So my Saturday was ruined as I ended up having to spend six hours in A and E

LirW · 23-06-2019 12:37PM

Mad_maxx wrote: »

One of the big differences between Ireland and many other Western European nations is how minimal a service the GP sector provide, bar treating the common cold, they do fcuk all other than a box ticking check exercise on the way to hospital, this places huge pressure on hospitals, GP s in other countries have xray machines, here the expenditure begins with a stethoscope and ends with a handful of magazines in the waiting room

The GP lobby need tackling

Another big difference is that many countries have easy access to consultants. You have issues with your skin. You can go book in with a dermatologist straight away, no need to be referred unless you're unsure and go to the GP. There are many to pick from.
Need to see a pediatrician? Book in, bring your child, you can be seen on the same day if it's an emergency.
Women get annual smears and go for annual check-ups to gynaecologists, that includes an ultrasound. Having access to regular monitoring of gyn issues here is incredibly difficult and awkward. They do pre-natal care too because they have the proper equipment to do it and you'd only go to the hospital if there's an emergency.

This takes a lot of pressure from the system because people know where to go to. Believe it or not, people there are angry if they have to wait 2 hours in A&E to be seen. And even then individual clinics have their own A&E where you go straight to.

It's the lack of things in between A&E and GP to get care that fails most people. A system like that keeps the A&E free for people that can't get fixed anywhere else.

One weekend as a teen I had severe pain while peeing. I went to the urological A&E, was seen instantly, I got tested, had an ultrasound, got antibiotics and was sent home, was a UTI.
Another time my kid burst his forehead open, we went to the children hospital A&E, were seen in 20 minutes, he got glued together and we were on our way.

matthew the statue · 23-06-2019 12:50PM

Was in referred to A&E by West-doc , was having pain breathing and hadn't eaten for three days couldn't swallow tonsils were like golf balls , I had gotten something called Quinsy which is essentially an abscess on your tonsils but because I left it too long and was stubborn it had gotten pretty bad.

Was offered pain relief but I couldn't speak and couldn't swallow anyways , went to see the triage nurse who said an ears, nose and throat doctor would see me. Another nurse then came out to me and used one of those sticks they use and poked me right into the tonsil and asked me did it hurt , ignoring the fact I couldn't talk and tell her if it did, I would of screamed if I could was almost crying , eventually after 14 hours seen the specialist who got me a morphine drip , two days in hospital on an antibiotic drip and they went down enough to send me home.

whiskeyman · 23-06-2019 12:51PM

Stop moaning ffs wrote: »

Went to Beaumont. Couldn’t sit down with it. Was waiting 20 hours in the waiting room. Yes 20. Lying down on the floor. Getting very odd looks. Eventually got brought into the main bit in a&e and spent a further 10 hours lying on the floor. Least the nurses understood why. They didn’t have a bed free.
.

Some people got a free house for less...

Stop moaning ffs · 23-06-2019 12:56PM

whiskeyman wrote: »

Some people got a free house for less...

Lemme guess

Bloody immigints?

corner of hells · 23-06-2019 01:02PM

robyntmorton wrote: »

I've been one of those patients who has been seen immediately. Registration to triage in 10 minutes. Triage to cardiac resus in 10 seconds. My resting heart rate at the time was 153, and went up from there with any activity. Severe sepsis, and 5 weeks in hospital.

Most recently in Feb, I joined the Sunday afternoon sports injury queue in Vincent's with damage to my arm after a cycling accident (no cars or pedestrians harmed). Name was called for triage before I even completed registration. Was triaged as reasonably urgent (approx 1 hour) and was seen by doctor after about 75 minutes. A couple of hours of back and forth between doc and xray decided it was inconclusive as swelling may have been holding everything, and was put in a wrist splint and sling, with a 2 week follow up to orthopedics. About 4 hours all told, to find out a couple of weeks later it was clear on xray.

