I'm sorry to hear that and I hope that your child is okay now.
1K.Orger
Caithness General A & E
I have just spent my afternoon in A&E after my 12 month old fell on some glass & sliced the end off his finger! it was bleeding profusely when we arrived & the lady at reception had to go for dressings to stem the blood.
Now I know A&E can get busy & today was definately that.There was a waiting room full of people & an ambulance had come in.
But can someone please explain how there waiting system works?? obviously ambulances with emergencies take priority over everything but then what? is it first come first served?
We sat in that waiting room for 3 hours!! two people in the waiting room called before us actually asked the nurse if they were going to call my baby first, the reply was 'NO!'.
I wouldnt of minded waiting so long if anyone waiting before me was a priority but doesnt common sense tell them that a bleeding baby might be a little more important than a swollen hand or sore back!!
I eventually left after 3 hours without even seeing a doctor!! I decided it was quicker to take him to the local surgery.
This isnt the first time ive had a bad experience with the A&E and I will definately be thinking twice before I dash back there again.
life may not be a party be while were here we might as well dance!!
Banned
I'm sorry to hear that and I hope that your child is okay now.
1K.Orger
Poor wee thing, how on earth are you supposed to keep a baby calm that long. I hope it has all turned out ok now and no permanent damage. You would have been quicker going to Inverness and at least you would have been seen.
@,'---.................................................. ---',@
~*~Believe In The Magic Of Your Dreams~*~
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1K.Orger
think that is a disgrace..you must have the patience of a saint, cause I think I would have been jumping up and down and making a right pest of myself...babies have to be a priority surly....how is the little one now ? xx
The miracle is not to fly in the air,
or to walk on the water,but to walk on the earth.
1K.Orger
Unfortunately if it isn't life threatening then you have to wait your turn. The "bad back" may be someone who has broken it. Or maybe they had been waiting for 3 hours already? You can't grade on how important it is deemed by a member of the general public - life threatening and you jump the queue, non-life threatening and you wait your turn.
Imagine if you had been waiting for 3 hours and then someone was seen in front of you because their child was a little bit younger than yours, or bleeding a little bit more... I think you would be a bit miffed - I would.
I feel the system is fair - if you're dropping dead then you get seen straight away, if you aren't you wait.
Just out of interest, did your child get offered analgesia? Normally they grade the pain at triage and you get pain relief. If they left the child in pain that's out of order...
I am sympathetic that you had a child to keep occupied though - it must have been hard
FWIW the NHS has a 4 hour maximum wait from registration to admission/discharge. Just think yourself lucky you're not in a big city where they aren't meeting the national targets. I waited 6 hours in Manchester Royal with a broken leg...
Last edited by Leanne; 06-Nov-09 at 18:44.
1K.Orger
luckily wee one is fine now just sore & not liking his bandage very much. worst thing was it was just before lunch so poor thing was really getting hungry after 3 hours & was extremely bored as theres no toys in the waiting room either.
I know in England infants take priority over non emergencies this cant be the case in Scotland.
life may not be a party be while were here we might as well dance!!
1K.Orger
Most A&E departments operate a triage system where priorities are dictated by how life threatening the injury is judged to be. You say your son, "sliced the end off his finger", but don't say how much of your son's finger was lost. It appears that the Triage Nurse decided your son was not sufficiently injured to warrant immediate attention.
Hopefully he didn't require too many stitches when you got him to the local surgery and is recovering well.
'We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.'
Maya Angelou
1K.Orger
in reply to LEANNE & GRONNUCK...
We only saw the receptionist!! we never got as far as getting to see a nurse we were left in the waiting room not a treatment room.
If there had been another other children in the waiting room I would of been prepared to wait it was the fact that 2 people asked if they could wait & my child be seen first & the nurse saying no that really annoyed me!
Little one didnt have stitches as there was nothing to stitch just a chunk out of the end of the finger thats very deep.
life may not be a party be while were here we might as well dance!!
.Orger
Glad your wee one is okay and all ended well. As you said they were very busy in A&E so probably when the blood was stemmed with the dressings then other accidents / emergencies might well be deemed as a priority. No one likes to see a young child in pain thats why I expect other people offered to miss their turn but at the end of the day there is a triage system and if there were major concerns you would have been brought through quicker.
I have to say my own personal experiences at CGH have been positive - ive been 3 times for different things and at all times been seen very quickly and the staff have been marvellous.
