A&E In Crisis

It has been reported, by senior staff, that A&E is on the brink of collapse and that without change, that collapse will happen within 6 months:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/e-suffer-ne...9.html#e8kgFCO

It was obvious that once GPs removed evening and weekend care (supposedly to enable them to give a better service) that people would turn to A&E for help with things that would, previously, have been dealt with by GPs. Also, the huge influx of people to the UK has to be taken into account with regard to rising demand.

What do you see as a way around this in order to save the present system?

Re: A&E In Crisis

I certainly think we need to ditch all of the useless telephone advice lines and get our GPs on call again out of hours, rather than paying obscene amounts of money to foreign locums, many of whom have had no sleep for days and, in some cases, don't even have a decent command of our language!

Re: A&E In Crisis

On the Island, one set of GPs pushed and pushed to be given the same new contract as in the UK (no doubt threatening to leave the Island if they didn't get what they wanted). The Isle of Man Government was concerned given our lack of alternatives so the GPs suggested setting up MannDoc which pays GPs around £90 per hour to man the service. Strangely enough, those shouting the loudest of wanting more family time instead of being called out were some of the first to apply to cover the MannDoc scheme.

There is one GP manning the station in Douglas and one GP also on call - to cover over 70,000 people some living in remote parts of the Island and trying to get a doctor to come out from MannDoc is almost impossible.

Our A&E have also seen a surge in requests for treatment. Although the Government claims MannDoc is working well as an alternative, it makes me wonder why posters have sprung up in GP surgeries and hospitals stating 'Calling A&E Won't Work When It's A GP You Need'. Need being the operative word!

Re: A&E In Crisis

Couple of things come to mind from my last visit to A&E

stop treating drunks like they are ill, they ruin many people's experience in the waiting room and take up trollies and beds really sick people need.

stop holding people in the department while they wait for a bed in a ward, bed blocking slows the system down.

stop treating people who should be seeing a GP

and if you have something wrong for months that hasn't suddenly become worse you probably should be seeing a GP and being referred not taking up space in A&E.

Re: A&E In Crisis

I have had brilliant treatment out of hours, the last time just this past year, we had to ring the emergency number, and was asked a lot of questions.
We had said we thought it not life threatening, but they told me to rest until the ambulance arrived, I was gobsmacked, but the team that arrived said my symptoms were of a DVT.
Anyway I had a thorough examination from an Asian doctor, who gave me some treatment, like stomach injection then told me to go home and rest, and I should be fine.
And I was no problems, the stomach injection obviously worked.
So I have every faith in the out of hours service, but apparently folks will ring up and say they have this that and the other, and their problems would wait until the Monday, or the next morning,.
So you can understand doctors not wanting to work at night, when most of the problems will wait.

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It probably depends on where you live Wrinkly - you obviously live in an area that offers good out of hours service but, from what I've read, that isn't nationwide.

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Apparently so, looking at this morning news.
They have been operating the 111 service on the I.O.W for 3 years, and they say it doesn't work.
The strange thing is, the folks who answer the 111 calls, also answer the 999, can't see the point myself.
Just want to add that if the health service was private, they wouldn't cope either, because traffic would still be the same, but we would have a lot not bothering, and suffering because they couldn't afford to pay.
It is frightening isn't it, pretty certain it won't be in my lifetime.

Re: A&E In Crisis

Are you folks in South Australia? only this morning there's an article in the paper describing the chaos in A&E ward in our hospitals, there've been umpteen stories/requests in the news lately advising people not to turn up at the hospital unless it actually is an emergency, especially on Friday/Saturday nights but it's said that the drunks, druggies etc aren't the type to read newspapers anyway so don't know any better and ambulances are being distracted from real emergencies to patch up city drunks/hooligans who've been fighting and really only need a band-aid and to sober up for a few hours

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I was listening to an item on the radio this morning, apparently some people attending A&E are not actually registered with a GP and go to hospital instead when they require heath care.

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Minor ills clog hospital service

in the comments section beneath the article

"Whenever you feel unwell go to the hospital. Take no notice of bureaucrats, go to the hospital. The hospital is yours, you pay for it in your taxes, use it.If the health system is overwhelmed, that is wholely and solely the governments fault, for not running things correctly. This is the highest taxed state in the nation, so it must have the most spent on its hospitals, because the government rakes in so much money. Use it, that is what it is there for."