Sepsis is a whole different ball game , mine was 15 minutes from registration to triage , go straight into cardiac resuscitation...

dellas1979 · 23-06-2019 01:17PM

What pisses me off reading this thread (bar the ****ty health service we have anyways) is the amount of "I think I've a broken bone" people.

They havent, and then complain anyways about 14 hour wait. Most of the wait is other people with "I think Ive broken a bone."

The irony.

We have smaller hospitals (local injury hospitals) people! Most are open until at least 7/8pm. If you go to one of the mega hospitals (Limerick, for e.g.,) you'll wait 10+ hours. I know I'd rather be at home in the bed with a few paracetamol and a hot water bottle/ice pack, and wait for the bone clinic to open. Than sit with a "I think Ive a broken bone, now lets clog up the main hospitals, where actual serious stuff happens - oh its not broken" attitude.

Junkies and drunks-dont even get me started.

banie01 · 23-06-2019 01:25PM

dellas1979 wrote: »

What pisses me off reading this thread (bar the ****ty health service we have anyways) is the amount of "I think I've a broken bone" people.

They havent, and then complain anyways about 14 hour wait. Most of the wait is other people with "I think Ive broken a bone."

The irony.

We have smaller hospitals/bone hospitals people! Most are open until at least 7/8pm. If you go to one of the mega hospitals (Limerick, for e.g.,) you'll wait 10+ hours. I know I'd rather be at home in the bed with a few paracetamol and a hot water bottle/ice pack, and wait for the bone clinic to open. Than sit with me "I think Ive a broken bone, now lets clog up the main hospitals."

Junkies and drunks-dont even get me started.

My last visit to the local injury unit was done and dusted within 2hrs.

X-Rayed, temporary cast and an appointment for the ortho clinic then out the door.

Graces7 · 23-06-2019 01:29PM

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

About 8 years ago, in the UK. Broke my finger. Got a taxi to the hospital, went to the desk and was put to the front of the queue (my finger was pointing sideways across the rest of my hand).

I waited about 20 mins and was seen by a doctor who have me the gas pipe while he dealt with something more urgent. Half an hour later he came back, popped it into place and sent me for xrays. Nurse bandaged the hand and doctor looked at the xrays. Made an appointment to see a surgeon a few days later and got a taxi home.

The whole thing took about 2.5 hours. Great service. It shows what can be achieved if the service is properly staffed and funded by government. Unfortunately the Tories are doing their best to starve the NHS to the point that it looks like privatisation is worth a try. Real shame. The NHS might be the thing I'd be most proud of if I were British and it's being whittled away.

Hopefully the Irish people come to support the measures necessary to fund the Irish medical service and fix things like A&E. The stories sound dreadful.

When I came from the Uk 20 years ago, it was not too bad even after the NHS but since then Irish a and e has gone downhill rapidly.

IAMAMORON · 23-06-2019 01:31PM

OP, what type of dog bit you?

Did you get a rabies injection?

Did you fabricate your entire story to start a HSE bashing thread? If yes , nicely done. I think they are a disgrace etc. Blah blah 12 hour wait , blah blah loads of drunks and drug users, blah blah how come the travellers get medical cards, blah blah ? It is a disgrace, blah blah.

Up Cavan.

dudara · 23-06-2019 01:37PM

IAMAMORON wrote: »

OP, what type of dog bit you?

Did you get a rabies injection?

Did you fabricate your entire story to start a HSE bashing thread? If yes , nicely done. I think they are a disgrace etc. Blah blah 12 hour wait , blah blah loads of drunks and drug users, blah blah how come the travellers get medical cards, blah blah ? It is a disgrace, blah blah.

Up Cavan.

To be fair, I don’t think this has been an Emergency bashing thread. Yes people have had long waits and frustrations, but most stories are fair and decent. Posters here understand that the front line staff generally do a great job with the resources they have.

Timberrrrrrrr · 23-06-2019 01:40PM

8 months ago heading into work, stepped off a kerb close to the job and my knee gave way. Hobbled into work but by that stage knee had bad swelling across the top.

