Bookings required...for A&E

I think it’s a good idea TBH and should be permanent. Triage on the phone then given time. No point sitting for 4+ hours in a waiting room with loads of other miserable people.
 
Much better to be triaged on the phone than to pitch up in A&E and wait to be triaged there. This is for the large number of semi urgent cases that present which could have accessed other services such as out of hours GP, pharmacies or just booked a routine appointment. It may open access routes for direct to specialty referrals too which might help direct patients to the correct place.

What will happen is that a lot of people will be told that there aren’t any slots for today and will either forget about it or pitch up anyway.

Emergencies will remain emergencies and will be treated as such.
 
Stu999 said:
I think it’s a good idea TBH and should be permanent. Triage on the phone then given time. No point sitting for 4+ hours in a waiting room with loads of other miserable people.
Click to expand...

This. If it's urgent, you're likely to be given a "soon" appointment anyway. If not, you're going to be waiting around for hours regardless, rather that at home than in a waiting room.
 
So instead of waiting 4 hours inside A&E, they're going to make you wait 4 hours at home so you can just rock up to your appointment so they can say you didn't have to wait 4 hours to get seen :rolleyes:
 
Minusorange said:
So instead of waiting 4 hours inside A&E, they're going to make you wait 4 hours at home so you can just rock up to your appointment so they can say you didn't have to wait 4 hours to get seen :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Unless we want to pay significantly higher taxes (tbh I wouldn't mind personally if that money was actually put to good use!), then yes, we're going to have to deal with the fact that we simply don't have enough money to adequately fund our health service (especially when they have to deal with muppets who go to A&E when they've stubbed their toe or poked themselves in the eye with their finger (true story!).)

However, where would you rather wait?
 
Guest2 said:
So we now need to book appointments before arriving at A&E. How does this work, if I have a heart attack and someone calls 999 then i have to book in. :D
How about if i get ran over, set on fire ir anything else... booking needed sir?!

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-nhs-emergency-waiting-ae-targets-111-b455445.html
Click to expand...

If you arrive by ambulance i don't think they'd normally just stick you in the waiting room to join the back of the queue. You'd go straight into the emergency ward.

This would be more for people who don't have life threatening injuries, but are in pain enough that they need medical attention.

If anything, this should make the process more smoother as i'm sure a good portion of people sat waiting in A&E could be dealt with by a pharmacy or your GP, or even self-medicating (i'm sure a number of people turn up complaining about having a cold).

I think it's a great idea.
 
Haggisman said:
Unless we want to pay significantly higher taxes (tbh I wouldn't mind personally if that money was actually put to good use!), then yes, we're going to have to deal with the fact that we simply don't have enough money to adequately fund our health service (especially when they have to deal with muppets who go to A&E when they've stubbed their toe or poked themselves in the eye with their finger (true story!).)

However, where would you rather wait?
Click to expand...

Completely ignore the fact that all this is, is an attempt to make the wait times look not as terrible without actually addressing the issue of problematic wait times :)
 
Minusorange said:
Completely ignore the fact that all this is, is an attempt to make the wait times look not as terrible without actually addressing the issue of problematic wait times :)
Click to expand...

Absolutely, but since nobody is willing to do what it takes to address the issue, this is (imo) better than nothing
 
I think there needs to be a bigger education piece on what A&E is actually for. There were reports of 30 odd people turning up at A&E for a Covid test earlier this week which is just madness. I suspect a lot of those self presenting at A&E could have their issues resolved at a local pharmacy, or even the medicine aisle of Tesco.

Telephone triage could definitely redirect some people to alternative services, therefore reducing waiting times for those who actually need A&E. However, I'm not sure how NHS Direct or whoever are dealing with these calls are going to cope with the increased demand.
 
Rather than phone triage, just give A&E staff the powers to chuck people out who are there for non emergencies.

Phone triage for accidents and emergencies sounds like a recipe for disaster in some cases.
 
Semple said:
If you arrive by ambulance i don't think they'd normally just stick you in the waiting room to join the back of the queue. You'd go straight into the emergency ward.
Click to expand...

Just because you come with an ambulance doesn't guarantee you a place in the emergency ward/cubicles. You would generally still be triaged by the A&E staff and directed to wherever would be most suitable.
 
AiiR said:
Rather than phone triage, just give A&E staff the powers to chuck people out who are there for non emergencies.
Click to expand...

Whilst it would be ideal, that's not going to happen is it.

neviditelny said:
Just because you come with an ambulance doesn't guarantee you a place in the emergency ward/cubicles. You would generally still be triaged by the A&E staff and directed to wherever would be most suitable.
Click to expand...

True, but in the majority of cases if you've been bought in via ambulance then you'd normally need immediate medical attention, if you don't, then you shouldn't really have been wasting an ambulance resource in the first place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom