How come A&E's are suddenly empty?

pinkyeye

I think it's very interesting that A&E's are suddenly empty.

I know someone who works in CUH and there were 7 people in total in A&E the other day.

Now, it's a combination of factors imo:

1. Doctors are more reluctant to refer people to the A&E

2. Doctors are calling out to nursing homes and administering IV anti-biotics.

3. And the usual hypochondriacs who clog up A&E are staying well away.

However, 2 of these reasons are down to doctors. I've always thought that they are far too quick to tell someone to go to A&E simply because they don't want to treat patients at home anymore. This is for a couple of reasons:

They don't want to be calling out to people, admittedly they may not have time.

They don't want to be sued if it goes wrong.

So the question I have is should doctors be better trained/resourced and protected from suing in some way.

MadYaker

They won't be empty for long.

Id imagine GPs have been told to avoid referring people or sending people to A&E at all.

biko

One observation in one location from a friend of yours hardly warrants title
"How come A&E's are suddenly empty?"

paleoperson

How not?

1) Less social gatherings meaning less horseplay, fighting and accidents.

2) People fearful of going into places they could pick up the virus.

3) People being encouraged to stay away from health services unless it's absolutely necessary.

Pawwed Rig

All sporting events cancelled so fewer broken bones and lacerations.

Because anyone who could be discharged was and treatment suspended for others and they discharged then


Anyone needing admission through a and e was let in,everyone else run out the door...in anticipation of a flood of cases


I know of people who have had their treatnent suspended for 2 months

Homelander

Well, obviously what the OP is getting at is that there are a large number of people in A&E on a daily basis that shouldn't be there in the first place.

A few days ago the trolley figure was literally 10% of what it normally is.

Very regularly A&E's are crammed full of people who really don't need to be there amongst those that do.

poppers

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Anyone needing admission through a and e was let in,everyone else run out the door.../quote]

Should be like this all the time

poppers

poppers wrote: »

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Anyone needing admission through a and e was let in,everyone else run out the door.../quote]

Should be like this all the time

Alot of time they cant admit people because beds are taken up


I had close relative give few weeks in hospideal last year,and saw actual action maybe 3 days during that time....but couldnt be released,even for weekends,as they wouldnt have a bed to come back into for tests etc,seemingly this is common practice

pinkyeye

biko wrote: »

One observation in one location from a friend of yours hardly warrants title
"How come A&E's are suddenly empty?"

Trolley numbers announced every day are also way way down.

Guy:Incognito

biko wrote: »

One observation in one location from a friend of yours hardly warrants title
"How come A&E's are suddenly empty?"

Tallaght has been the same.

Guy:Incognito

MadYaker wrote: »

They won't be empty for long.

Id imagine GPs have been told to avoid referring people or sending people to A&E at all.

If they can avoid referring them to A&E then surely thats proof they dont really need to be sent there anyway?

LRNM

pinkyeye wrote: »

I think it's very interesting that A&E's are suddenly empty.

Is it? We're in the middle of a global pandemic and one of the largest crisis of our time. One where people are being told to avoid hospitals unless absolutely necessary.

So the question I have is should doctors be better trained/resourced and protected from suing in some way.

That wasn't your original question.

Bizarre thread.

Guy:Incognito

LRNM wrote: »

Is it? We're in the middle of a global pandemic and one of the largest crisis of our time. One where people are being told to avoid hospitals unless absolutely necessary.

.

A&E should be the place you go when it is absolutely necessary all the time.

Are the people who would normally be sat in an A&E dropping dead in large numbers around the country?

paleoperson

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

A&E should be the place you go when it is absolutely necessary all the time.

That's not true. If you take a knock to the head and don't feel good for a while afterwards, it's not "absolutely necessary" to go to A&E, but you probably should.

I mean what the hell are you trying to say here? Like what is the point of this?

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Are the people who would normally be sat in an A&E dropping dead in large numbers around the country?

No. What sort of a question is this?

Traumadoc

Two main reasons.
1. Elective admissions have been curtailed.
2. DEPR has released funds for home help packages.
This is all to create capacity for the predicted influx.

BarryD2

Isn't there a similar theme at Christmas? Numbers attending A&E fall over the few days of Christmas as only the people that really need to go will attend.

Traumadoc

pinkyeye wrote: »

I think it's very interesting that A&E's are suddenly empty.

I know someone who works in CUH and there were 7 people in total in A&E the other day.

Now, it's a combination of factors imo:

1. Doctors are more reluctant to refer people to the A&E

2. Doctors are calling out to nursing homes and administering IV anti-biotics.

3. And the usual hypochondriacs who clog up A&E are staying well away.

However, 2 of these reasons are down to doctors. I've always thought that they are far too quick to tell someone to go to A&E simply because they don't want to treat patients at home anymore. This is for a couple of reasons:

They don't want to be calling out to people, admittedly they may not have time.