Guess you had bad luck today with others being more unwell than the bairnatthe same time you attended. However looks like the injury was able to be attended to at the local surgery without any specialised medical interventions required. Shame going to the surgery in the 1st instance wasnt an option - it would have saved you a big wait
1K.Orger
Well I've learnt something today and I have to say I'm more than a little concerned.Originally Posted by BRIE
I wonder what medical qualifications this receptionist has that enables her to make decisions regarding medical treatment! I'd like to know before I ever have to go to A&E.
'We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.'
Maya Angelou
1K.Orger
Seems we have mysteriously vanishing posts again
1K.Orger
Like I said we never saw any medical staff so how they can decide whats an emergency & what isnt just from what the receptionist has written is a disgrace. No-one came to check if the little one had stopped bleeding so for all they knew it could of still been bleeding.
life may not be a party be while were here we might as well dance!!
1K.Orger
1K.Orger
Brie that is awful! Hope the bairn is ok and not too traumatised! It is disgraceful the way they work things and surely they should get it checked out before sending you 3 hours to wait!
I remember when i was pregnant with athrun i had severe stomach pains and got taken through to wich A & E. It was thought that i had a miscarrige and was waiting over 2 hours in the waiting room in pain! I was so upset and my OH was not pleased that we were left so long either! Luckily it was nothing too serious but it was serious enough after they said what was wrong!
Its not right the way they work!
Again Brie i hope the wee one is ok! x
I SWORE ON ONE THREAD!
GET OVER IT!!!!!
1K.Orger
My first port of call with the wee man would alus be the doctors. It is generally closer and should they think you need to go to hospital they phone ahead or send you in an ambulance so there is not so much waiting anyhow.
Not much use to you just now but worth a thought for the future.
Some people are like Slinkies. They're really good for nothing. But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.
.Orger
Im totally disgusted by the hospital the three times ive been there were total hell.
Once when having my son that was a total joke where I was told after being induced twice to go home and try back in the morning as they were short staffed.
2nd time my son took a sever allergic reaction to a spider and we waited in the waiting room for 3 and a half hours and being completely honest I think we would have been waiting longer had I not told them I was annoyed and something had to be done I also pointed out to them that I could have been at raigmore within the time we had been left waiting. I was that upset by it all tears were pouring only then did they manage to do something!!
3rd time I went (a week ago) in severe pain caused by 2 problem and waited over 3 hours + in all even although I got looked at the doctor was to busy to listen to me and there was a severe language barrier and she went away and said she would come back and examine me I waited in pain for 30mins and then I just left still in agony and went and bought a load of temorary fixes from the chemist!!
Would tell everyone to be well warned this is not called care go to raigmore if you dont want to risk your life!!
The nurses are lovely and kind and caring as are the receptionists shame they dont run the hospital.
.Orger
well for once have to disagree with posts on caithness general hospital,
as one sunday morning i took heart attack,and family phoned ahead to say we
on out way,porter was waiting with wheel chair was taking to a&e where they saved my life, you here all the bad reports about hospital.but never the great job they do.
a&e staff to a great job and little thanks,
.Orger
A & e
Would just like to point out to folk on here sayin that they have waited for 3 hours and were annoyed and have pointed out to staff that they could of driven to Raigmore in that time. Well i hate 2 disappoint but A & E in Raigmore work on the same basis as Wick and with Inverness being a city they see a higher volume of patients than Wick so hence you would wait even longer! And if it was infact a medical emergency why would anyone consider a 2 hour drive if you are medically unstable with the potential of complications to your health?
1K.Orger
thing is with a child that young, surely he should have been seen before an adult? I would certainly wait and let a bairn go first - unless I was dying. If the others wanted to let the bairn go in, why would a nurse say, 'no'? A bit of a power trip me thinks! Even if they let you go through to the out patients where there are toys would have been something!
However i must say, the few times myself or my family have had to use this service we have been seen right away - but maybe we were just lucky they were not busy.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
1K.Orger
Exactly...... have had good experiences of A&E in Wick - once I was unconsious so don't exactly remember but believe from what I was told was looked after very well. Also when took husband there 2 months ago had a very good and thorough examination , timeously , despite them being short staff.....
Took a friend to Raigmore A&E and had a traumatic long wait in busy A&E and also when sliced own hand in Aberdeen had a very very very very very very very long wait to get stitched up there......
There's always someone at the end of the queue unfortunately and we all want our nearest and dearest to be seen first - it's natural.....
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