"Heading to the nearest A&E, I expected one of those 12-hour waits and corridors lined with trolleys of the near-dead, rowdy with drunken and psychotic mayhem. The Guardian recently found that violent incidents recorded by 212 NHS trusts in England rose from 91,175 in 2022-23 to 104,079 in 2024-25, the equivalent of about 285 cases reported every day. So I was ready for whatever."
"Notices warned that there would be zero tolerance of abuse of staff. But the place was unexpectedly hushed, with about 25 people waiting some very old, one a young child, some glum, most calm, with only one swaying and moaning under her breath. Names were called, consulting room doors opened and shut. Sicker patients lay on trolleys in bays with curtains."
"After half an hour I was sent for an X-ray. Less than an hour later, a tousle-haired doctor in scrubs told me that, yes, it was broken and needed a cast. He phoned specialists in thumb, hand and wrist care, took their guidance and set to work. I asked about his day: they'd had 71 patients in this fracture clinic, and my plaster cast was the 19th and last of his shift, the length of which 12 hours I wouldn't have guessed from his patience."
A patient slipped on ice and broke a right wrist, losing the ability to hold a pen with the dominant hand. The patient anticipated long waits and chaotic A&E scenes informed by rising recorded violent incidents in NHS trusts. Notices promised zero tolerance for abuse, but the department was unexpectedly hushed, with about 25 people waiting, a mix of ages and mostly calm. After half an hour the patient received an X-ray; a doctor confirmed a fracture, phoned hand specialists, applied a plaster cast and booked a follow-up, even writing it in the patient's diary. The doctor treated 71 patients that clinic day.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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