Dear LPG, 

One day not so long ago, a friend of mine was in the situation where her dad, who lives in a local care home, became unwell and they phoned to tell her.  If you are a pensioner who is also a son or a daughter, you just know that you are going to be the person who will get that call and your instinct must be to drop what you are doing and get down there to be with him.   In the end, it was not too serious, but she ended up keeping his company for the duration and I do mean duration.  She phoned me in the early hours of the morning when she first arrived there and then again hours later while still waiting to find out the diagnosis.  

Her experience reminded me of the many occasions I spent in our Local hospital at Lewisham, as my father found himself being rushed in as a result of feeling ill or experiencing some sort of health scare more and more often a few years ago.

When this happens, and after arriving and looking on as your patient is being assessed by a nurse, it can be ages before it is possible to be seen by a doctor, and I remember finding myself being worried about how bad the situation is while holding the hand of, and offering the initial reassurance to, the person who made my visit necessary.  But then he would fall asleep while I would be left for at least a further three hours wait with nothing to do. 

There is the option of nodding off, but I am now at an age when I might snore, and it is bad enough when the patients do that; and let’s not even talk about the embarrassment factor.  I do have a mobile phone, but we all know just how quickly the battery runs out as you initially phone the rest of the family to let them know what is going on.  In these days when there are always staff shortages, you then end up making sure that the patient is comfortable and gets a sandwich or something else to eat as the hours go by.  Then, if you are anything like me, you will decide to call a few of those friends that you have been meaning to get in touch with, battery permitting.  

One thing that A&E has a serious shortage of is those magazines and leaflets that you find in the doctors’ waiting rooms, so what can you do to keep sane after that?

I remember reading an LPG post some time ago about having a bag prepared just in case a sudden illness or an accident forces you to find yourself at A&E (►►►), but then there is the person who is not ill but has to be there, perhaps we also need a strategy.   

For a while it happened to me quite often and I had a ‘when you are not the ill person, but you have to be there’ bag ready to go.  Mine included just a few essentials; a snack and a bottle of something to drink (food at the hospital is expensive), a good book, some knitting, a note pad and paper and a crossword book are the things I include as the bare essentials, and never leave home without a phone charger.  It is worth investing in an additional one.

While I was telling my friend all this as she waited, I thought it worth passing the message on… 

AM, Forest Hill.

LPG offers some online solutions that might help…

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