A&E needs emergency care itself
We had some biscuits but the 93-year-old in the wheelchair couldn’t face them during our night together in accident and emergency. When I arrived after 7pm that August evening at the NHS hospital on the East Anglian coast, there were nearly 70 of us waiting to be seen — a mix of farm and campsite injuries and the clearly sick or mentally distressed.
By midnight our number had dropped below 50, but it was still taking four hours even for assessment by the triage nurse. When at last I made it through what the crowd of patients had dubbed “the magic door” she advised me that, given the pressures on the department and lack of staff, the wait for a doctor would probably be as long or longer. Usually, she added, they would aim to triage within 15 minutes and then strictly prioritise by need.
As I was not in danger (a regular injection had produced profuse bleeding), the nurse made it subtly clear it was up to me whether to stick it out or come back the next day.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Miranda Green
