Thread by @helenmallam

Dad displayed stroke symptoms last Friday evening. Rang 999, the phone operator talked me through the episode but apologised as there would be an 8 hour wait for an ambulance - somehow I got him into the car and drove him to A&E myself. He was seen by a doctor immediately.

By the time I had got to the hospital, got him out of the car and into his wheelchair my 87 year-old father seemed to have recovered. The doctor thought it was a sequence of mini strokes and ordered tests - bloods, CT scan, ECG, chest x-ray, and then we waited.

Many patients weren’t wearing masks. One woman took her loose mask off to cough. A young man whose female companion had fallen off her party shoe and damaged her ankle didn’t wear a mask at all, bought a wide variety of snacks and left the wrappers on the floor.

We were told Dad wouldn’t be admitted unless his condition deteriorated because there were no beds. We waited 6 hours until I brought him home at 3.20 am after being told it would be a further wait of a minimum of 3 hours because there were so many emergencies.

So we left without being able to see a doctor to evaluate the test results. All of the staff were kind and apologetic. All were doing their jobs diligently.

Rang the GP this morning and within hours my father had a very comprehensive examination, a prescription and a referral.

The NHS is doing the best it can.
The problems are down to nearly 12 years of callous Tory cuts and mismanagement.

My lovely old dad is good now, and I’m emotional.

Love the #NHS, loathe the #Tories.

Stroke symptoms reminder -
incomprehensible speech,
facial droop,
floppy arm…

You must act quickly.