Manager gave me a lift to the local NHS urgent care clinic (think of it as a small hospital) triaged in 10 minutes and x-ray withing 30.

Nothing broken/showing up so they pop me in a taxi to the nearest hospital (they paid for the taxi).

Seen by a orthopaedic consultant 45 mins after arrival and sent straight down for an MRI. Turns out i had torn the medial meniscus cartilage and would require surgery. Strapped up and handed crutches they sent me home in a taxi (again paid for by them, i had no cash/card on me)

4 days later a letter arrives with my appointment for surgery the week after. 2 hour op, 3 hours in recovery and knee is brand new.

People over here slate the NHS and it's in no way perfect but i honestly couldnt fault a service like that.

Sam Quentin · 23-06-2019 01:45PM

You should be a script writer,.your attention to detail is sumcumbumbomped 😃 I really enjoyed your hospital visit.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 23-06-2019 01:45PM

It depends on the hospital and the time of day. My last visit was for stitches after almost severing a finger with a pruning saw. The wait was about 2 hours but all in all very efficient.

Timberrrrrrrr · 23-06-2019 01:52PM

Sam Quentin wrote: »

You should be a script writer,.your attention to detail is sumcumbumbomped ðŸ˜႒ I really enjoyed your hospital visit.

Cheers

My 1st interaction with the NHS in over a decade was when i 1st moved back here 3 years ago.

Hadn't been near a doctor in years (€50 to see a doc and €80 for antibiotics? No thanks) but tonsils had swollen to the point where even swallowing a sip of water was excruciating.

Toddles off to the emergency care center (hadn't registered with a doc at that stage) and got seen to about an hour later. Nothing too bad just a dose of tonsilitis so gives me a prescription for antibiotics. Thought i would have to pay to see doc but no charge.

Walks into the local asda and chemist tells me i would have to pay for prescription, i would also need paracetomol for the pain and ibuprofen for the swelling. Ok says i whipping out my card, that will be £8.30 please.

Seriously, £8.30 for a course of antibiotics, it also cost me 59p for the ibuprofen and 30p for a packet of 12 generic brand paracetomol.

heroics · 23-06-2019 01:59PM

dellas1979 wrote: »

What pisses me off reading this thread (bar the ****ty health service we have anyways) is the amount of "I think I've a broken bone" people.

They havent, and then complain anyways about 14 hour wait. Most of the wait is other people with "I think Ive broken a bone."

The irony.

We have smaller hospitals (local injury hospitals) people! Most are open until at least 7/8pm. If you go to one of the mega hospitals (Limerick, for e.g.,) you'll wait 10+ hours. I know I'd rather be at home in the bed with a few paracetamol and a hot water bottle/ice pack, and wait for the bone clinic to open. Than sit with a "I think Ive a broken bone, now lets clog up the main hospitals, where actual serious stuff happens - oh its not broken" attitude.

Junkies and drunks-dont even get me started.

Yep they are great if you get hurt between 8am and 6pm. Most of my sports related ones happen in the evening so Vincent’s it is.

Brother broke his wrist on a Sunday morning and was in and out of our local one in an hour. He said the doctor was waiting for him when he came back from the x-ray

Maybe if they opened till 10 every night that would reduce the load on the main hospitals. I reckon the last time I was in Vincent’s.of the people could have been seen by local injury clinic which was prob a 3rd of the people in the A&E. This was about 9pm

Maybe if some analysis was done (maybe there is) but it would seem to me that evenings would be a prime time for sports related injuries which are perfect for local injury units.

Also maybe they should advertise these more. The number of people I suggest them to and they don’t even know they are an option.

Graces7 · 23-06-2019 02:14PM

dudara wrote: »

To be fair, I don’t think this has been an Emergency bashing thread. Yes people have had long waits and frustrations, but most stories are fair and decent. Posters here understand that the front line staff generally do a great job with the resources they have.

and a lot depends on when you arrive.. I was to a an d e by ambulance (2 hours journey) some years ago with a serious fracture. around 3 am Sunday, I was seen immediately, pain relief started IV in case it needed surgery, x ray and straight to the ward for theatre.

