Another Awful A&E Experience With A 20 Hour Wait For A Bed

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I’ve had a lot of negative experiences now going through the NHS A&E (emergency department) for bowel twists, many equally awful. This was the first for a near 20 hour wait in a chair as no beds on wards were free, without treatment, without adequate pain relief, and with a bucketload of animosity from staff. The pain was so bad that I honestly lost the will to live in that room. Sadly so many now have similar stories and they need to be heard. Things need to change.

The NHS In An Ever-Worsening Crisis

I doubt there’s anyone living in the UK who isn’t aware of the so-called ‘NHS Crisis’, with ever-increasing waiting lists, ambulances piling up outside of hospitals, dangers caused by policy changes, poor care becoming the norm, and A&E departments being overloaded. Problems within the NHS are nothing new, they’re just getting worse. While it used to be frowned upon to relay your negative healthcare experiences before and during the Covid pandemic, the public vibe has shifted with greater awareness of the reality of the situation.

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Welcoming The New Year… At The Emergency Department!

In the hours prior to New Year’s Eve, my small bowel started doing the twist and jive again. I get a lot of these bowel twists since having a stoma – maybe two small ones each week at home that resolve themselves, and bad ones that require A&E far more rarely – because of a number of abdominal surgeries causing adhesions. I waited about 6 hours hoping it’d go away but it was just getting worse so I slowly started trying to get myself ready. Shortly after 3am, I left my parents sleeping soundly, got into a taxi and went to the A&E department, bent double and with tears in my eyes.

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Triage : Repetition With A Lot Of Vomit

It was a decent wait to be triaged, but I can’t remember how long. I was asked all sorts of repetitious questions about my medical conditions and medication – the stuff you’d think would be on the system – and I couldn’t think of anything. I was out of sorts and in a lot of pain and my head was void of useful information. 

I asked for a sick bucket just in case. Good job really because as soon as it was in my hand I puked and filled the whole bucket, then half of a second straight away. The nurse couldn’t have cared less and told me to go back to the main waiting room. Thankfully a more thoughtful male nurse saw me, got a band to tie my hair back as I couldn’t stop throwing up to even breathe, and replaced yet another sick bucket for me.

I sat in the main waiting space for I’m-not-sure-how-long while still throwing up. Having no privacy to be poorly makes you rather self-conscious and I was trying hard not to keep vomiting because those other people waiting didn’t need to have me puking while not doing well themselves.

The Endless A&E Wait

It would have been a couple of hours maybe since getting to A&E before going into another area. I’d call it a room but it was more of a small waiting area/hallway where 6 to 8 of us sat that was currently being used for patients being treatment with something, like an IV. Hearing other people talking about how long they’d been waiting did not bode well.

The wait between getting to A&E and getting onto an actual bed took almost 20 HOURS – which usually happens in 1-2 hours even though not straight onto a ward. 

They don’t care that you have nerve damage that makes sitting normally like this absolutely unbearable. They don’t care if you have fibromyalgia, cluster headaches or anything else that makes the situation that much worse. My heart broke seeing an older lady across from me, who reminded me of my own mum, struggling sitting even with the cushions her husband brought in because of sciatica, and she had been there countless hours, too. 

As I told the surgeon when I eventually saw him, I’d lost the will to live in that room/hallway. The pain was too much, the frustration was crushing and I felt like it was going to break me.

Patients Going To A&E For A Tamiflu Prescription

The NHS are always telling us not to go to A&E unless it’s vital and medically necessary or imminently life-threatening.

A woman roughly my age came in with her mother. Both had the flu and a cough but only the daughter was being treated as a patient. Funnily enough, despite other relatives and even patients being kicked out of that room, both were allowed to stay in there coughing away. They sat right next to me.

They were politely asked to put on paper masks but the mother immediately declined. The patient got IV liquids even though she was breathing, talking, eating and drinking without issue. After a while, a doctor came out with a prescription for Tamiflu. 

All that wait, spreading the flu around to other sick and vulnerable patients as well as staff, just to get Tamiflu that a GP should have been able to prescribe if medically required, especially as it was day time on a week day.

I was pretty bad over Christmas with flu, as was my mum, and it can be dangerous. My mum got very bad very quickly and it terrified me. Clearly some people need hospital, but it’s about using common sense and sadly the “NHS crisis” in A&E departments puts off those who genuinely need A&E when things like the flu, another infection or a chest pain get bad.

Seeing The Surgical Team

It was only when I saw a surgeon, probably around the 17-18hr mark of waiting, that a CT scan was ordered and he said he wanted me on a surgical ward. As far as I know, that was the only point as which anyone had actually requested a bed. The other consultant in the room tried to pressure me into accepting an NG tube, which I refused unless I felt it definitely warranted. Turns out I was right to turn it down.  

By that point, I’d dealt with a bowel twist for over 24hrs. What I wasn’t expecting was that the CT picked up inflammation towards the end of the small bowel and the stoma itself. With a diagnosis of terminal ileitis, they gave me 3 types of IV antibiotics.

I had to go back at the end of January for a camera test where they put a scope through the stoma. Sadly this process was nothing short of traumatising, but not for the reasons you’d imagine. That’s a whole other story!

