Nightmare of A&E with a 13-hour wait
A NURSE was filmed telling patients they might have to wait a staggering 13 hours to see a doctor in an overcrowded accident and emergency department.
She said: ‘We’ve currently got 170 patients in the department. There are 90 patients waiting to be seen at the moment. Our current wait time for a doctor is seven and a half hours.
‘I will estimate by the time I go home in the morning at 8 o’clock some of you will still be here waiting for a doctor because the waits will get up to 12 or 13 hours.’ The unnamed nurse told the group at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex: ‘There are currently no beds in the trust.
‘We’re trying to make more space if we can but if people are admitted there’s a chance they’ll stay in A&E overnight.
‘We will do our best to make you comfortable, we will do our best to look after you, but please don’t expect you will be going direct to a ward because that might not happen.’
Her announcement was filmed apparently by a patient on Monday evening,
Health Secretary Sajid Javid was played the clip on BBC Breakfast and said: ‘Of course, that’s not a thing that anyone wants to see.’ He added: ‘We think some 11 to 13 million people stayed away from the NHS because of the pandemic.
‘Many of those people are coming forward, many of those to A&E, and we’re seeing very high levels of demand.
‘That is a real challenge for the NHS across the system.’
The pressure on A&E departments has also been blamed on a shortage of GP appointments. Dennis Reed, of over-60s campaigning group Silver Voices, told MailOnline that 13-hour waits were ‘completely unacceptable in the 21st century’.
He said: ‘I’ve heard of very long waits before – up to eight hours and the like – but 13 hours? Never!’
Stephanie Lawton, of The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, said: ‘We are currently experiencing extremely high demand for our emergency care services and have seen a significant increase in attendances in our emergency department. Our teams are working hard to assess and treat patients as quickly and effectively as possible to reduce delays, prioritising those in most clinical need.’