My last trip there was late morning and many hours waiting,

Cryptopagan · 23-06-2019 02:28PM

dellas1979 wrote: »

What pisses me off reading this thread (bar the ****ty health service we have anyways) is the amount of "I think I've a broken bone" people.

They havent, and then complain anyways about 14 hour wait. Most of the wait is other people with "I think Ive broken a bone."

The irony.

We have smaller hospitals (local injury hospitals) people! Most are open until at least 7/8pm. If you go to one of the mega hospitals (Limerick, for e.g.,) you'll wait 10+ hours. I know I'd rather be at home in the bed with a few paracetamol and a hot water bottle/ice pack, and wait for the bone clinic to open. Than sit with a "I think Ive a broken bone, now lets clog up the main hospitals, where actual serious stuff happens - oh its not broken" attitude.

Junkies and drunks-dont even get me started.

It’s the way the system is designed and managed that’s the problem, not the people using it.

janfebmar · 23-06-2019 02:31PM

Have been in a and e in a foreign hospital twice, and in an Irish a and e a good few times over many decades, with family etc. Sorry to say but the experience in the foreign hospital was much more efficient, quicker, better. This despite paying for the HSE trip on the double.

bfa1509 · 23-06-2019 02:32PM

I always used to feel like I was wasting doctor's time by going in to A+E, but trust me, you are only wasting your own time. The triage nurse will make sure the cases are seen appropriately

I've had lots of broken bones in the past and know all to well about the long wait times in A+E. However, a few months ago I had terrible pains all over and thought I had a kidney infection but the tests came back clear. On Saturday afternoon the pain was so bad and I could barely walk, so I decided, reluctantly to go to A+E. There was a big crowd in there when I arrived and I thought "fk this, I'll just get the painkillers and go again". I was scanning the room and to my dismay was seeing head injuries, lots of blood-stained bandages, withered old grannies and was thinking that there was no way I'd be seen before them!

I stumbled into the triage nurse where she did blood pressure, temperature measurements, the standard poke here and there, the usual stuff. Rather than being sent back out to the waiting room for 6 hours, I was put straight on a trolley and seen to by a doctor within 5 minutes who then had to call a consultant in from his weekend. I had no idea at the time what was going on, but I subsequently spent a week in hospital. I only found out 2 months later that I had sepsis.

The moral of the story is, no matter how insignificant an injury/illness is, you will not be wasting anyone's time. (only your own of course, if it's not too serious)

Graces7 · 23-06-2019 02:38PM

heroics wrote: »

Yep they are great if you get hurt between 8am and 6pm. Most of my sports related ones happen in the evening so Vincent’s it is.

Brother broke his wrist on a Sunday morning and was in and out of our local one in an hour. He said the doctor was waiting for him when he came back from the x-ray

Maybe if they opened till 10 every night that would reduce the load on the main hospitals. I reckon the last time I was in Vincent’s.of the people could have been seen by local injury clinic which was prob a 3rd of the people in the A&E. This was about 9pm

Maybe if some analysis was done (maybe there is) but it would seem to me that evenings would be a prime time for sports related injuries which are perfect for local injury units.

Also maybe they should advertise these more. The number of people I suggest them to and they don’t even know they are an option.

The Bantry Local Injuries unit is excellent and fast. Been there twice and the same both times.
Out here in accident it means the Air Ambulance and no idea what waiting then. Hope I never find out..

AulWan · 23-06-2019 02:40PM

Last winter I spent 39 hours in a cubicle in A&E with my 78 year old mother who has advanced dementia, before she was diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted. I couldn't leave her side as she kept trying to wander and the staff couldn't watch her, and I had to ask other patients to watch her when I had to use the bathroom.

I actually don't want to talk about how horrific it was.

(edited to add) I don't blame the staff, they were run off their feet and did their best. I could not work under the conditions they do.

