Couple told to call 999 from hospital’s own car park (From Echo)

Makes complete sense to me.

Donatella's life was not in immediate danger, her partner could have dropped her off in the bay provided and then parked, and it would have left parts of the hospital unmanned by staff.

Perhaps it is time to support the staff for a change.

This is the world gone mad.......these people were 200 yards from the A&E department how long would it have took 2 nurses with a wheel chair to fetch her? parts of the hospital would not have been unmanned for that long a time.

It beggars belief that it is deemed acceptable. To call on the already heavily burdened ambulance service to undertake such a task is an insult, did these good men and women, did they really join the emergency service to take a lady to Hospital when she was already 200 yards from the door.

I wonder just what the emergency opeator thought when this man was forced to call an ambulance to Southend Hospital car park to ask for help in getting his Mother into A&E, i would not have been suprised had she put the phone down in thinking it was a prank call.

If someone was having a heart attack in the car park, and every minute was vital would it be deemed acceptable that with help right on hand a man would be expected to die because staff could not go to help him, and an ambulance would have to be called to fetch him and take him inside?

there may be rules and regulations but in the end conmmon sense must prevail.

Well I suppose the expectation that staff will take people from the car park to the department is another myth perpetuated by 'Casualty'.

Democrat wrote:
Makes complete sense to me. Donatella's life was not in immediate danger, her partner could have dropped her off in the bay provided and then parked, and it would have left parts of the hospital unmanned by staff. Perhaps it is time to support the staff for a change.

could not agree more...

I both agree and disagree with this. The staff in A+E have job to do in A+E. Why can't hospitals have porters at the entrances so you can pull up in your car, drop off the patient with the porters assisting, you can then go and park and rejoin the patient you have dropped off.

He works as he carer so he knows how to transport her and aid her walking around. If it was so serious he could have rung an ambulance at their home instead of getting her into the car and then expecting her to get out. She wasn't in a life threatening condition and I'm sure he could have managed to drop her off outside park up and then help her in.

sea wall sid wrote:
This is the world gone mad.......these people were 200 yards from the A&E department how long would it have took 2 nurses with a wheel chair to fetch her? parts of the hospital would not have been unmanned for that long a time. It beggars belief that it is deemed acceptable. To call on the already heavily burdened ambulance service to undertake such a task is an insult, did these good men and women, did they really join the emergency service to take a lady to Hospital when she was already 200 yards from the door. I wonder just what the emergency opeator thought when this man was forced to call an ambulance to Southend Hospital car park to ask for help in getting his Mother into A&E, i would not have been suprised had she put the phone down in thinking it was a prank call. If someone was having a heart attack in the car park, and every minute was vital would it be deemed acceptable that with help right on hand a man would be expected to die because staff could not go to help him, and an ambulance would have to be called to fetch him and take him inside? there may be rules and regulations but in the end conmmon sense must prevail.

Agree with you 100% and think those disagreeing are nuts.

the trouble is a lot of folk get a back spasm and they cant move, this could be another reason why the hospital never came out, maybe if he'd explained the condition things would have been different, its a 50 50 thing this one in my book, or health and safety gone ott

sea wall sid wrote:
This is the world gone mad.......these people were 200 yards from the A&E department how long would it have took 2 nurses with a wheel chair to fetch her? parts of the hospital would not have been unmanned for that long a time. It beggars belief that it is deemed acceptable. To call on the already heavily burdened ambulance service to undertake such a task is an insult, did these good men and women, did they really join the emergency service to take a lady to Hospital when she was already 200 yards from the door. I wonder just what the emergency opeator thought when this man was forced to call an ambulance to Southend Hospital car park to ask for help in getting his Mother into A&E, i would not have been suprised had she put the phone down in thinking it was a prank call. If someone was having a heart attack in the car park, and every minute was vital would it be deemed acceptable that with help right on hand a man would be expected to die because staff could not go to help him, and an ambulance would have to be called to fetch him and take him inside? there may be rules and regulations but in the end conmmon sense must prevail.

How long would it have taken two nurses... ?

About as long as it takes a person in A&E to bleed to death, choke to death, die of a heart attack, fall out of bed etc, etc...

That's why there is demarcation and staff remaining focused on the job in hand. Ambulance staff bring in the sick and nurses tend them from then on.

It's a cheap shot at the hospital staff. If it was your Wife, Husband, Son , Daughter who died because a couple of nurses were flaffing about in the car park regardless of 200 yds or 200 feet, you would be devasted.

The Hospital did the right thing, nursing staff are stretched to the limit as it is. Now if you want more of your taxes to recruit another 50 (remember it's a 24x7x365 day a year service) or so nurses to be siting around to cater for such situations then feel free to campaign.

The hospital's explanation seems reasonable to me.

