A&E

So I took myself off to the A&E department of Cardiff's Heath hospital.

I have a baddie foot and am in quite considerable pain.   I've had a baddie foot for sometime now, but yesterday the pain level rose to a point that convinced me that I had broken a bone.

I didn't expect my visit to A&E to be a short one, but I didn't expect to have to wait for almost two and a half hours before my "official" waiting time began.

Let me explain  ...

I arrived there at approximately 8pm and reported to reception.  I told them my problem ... foot ... pain ... ow ...  and was told to take a seat and informed that it could take a while before I was seen.

I waited.

And waited.

Then someone called my name and I hobbled in to see the triage nurse at about 10.30pm.

I was asked questions about my problem and politely informed (without even having had my foot examined) that I could either wait for an appointment with a doctor (approx. 5 hours), see the out of hours GP (approx 4.5 hours) or go home and make an appointment with my local surgery the next day.

Talk a bout gob-smacked!

No examination!  Just questions.

Had I waited for one of the appointments that I was offered, I would have probably left A&E at 1am, or later, and arrived home at about 2am or so.

Having lived in Germany for nearly 30 years, I know that this sort of thing can and should be handled a whole load better.

This kind of thing is just one of the reasons I hate the NHS.

It's a mammoth beastie ... a dinosaur ... that can never be fed enough and one day, if it isn't taken care of soon, it will go the way of all dinosaurs.