Graces7 · 23-06-2019 02:43PM

AulWan wrote: »

Last winter I spent 39 hours in a cubicle in A&E with my 78 year old mother who has advanced dementia, before she was diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted. I couldn't leave her side as she kept trying to wander and the staff couldn't watch her, and I had to ask other patients to watch her when I had to use the bathroom.

I actually don't want to talk about how horrific it was.

(((HUGS)))

Graces7 · 23-06-2019 02:45PM

My family and I agree though that if I need eg a hip replacement , rather than waiting 3 years as my neighbour here did, I will use my UK citizenship and go "home" ,

Junkyard Tom · 23-06-2019 02:56PM

I have every damn illness and condition you could imagine except hypochondria

Spanish Eyes · 23-06-2019 02:58PM

I have nothing but good to report about A+E in James Dublin. Well it wasn't for me but for my dear mother (who has since passed, bless her).

Every single time she had to go in it was by ambulance (maybe that made a difference), and was never more than twelve hours before getting a bed. Immediately placed in a cubicle with monitoring, bloods, x rays, the usual.

James also has a geriatric centre of excellence too, the MISA unit, so they follow up also and don't patch them up and send them off to the ether either.

I do realise that every patient has a different story to tell. I tripped on the stairs one morning and was in agony. Went to the local PH that had an a + e. I was there twelve hours too, but lots of scans, x rays, lots of loooooovvvvely pain relief etc. The only difference between the private and public A+E IMV was the dearth of scumbags floating around.

Odelay · 23-06-2019 03:31PM

SeaFields wrote: »

My father had a similar experience a few years back. Similar symptoms. His GP sent him to CUH a+e and my brother drove him there. The nurse stuck him on the ECG but said looks like nothing, probably indigestion and sent him back to the waiting area. He was going to head away rather than wait when a doctor came running out shouting his name. He was having a heart attack. Chaos starts.... All worked out fine thankfully.

****in nurse wasn’t much use was she? Wtf was she doing operating an ecg if she couldn’t tell the difference between indigestion and a heart attack? Any these are the ones demanding more money for less hours??

punisher5112 · 23-06-2019 03:34PM

Op that was quiet and tame to normal....

I've been in where drunks fighting, travellers taking over the room and inside in A&E room etc ...

People wanting to fight doctors and nurses....

Some absolute scum go through it unfortunately....

Another thing is hearing the screams from a baby been weaned off heroin and other drugs from the junkie mother.... It's actually horrific.

Odelay · 23-06-2019 03:44PM

dellas1979 wrote: »

What pisses me off reading this thread (bar the ****ty health service we have anyways) is the amount of "I think I've a broken bone" people.

They havent, and then complain anyways about 14 hour wait. Most of the wait is other people with "I think Ive broken a bone."

The irony.

We have smaller hospitals (local injury hospitals) people! Most are open until at least 7/8pm. If you go to one of the mega hospitals (Limerick, for e.g.,) you'll wait 10+ hours. I know I'd rather be at home in the bed with a few paracetamol and a hot water bottle/ice pack, and wait for the bone clinic to open. Than sit with a "I think Ive a broken bone, now lets clog up the main hospitals, where actual serious stuff happens - oh its not broken" attitude.

Junkies and drunks-dont even get me started.

They should give everyone a broken bone so they know what it actually feels like and therefore won’t be clogging up the system with false alarms.

Conor Bourke · 23-06-2019 03:50PM

Odelay wrote: »

****in nurse wasn’t much use was she? Wtf was she doing operating an ecg if she couldn’t tell the difference between indigestion and a heart attack? Any these are the ones demanding more money for less hours??

It’s not up to the nurse go read the ECG. How are your own ECG reading skills anyway?

:rolleyes:

JuanBerrosa · 23-06-2019 03:52PM

About 14 years ago when I last lived in the kip.
Stayed about 4 hours and just left, unbelievably bad, was seen by an African nurse that was one of the most racist c*nts I've ever met in my life, but of course it's ok for black people to be racist ....:rolleyes:

So my Saturday was ruined as I ended up having to spend six hours in A and E

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