Bottled Water Aplenty

For some unknown reason, they were handing out bottled water from case after case of multipacks. Branded 500ml single use plastic bottles of water. I happen to think that sometimes a single use plastic product is not just useful but vital to be able to access, but this seemed at odds not just with the ‘eco’ strategy but with common sense. What about the usual reusable cups and jugs of water? What about using the water dispensers sat right there? I’m sure there must be a reason for the eco hypocrisy but for now it’s a mystery. 

The Fight For IV Morphine

Every time I’ve been to A&E I’ve had to fight to get the right pain relief and other treatment. Despite taking a letter from a prior surgeon which states to treat immediately with IV Morphine, nurses still refuse to do so.

In the past I’ve been blackmailed into having paracetamol, the world’s most pointless pain relief which doesn’t relieve anything, let alone what feels like being repeatedly stabbed while someone rips out your insides. I’ve been given IV Buscopan despite saying “no” repeatedly, and that same medication nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. 

This time, I was told I couldn’t have any IV morphine at all because I wasn’t in a bed. Turns out this was a lie. 

While trying to fight the point with a male nurse who came around with oramorph – which I shouldn’t have been given anyway when nil-by-mouth and throwing up – I got a face full of nastiness. I was told that other people were waiting for their medications and would be more grateful than me, that he didn’t care what I thought I should be taking because I have to take what he’s giving me, and that if I didn’t take the oramorph I could go with nothing, and so on. 

Another doctor eventually came in and I discovered I was allowed be given 5ml IV Morphine while in a chair in this small room/corridor. Nowhere near enough as I need 10ml in one go, but far better than nothing after all this time in nothing short of agony. Even if it did then take a very long wait as nurses ignored me and failed to come back with the medication.

The Strict “Everybody Out” Nurse

While in this small room / corridor area, there was one nurse who took it upon herself to police it. She was pretty spiteful and incredibly rude. Every now and then she went around telling family members to get out and sit in the main waiting room. That’s sort of fair enough if the room is packed, as it was at some points but definitely not all. 

Then she took to telling patients to get out unless they were having treatment. It was the nasty attitude and the way she was doing it that was appalling. You sit there avoiding eye contact hoping she doesn’t target you next, but she does. She told me to get out. I said I was waiting for treatment and was told to wait here. I was hiding under my coat, rocking back and forth with the pain. I don’t think I could have got up even if the devil himself demanded I leave. 

She said something along the lines of: “You should be out in the other waiting room, not in here taking up space. You’re not being treated right at this very minute, are you? Don’t you dare think that sitting in here will get you treated faster than anyone else. There are others far worse than you unless you haven’t noticed, so you can wait your turn”.

I had said nothing to warrant this and was speechless. The pain was so bad I couldn’t think straight but I still hate being told off or feeling like I’ve done something wrong so of course I started crying like a fool. I eventually said “you don’t need to try to make us feel worse than we already do” but I’m not sure if she heard me properly. She said something else spiteful before walking off because another lady heard it and was shocked, I just can’t remember what it was.

There was talk among other patients in the room later on about that nurse. Turns out she had offended and upset a lot of people, many of which were discussing putting in complaints. 

The Time My Unconscious Face Met The Floor & Nobody Cared

Another lady in the room told a newer patient about what happened. She said I had dropped out of the chair and sprawled onto the floor unconscious. A bunch of nurses came over, grabbed me and hoisted me up, threw me back into the chair and walked away. I started to come back around at that point, looking totally confused (I vaguely remember afterwards wondering what had happened). The other patients were both gobsmacked, as was I because it was me they were talking about. 

Someone did take my blood pressure for the first time after that. Apparently it was very low and they went to find a senior nurse to tell. The nurse didn’t care and nothing else was ever said or done about it. Nobody cared. If I dropped dead instead of just collapsing unconscious for a few seconds they wouldn’t have cared. Well, not unless it meant more paperwork.

Onto The Ward

Despite a bad experience getting there, I would say that it was relatively brilliant when I got onto a ward, even though I was only there briefly. Funnily enough, this was the longest wait I’ve had to get a bed and the shortest time I’ve been an inpatient on a ward, so it was rather pointless by the time I got there!

On arrival I heard bangs that didn’t make sense at first, until realising it was from fireworks ringing in the New Year. 

The staff were lovely and polite. I was given ice cream, as always with an oddly large spoon. 

Nobody ever did anything for the bowel twist. I was very lucky that it resolved on its own after 24hrs+. 

I was discharged and went home covered in fluff*. 

* For some reason, the white sheets in hospitals lately have been leaving patients absolutely covered in white fluff, the tiny specs you can’t really get off that make black leggings look like you’ve got furry grey legs. Maybe it’s just one of the many tactics they’re employing to put patients off going into hospital. 

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My experience this time was traumatising mostly because of the 20 hour wait in a chair because supposedly no beds were available. The rude nastiness from some nurses is nothing new, nor is fighting to get the right treatment, to see a surgeon or even get adequate pain relief. It’s not just the current “NHS Crisis” and lack of beds that’s the problem, but it’s certainly making things a whole lot worse. Without some common sense and compassion being injected into our healthcare system, I don’t think things are going to get better any time soon. 

If you need A&E, please go. Don’t be put off by fear of past experiences. Don’t be put off by feeling you’re a nuisance either, because hospital is there for people like you when you need it. It can be incredibly difficult to advocate for yourself when you’re so vulnerable and impaired, but please do try to fight for yourself if you’re not getting the care you need, or enlist a friend or family member to help. 

Caz  ♥

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