My trip to the NHS.
Hi
We have heard from ST and the Thing
Saturday lunchtime I finished my Antibiotics, Sunday evening things had flared up again badly.
I did as told by the hospital and rang for an ambulance.
Explained everything and read out the instructions from my discharge letter.
The 999 operator was miles away, where? she asked.
Shrewsbury is not that small is it?
She then had to check.
We are busy, we have to prioritise, it will be about an hour.
An hour passed, then 2 Paramedics arrived, in an estate car.
In they came, looked at the problem, showed them the discharge letter, took some obs, you need to go in now, we will get you an ambulance.
The pair of them stayed with me, kept ringing but it was an hour and twenty minutes before an ambulance arrived.
Twenty five minutes to the Hospital.
The unloading area was packed with Emergency Ambulances .
Unloaded on the trolley then into the Hospital.
There is a new system called the Pit Stop.
This is where patients are logged in and the ambulance crew released to go back on duty.
There was a queue to get into the Pit Stop.
Seven patients in front of us on trollies, each one with the ambulance staff with them.
Lined up in the corridor, we moved forward in the line, one by one.
Then eventually into the Pit Stop.
Not the end of the line, six bays, patients still on ambulance trollies, five in front.
Important to remember, these were urgent, not Minors, broken bones etc went into a separate system.
Our Turn, slid across from ambulance trolley to hospital trolley.
Ambulance staff still had to stay there for 10 minutes to do handover.
Two Nurses in the Pit Stop, both Foreign, knew their stuff.
Triaged, oral morphene and other stuff, attached to a minitor.
I was in there for around 40 minutes then movement.
Into Casualty?
Nope, into a corridor to wait my turn.
After some hours, I joke not, eventually moved onto a trolley into an acute room in the Actual Casualty Department.
Two foreign agency nurses, based in London, working in Shrewsbury short term, being put up in a B&B.
More morphine.
Told I was now in Casualty proper, but a 5 to 8 hour wait to see a Doctor.
I was actually seen after 4 hours, scans and tests organised then on a wait for a bed.
It took from 9pm Sunday evening until I finally got a proper bed on a Ward at 11.30 Monday morning.
To be fair, then things did take off, saw 3 Consultants within 2 hours, all tests done, loads of medication and drips.
Released lunchtime today, 2 weeks worth of medication, then back for a checkup.
Our NHS is a mess.