Well in Doctors, Casualty and Holby City the consultants, Doctors and nurses often run out to help pick people up or even rush round their houses when they get upset in the surgery and walk out!!

what...not real life...surely not!!

buttonbaggins wrote:
Well in Doctors, Casualty and Holby City the consultants, Doctors and nurses often run out to help pick people up or even rush round their houses when they get upset in the surgery and walk out!! what...not real life...surely not!!

They manage to meet patients brought in by helicopter though!!! Who said nurses were required - why not a couple of porters?

Mary Lou wrote:

sea wall sid wrote: This is the world gone mad.......these people were 200 yards from the A&E department how long would it have took 2 nurses with a wheel chair to fetch her? parts of the hospital would not have been unmanned for that long a time. It beggars belief that it is deemed acceptable. To call on the already heavily burdened ambulance service to undertake such a task is an insult, did these good men and women, did they really join the emergency service to take a lady to Hospital when she was already 200 yards from the door. I wonder just what the emergency opeator thought when this man was forced to call an ambulance to Southend Hospital car park to ask for help in getting his Mother into A&E, i would not have been suprised had she put the phone down in thinking it was a prank call. If someone was having a heart attack in the car park, and every minute was vital would it be deemed acceptable that with help right on hand a man would be expected to die because staff could not go to help him, and an ambulance would have to be called to fetch him and take him inside? there may be rules and regulations but in the end conmmon sense must prevail.

How long would it have taken two nurses... ? About as long as it takes a person in A&E to bleed to death, choke to death, die of a heart attack, fall out of bed etc, etc... That's why there is demarcation and staff remaining focused on the job in hand. Ambulance staff bring in the sick and nurses tend them from then on. It's a cheap shot at the hospital staff. If it was your Wife, Husband, Son , Daughter who died because a couple of nurses were flaffing about in the car park regardless of 200 yds or 200 feet, you would be devasted. The Hospital did the right thing, nursing staff are stretched to the limit as it is. Now if you want more of your taxes to recruit another 50 (remember it's a 24x7x365 day a year service) or so nurses to be siting around to cater for such situations then feel free to campaign.

It's not a cheap shot at the Hospital staff at all, as someone with long term health problems i have spent a lot of time in and out of Southend's A&E department over the years.
And in general those who don't have much cause to go to the A&E would think that the department is rushed off it's feet, but as someone who has been behind the scenes many times i can tell you otherwise, sure the waiting room might be packed solid and behind the scenes the 12 or so cubicles might be full, But these 2 nurses you speak of who would be on hand to save the lives of the man bleeding to death or the man having a heart attack.....would be the very same 2 nurses that i see standing laughing between themselves or the 2 nurses that i see sharing a joke and standing talking with the porter or maybe they would be the same 2 nurses that are standing behind the desk looking at the white board with all our names on asking who is going to go on break first, i am sure the hospital staff forget just how we as patients can hear and see all that goes on in such a small area.
no matter how packed the waiting area is there is never any rushing around behind the scenes, so yes these very 2 nurses that i speak of i would sooner see flaffing out in the car park helping the man in with his Mother whilst the Ambulance men/woman are out on the road rushing to the very people who have called them to an emergency, yes thats right the very people that you mention, those bleeding to death or those having a heart attack.

Like i said it's not a cheap shot at hospital staff, staff within the A&E do work hard and do have a hard job dealing with very difficult people, i have a lot of respect for them and the nurses and Doctors that i have seen have always been very friendly and treated me well but i don't see how anyone can justify calling an ambulance to help someone into the Hospital when they are 200 yards from the front door.

There are mostly 2 receptionists behind the front desk, depending on the time of day you can find a security man in the area, behind the scenes there are quite a few Dr's and nurses floating around, a porter or 2 can always be seen floating about to, do you really think that not one of these people could have helped this lady into the department and saved the call out of an Ambulance.

I don't want 50 or so nurses paid from my taxes just the odd 1 or 2 that would be willing to see common sense and help a patient in need, and these could always be funded from the £700,000 raised from car parking fees, yes thats right in 2008 under the freedom of information act the Hospital were forced to release details that they received just under £700,000 income from the carpark, which would be enough to pay the salaries of around 18/24 nurses-depending on band and grade.

In short all this really is, is a case of it's not my job, people might shout me down for this but it's true the Nurse won't go outside because it's not her job to, the Receptionist cannot help because she is not trained to, the porter cannot go out to help because his job is internal only.....like i said it's the world gone mad!!!

sea wall sid wrote:

Mary Lou wrote:

sea wall sid wrote: This is the world gone mad.......these people were 200 yards from the A&E department how long would it have took 2 nurses with a wheel chair to fetch her? parts of the hospital would not have been unmanned for that long a time. It beggars belief that it is deemed acceptable. To call on the already heavily burdened ambulance service to undertake such a task is an insult, did these good men and women, did they really join the emergency service to take a lady to Hospital when she was already 200 yards from the door. I wonder just what the emergency opeator thought when this man was forced to call an ambulance to Southend Hospital car park to ask for help in getting his Mother into A&E, i would not have been suprised had she put the phone down in thinking it was a prank call. If someone was having a heart attack in the car park, and every minute was vital would it be deemed acceptable that with help right on hand a man would be expected to die because staff could not go to help him, and an ambulance would have to be called to fetch him and take him inside? there may be rules and regulations but in the end conmmon sense must prevail.

