How a night in A&E with drunks, addicts and criminals taught me what's wrong with NHS – Stephen Jardine
Every doctor and nurse Stephen Jardine met after going to hospital with a racing heartbeat was kind, empathetic and professional. The patients, however, were a different story
Throughout the election campaign, we were told the NHS is broken and in need or urgent repair. The Scottish Government says the situation is improving but we are still missing the target for delivering treatment within 12 months, despite spending more than ever on staff and resources.
So if money isn’t the answer then what is? The NHS needs reform we are told, it needs to adapt and become more efficient. However I’ve got the real solution.
It came to me in middle of the night in the Emergency Department of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. I’d ended up there with a racing heartbeat after stupidly doing too much exercise in the middle of the hottest day of the year so far. It’s amazing what a resting heart rate of 160 beats per minute does to focus the mind.
Exceptional care
From the moment I walked in, sweating profusely, to the quasi-religious experience I had walking out into the 5am dawn and birdsong, the care I received was exceptional.
Every doctor and nurse I met was kind, empathetic, patient and incredibly professional. From the care assistant who kept bringing me water to the consultant who sent 200 joules of electric current through my ticker to kick it back into normal rhythm, every single one of them would make Florence Nightingale proud.
But the staff aren’t the problem and talking about reform and efficiency only undercuts the job they do. The problem is the patients.
My night in hospital had it all, drug addicts in the midst of withdrawal, the victim of a vicious attack, criminals who’d been injured while being apprehended and lots and lots of people who’d taken drink or drugs and fallen over. The biggest problem facing the NHS is us.
On arrival, I was surprised to see three police cars and a police van parked outside. That’s pretty typical apparently. At one stage, I could see six officers in emergency treatment rooms. Some were handcuffed to people dripping blood, others were taking statements or trying to subdue people with really serious mental health issues. Everywhere you looked people were shouting or complaining or both.
Not everyone of course. There was a girl who’d tripped and fallen at the gym and couldn’t stop apologising for being a bother by having to get her ankle fixed. I was also mortified to be taking up their precious time. But others demanded hot food at 3am, shouted at doctors for keeping them waiting and one man even threw up on the floor because he “couldn’t reach” the sick bowl on his bed.
Our demands
We’ve come to see the NHS as the institution that clears up after us. From the £6 billion spent dealing with obesity to the liposuction, breast augmentation and aesthetic procedures we now expect, the National Health Service is struggling because of the weight of our demands and expectations.
My night in Emergency taught me two things. Firstly, the health service is an amazing asset staffed by brilliant people. Secondly, we really don’t deserve it. From expecting diet jabs to going on a bender and then expecting a nurse to sew us back together again, we are abusing this precious institution at our peril.
If the NHS really is broken, that is down to all of us.
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