9 hours, 2 paramedics and 1 A&E doctor ... for a sore throat
i PUT off for as long as possible getting medical help for a throat infection over Christmas, but by the early hours of Sunday i knew i was in trouble and needed antibiotics. in the good old days, you’d phone an emergency number, a doctor would come out and within a few hours you could get the medication required to deal with the symptoms, avoiding any contact with the hospital. nowadays you have to jump through hoops to get treatment, which costs far more money and puts a huge strain on a&e units. at 9.45am my husband phoned the nhS hotline. he eventually managed to get through to an operator and spent 15 minutes answering questions and talking through my symptoms before a course of action was agreed. at this point i couldn’t swallow and could barely speak. i would have been unable to access any medical help had i been on my own. The operator, following discussions, sent out two paramedics. They were with me for more than an hour, most of the time spent trying to get hold of a doctor to prescribe the necessary antibiotics. Their phone calls to the emergency doctors took a long time to get answered. i can’t fault the service from these professionals, but i couldn’t help feeling that this was a terrible waste of their time. They left saying i would receive a call from the doctor in half an hour but it didn’t happen and after a few hours we made a further three calls to the hotline. on each occasion my husband was told someone would phone back but they didn’t do so. By 2.30pm we gave up and went to eastbourne District general hospital a&e. i cannot praise highly enough the attention i received from the duty doctor: he was very thorough and i was able to leave the hospital with the required medication. This whole process was exhausting: by the time i arrived home it had taken nine hours. i’m not convinced that the nhS needs more money when you see this waste and inefficiency.
mrs JANE AYErS, Cowbeech, Sussex. Too many time-wasters gain immediate access to our hospital a&e departments. i spend a lot of time in France and there you don’t get into the hospital proper until you’ve been assessed in the reception area. The main doors to a&e are locked and have to be opened from the inside to admit you. Time-wasters are sent away and the police deal with any dissenters. The last time i had to go to a&e in France, i’d been stung on the face, which turned completely black and swollen and closed my eyes, but i didn’t get into the hospital proper as the assessor sent me to my local gP. it’s a very good system. People accompanying patients at French a&es aren’t allowed in with the patient. They have to wait in la salle de detente (the waiting room) which means far less congestion in the medical area.
D. ALLEN, runcorn, Cheshire.