How long would it have taken two nurses... ? About as long as it takes a person in A&E to bleed to death, choke to death, die of a heart attack, fall out of bed etc, etc... That's why there is demarcation and staff remaining focused on the job in hand. Ambulance staff bring in the sick and nurses tend them from then on. It's a cheap shot at the hospital staff. If it was your Wife, Husband, Son , Daughter who died because a couple of nurses were flaffing about in the car park regardless of 200 yds or 200 feet, you would be devasted. The Hospital did the right thing, nursing staff are stretched to the limit as it is. Now if you want more of your taxes to recruit another 50 (remember it's a 24x7x365 day a year service) or so nurses to be siting around to cater for such situations then feel free to campaign.

It's not a cheap shot at the Hospital staff at all, as someone with long term health problems i have spent a lot of time in and out of Southend's A&E department over the years.
And in general those who don't have much cause to go to the A&E would think that the department is rushed off it's feet, but as someone who has been behind the scenes many times i can tell you otherwise, sure the waiting room might be packed solid and behind the scenes the 12 or so cubicles might be full, But these 2 nurses you speak of who would be on hand to save the lives of the man bleeding to death or the man having a heart attack.....would be the very same 2 nurses that i see standing laughing between themselves or the 2 nurses that i see sharing a joke and standing talking with the porter or maybe they would be the same 2 nurses that are standing behind the desk looking at the white board with all our names on asking who is going to go on break first, i am sure the hospital staff forget just how we as patients can hear and see all that goes on in such a small area.
no matter how packed the waiting area is there is never any rushing around behind the scenes, so yes these very 2 nurses that i speak of i would sooner see flaffing out in the car park helping the man in with his Mother whilst the Ambulance men/woman are out on the road rushing to the very people who have called them to an emergency, yes thats right the very people that you mention, those bleeding to death or those having a heart attack.

Like i said it's not a cheap shot at hospital staff, staff within the A&E do work hard and do have a hard job dealing with very difficult people, i have a lot of respect for them and the nurses and Doctors that i have seen have always been very friendly and treated me well but i don't see how anyone can justify calling an ambulance to help someone into the Hospital when they are 200 yards from the front door.

There are mostly 2 receptionists behind the front desk, depending on the time of day you can find a security man in the area, behind the scenes there are quite a few Dr's and nurses floating around, a porter or 2 can always be seen floating about to, do you really think that not one of these people could have helped this lady into the department and saved the call out of an Ambulance.

I don't want 50 or so nurses paid from my taxes just the odd 1 or 2 that would be willing to see common sense and help a patient in need, and these could always be funded from the £700,000 raised from car parking fees, yes thats right in 2008 under the freedom of information act the Hospital were forced to release details that they received just under £700,000 income from the carpark, which would be enough to pay the salaries of around 18/24 nurses-depending on band and grade.

In short all this really is, is a case of it's not my job, people might shout me down for this but it's true the Nurse won't go outside because it's not her job to, the Receptionist cannot help because she is not trained to, the porter cannot go out to help because his job is internal only.....like i said it's the world gone mad!!!

I have to agree with Sid here.

Those that say the time taken for hospital staff to help could mean the difference between life and death, should also remember that the same is true for calling an ambulance to the scene.

As has been said there are a lot of staff that could have helped, (porters etc) although I can see why they didn't and they should not be blamed.

They would probably have ended up reprimanded for it and could have lost their jobs should anything have happened to the lady in question. It probably wasn't their job and that is what makes them liable.

It is the world gone mad and its all to do with the 'blame culture' that has arisen in this country.

Support hospital staff 100% , why is society expects that people should always go the extra mile or 200 yards in this case for probably not even a thanks

I guess that's the calibre of dope we employ in the caring professions these days. They should have been sacked on the spot, to make way for someone who is prepared to do the job properly.

Looks like we need to raise the bar somewhat.

I cannot believe the ridiculous suggestion that a/e nurses should be told to LIFT!!! this woman... it is clearly obvious that her partner / carer is able to do so and knows her very well. He knows her disablilty and her limitations whereas the nursing staff would have been subjected to to moving this woman who clearly was not in immediate danger of death!!. Who says it would have taken only 2 nurses or members of staff a lot of people who come into hospital all of a sudden find themselves unable to move and rely upon staff to do so when they can do a lot more for themselves. I too have sat in the waiting room many a time or in the cubicle area and have seen the opposite side of the coin. Patients are rude, aggresive, they expect nurses and dr's to obey their commands. The staff are rushed off their feet often not taking breaks or just getting a quick drink before dashing here and there. The nurses work tirelessly day and night in order to provide a service that is abused by the public.