that's all, and you really want to be seen by a specialist if possible.

In general a triage system exists in an A&E dept and you will be seen quickly if you need it and seen slowly if you need it. Now most people think they are an emergency but to be honest very few people who turn up off the street to an A&E dept are.

 

[mdf290]

Twice I have been to hospital A&E appointments due to metalic fragments in the eye from employees grinding over staples when finishing furniture despite wearing protective eyewear.

The first time I was sat in a cubicle through which I could see into a central area through an interconnecting curtain and the health employees were in there.
I waited for two hours in this cubicle while the whole time I could see a GP in a white coat chatting to a couple of nurses.
My eye was obviously red and inflamed and every blink was painful.
Thinking that I was awaiting some specific member of staff I just sat there in discomfort eyes and nose streaming.

What happened next totally floored me.
The Doctor I had witnessed chatting for two hours with the nurses got off his chair and then came into my cubicle to see me.

Rather than thank him for helping me I could happily have kicked him in the *******s there and then.

On the next occasion I was triaged with the same injury (metal fragments in eye) and was made to sit for four hours while people limped in with twisted ankles and then left after three hours deciding they really weren't that bad and would simply walk out.
I had to keep going back and asking of there was any possibility of being seen sooner. My eye again was red raw and weeping.

I have had broken limbs and tbh much more comfortable to sit and wait with than something in your eyeball (which incidentally they fix by gouging the offending shard out with a needle)..

 

[pred]

That's worst than a poke in the eye!!

 

[JBR]

Twice I have been to hospital A&E appointments due to metalic fragments in the eye from employees grinding over staples when finishing furniture despite wearing protective eyewear.

The first time I was sat in a cubicle through which I could see into a central area through an interconnecting curtain and the health employees were in there.
I waited for two hours in this cubicle while the whole time I could see a GP in a white coat chatting to a couple of nurses.
My eye was obviously red and inflamed and every blink was painful.
Thinking that I was awaiting some specific member of staff I just sat there in discomfort eyes and nose streaming.

What happened next totally floored me.
The Doctor I had witnessed chatting for two hours with the nurses got off his chair and then came into my cubicle to see me.

Rather than thank him for helping me I could happily have kicked him in the **** there and then.

On the next occasion I was triaged with the same injury (metal fragments in eye) and was made to sit for four hours while people limped in with twisted ankles and then left after three hours deciding they really weren't that bad and would simply walk out.
I had to keep going back and asking of there was any possibility of being seen sooner. My eye again was red raw and weeping.

I have had broken limbs and tbh much more comfortable to sit and wait with than something in your eyeball (which incidentally they fix by gouging the offending shard out with a needle)..

That's appalling. Why not take a small video camera next time, then be a whistle-blower? Seriously, that sort of thing is not acceptable.

 

[gasbanni]

The Latest news ~

hopefully some heads will roll

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9874032/Mid-Staffs-health-and-safety-charges-considered.html

 

[gasbanni]

My experiences with the NHS have generally been good.

However...........

There's no question my wife saved her Mothers life, she was in about a heart problem that was sorted, but she clearly couldn't breathe properly
despite this she was on the verge of being discharged.

Mrs goes on the war path.... how can she be discharged she cant breathe etc etc etc specialist lung person comes from a different hospital........lo and behold he could see how serious it was orders immediate scan....it was, she had a blood clot on her lung !!

Did a job for a lady that was nurse told me of two incidents with her son and husband she was quite insistent had she not been on the ball and insisted on certain tests and making sure her husband was sent to specialist bone cancer hospital they would both be dead.
Regarding the consultant that dealt with her son she named him and called him absolutely useless

 

[mdf290]

The Latest news ~

hopefully some heads will roll

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9...th-and-safety-charges-considered.html[/QUOTE]

As I originally thought not criminal charges but breaches of health and safety.

I honestly dont think this one will fly either though. Its one thing prosecuting a director with tangible evidence like a commpressor vessel that blows up and kills someone and you can check to see whether it was tested on schedule or was already condemmed but the mess in the NHS is a whole level of **** more difficult to pin.

Fingers crossed though

 

[JBR]

All these scary stories.

I'm sure I read somewhere that, under the terms of our EU membership, one can ask to be treated in a French hospital, yet paid for by the NHS. If so, I'd seriously consider it.

Perhaps there is at least one advantage to continued EU membership, then.