Can I see?

Things that go ouch in the night

Due to a family palava I ended up driving to Bolton A&E on Thursday night. We got there at 11pm and it was really busy!! Full of some real characters like stepping into a Little Britain sketch.

There was a very young mum, who couldn't have been more than 16/17 and she had two small children with her. A boy in his tracksuit and wellies and a baby girl. The boy was running round the waiting area and he came across one of those paper mache bowls that are given out to people who are sick. "A HAT!!" he exclaimed, picked it up, turned it upside down and ran round with it on his head. (It was an unused one!!) The triage nurse called the young girl in shouting "Demi-Leigh Parker". And the mum, baby and little boy all got up and trooped into the cubicle.

Demi-Leigh?? What kind of Lancashire name is that??

Another mum and daughter were waiting, the girl was in her early 20s and very heavily pregnant and the mum was about late 40s, they barely spoke and spent the whole time texting on their mobile phones. It's funny seeing someone my mum's age texting as my mum wouldn't have the first idea. Occasionaly they paused to take photos of the little boy running round with the sick bowl on his head.

There were about a dozen injured sports people all dressed in football kits etc which just proves how keeping fit is dangerous. Some young lads who looked like they had been in some scrapes, and some various elderly people being pushed round in wheelchairs by porters looking very bemused by the whole thing. Before us in the queue was a family, possibly from Eastern Europe who couldn't speak English and handed over a card with their details to the receptionist who struggled to complete all their details. Times like this it would have been handy to have paid more attention to learning languages from my grandparents.

All in all it wasn't a bad wait by A&E standards, and was home by 1am, but as we were leaving the next bunch of injured and ill arrived. Thank heavens for the patience of the staff.

posted by Pixie @ 3:58 PM