They don't want to be sued if it goes wrong.

So the question I have is should doctors be better trained/resourced and protected from suing in some way.

Our numbers of attendees are not down , just our patients have beds to go to.
Hypochondriacs are actually quite rare,

Millionaire only not

BarryD2 wrote: »

Isn't there a similar theme at Christmas? Numbers attending A&E fall over the few days of Christmas as only the people that really need to go will attend.

That really need to go !
So we haven’t a hospital crisis so , only being clogged up with wasters, I’d believe it !

Traumadoc

BarryD2 wrote: »

Isn't there a similar theme at Christmas? Numbers attending A&E fall over the few days of Christmas as only the people that really need to go will attend.

No not really, again there is a mass clear out of admitted patients , elective operations are cancelled over christmas.

Millionaire only not

Traumadoc wrote: »

Our numbers of attendees are not down , just our patients have beds to go to.
Hypochondriacs are actually quite rare,

There not rare our local doctor funnily enough is jammed every day with social welfare recipients!
It’s very rare to see a working person anytime I’m there and thank god it’s not too often !

revelman

pinkyeye wrote: »

I think it's very interesting that A&E's are suddenly empty.

I know someone who works in CUH and there were 7 people in total in A&E the other day.

Now, it's a combination of factors imo:

1. Doctors are more reluctant to refer people to the A&E

2. Doctors are calling out to nursing homes and administering IV anti-biotics.

3. And the usual hypochondriacs who clog up A&E are staying well away.

However, 2 of these reasons are down to doctors. I've always thought that they are far too quick to tell someone to go to A&E simply because they don't want to treat patients at home anymore. This is for a couple of reasons:

They don't want to be calling out to people, admittedly they may not have time.

They don't want to be sued if it goes wrong.

So the question I have is should doctors be better trained/resourced and protected from suing in some way.

If you read the reports of doctors in Italy you will find that the exact same thing happened in their hospitals a few weeks ago. They now call it the calm before the storm. It seems like this is an international trend, not just unique to Ireland.

BarryD2

Traumadoc wrote: »

No not really, again there is a mass clear out of admitted patients , elective operations are cancelled over christmas.

Hmm.. I think people make rational decisions as to whether to attend an A&E service. If it's handy to them, not going to cost a fortune and they're a little unsure - they'll pop along. But at times like Christmas when there's stuff going on, ah sure it can wait a few days. Or at times like this, when you might risk getting this 'killer virus' while waiting, hmm.. not worth it.

Traumadoc

Millionaire only not wrote: »

There not rare our local doctor funnily enough is jammed every day with social welfare recipients!
It’s very rare to see a working person anytime I’m there and thank god it’s not too often !

In the EDs there are few hypochondriacs will wait 4-8 hours to be seen. There are one or two, they tend to be socially isolated rather than true hypochondriacs , and are happy to wait in the waiting room as a cat 5 . You might see a lot of them if you are waiting with them but they tend not to take up clinical resources.

Collie D

Millionaire only not wrote: »

There not rare our local doctor funnily enough is jammed every day with social welfare recipients!
It’s very rare to see a working person anytime I’m there and thank god it’s not too often !

You don’t go that often yet you’re willing to state as fact who goes there every day.

OK

LRNM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

A&E should be the place you go when it is absolutely necessary all the time.

Are the people who would normally be sat in an A&E dropping dead in large numbers around the country?

1. In this current crisis, absolutely necessary is defined quite differently.

Aside from that, no A&E's are used for a wide array of things and are often the only port of treatment for minor injuries and ailments.



2. No obviously not dropping dead, the vast majority of people who need to go to A&E aren't going for life threatening conditions in the first place.

Traumadoc

BarryD2 wrote: »

Hmm.. I think people make rational decisions as to whether to attend an A&E service. If it's handy to them, not going to cost a fortune and they're a little unsure - they'll pop along. But at times like Christmas when there's stuff going on, ah sure it can wait a few days. Or at times like this, when you might risk getting this 'killer virus' while waiting, hmm.. not worth it.

True christmas day tends to be quiet , but a lot of people come in the 26th , ie they should have come in 25th but held off "for Christmas" , this year was particularly bad as flu hit in Christmas week.
Hypochondriacs are not cloging up the A&E, its actually sick admitted people who cannot get a bed.
If you clear those patients out , the department is not that crowded and there are spaces to see the patients who are waiting.

Beasty

It's already been discussed in the main Corobnavirus thread