'This is why doctors are leaving the NHS' - inside Britain's busiest A&E

With eight full-time consultants serving 140,000 patients, Queen's hospital in Romford, east London, suffers frequent bottlenecks of patients in A&E, resulting in overstretched staff and recurring breaches of NHS targets. Days after being put into special measures following a Care Quality Commission report, the Guardian filmed for 15 days in the hospital's A&E department

Warning: some users may find images in this film distressing Inside Britain's busiest A&E

The Guardian YouTube network:

[exbritishforcespatriotscha]

Nhs staff are angels, they have saved my wife's life 3 times in the last 2 years due to her illnesses, god bless them.

[americanboy]

Billions/trillions dollars available for arms and nuclear weapons! But, We have tight budgets for humanity concerns such as hospitals and schools!!!!
Shame on us!!!!

[weipu]

I’m glad I’ve taken a year out of my junior doctor training this year to reflect on where life is British society is very odd in that it shows zero respect or appreciation for this level of work. The levels of medical legal complaints is so ridiculous, the number of angry relatives, the number of rude patients, and the puny amount of pay.... Hopefully my application to Australia works out.

[georgerickard]

1:23 Those rings under her eyes tell the whole story. Respect to all NHS staff who work so hard.

[shiminc]

i was touched by the last scenes, even senior doctor still welled up talking about patients

[gavinbullock]

I would like Jeremy Hunt to shadow one of these A&E doctors for a month, hour by grinding hour. He wouldn't be able to hack it.

[barnabygravity]

As a recently retired cardiologist with 30+years in the NHS, I can say the current crisis is the worst by a long shot of all the governmental re-disorganisations I have witnessed in that time. I hope the public will realise this is sincerely serious. Congrats btw to whomever put this professional vid together.

[blardyhell]

8 years later, and it's so much worse.

[RockstarScientist]

And this is what happens when one of the best health care services in the world is deliberately (and carefully) starved of adequate funding by a government who has an agenda to privatise the service and prioritise profit over people.

[candyfloss]

I really hope Dr Wong got the help he deserved; and is in a better place. Sending my best wishes.

[DoctorMaya]

I am a doctor who lived and worked in hospital, more than I lived in my house. Its not the investment nor the staff shortage that has made NHS inoperable. The quality of care will drop and people will suffer if you allow non-medically trained (medical school, worked in hospital as doctors, trained by doctors and respect medical ethics) person to help manage NHS. I have seen and met too many mangers who have no clue what healthcare is all about, so how can you expect this institution to offer the best care and service?

[lindatilbury]

I think all the doctors nurses at queens do a grand job I have worked with them daily and I see how strained and overworked they can be, but they all deal with it professionally. Government and MPs who decide on funding need to shadow a doctor at queens for 3x12 hrs and see how physically and mentally draining it can be especially when they are at their busiest time. They wouldn't last 1 shift. Dr Goran Ali was the first face I see hours after my husband got killed and he took time out to speak to me, he was kind and showed me so much compassion, and still he gives me words of support. I wish we had more Drs like him. All the staff are great, and everyone is really human. Everyone is affected with sad emotional cases.

[Traveling.contess]

People are complaining about immigrants, are you blind most Dr's, Nurses, health care assistant are immigrants.

[dr.irfananwararnab]

I didn't even know there was a media report like this & was done 08 years ago!! Felt almost therapeutic,
I thank all the people who show extreme patient 🙏 whilst receiving care under NHS, I hope we would have the scope to do better for our patients.

[phoebidas]

Yup that's a pretty average day. Except we're the guys telling A&E it's inoperable. The government response to all this is to cut our pay. I suffer physically, mentally and emotionally for this job and now I have to worry about whether I will be able to afford my rent next year. I'm too tired to even try and fight this and we can't strike. So I'm off to Oz too as soon as my certificate comes through.

[sela]

This is why uk doctors move to New Zealand and Australia.

[buru]

AWWW DR. GORAN! I just want to give him a hug. Health Care providers (Physicians, Nurses, etc.) are human too goddamn't!

[susandruce]

I have huge respect for all the NHS staff, recently I had to wait for 12 hrs for an ambulance and had to be treated in said ambulance because the a/e was overloaded and the beds were all full as so the triage etc.the staff I saw were kind helpful and looked after me despite being tired themselves...god bless them..they have saved my life on 3 separate occasions over the yrs and they are struggling they deserve better than this...without them we would be in huge trouble...as I had to be treated in the ambulance the drivers were unable to go to there next job but still managed to keep my spirits up...Feb 2019...respect to the hos angels

[drbloomer]

I’ve had to bow out. I’m now in the private sector as I have my weekends and more time on my hands. After years of 80/90 hour weeks in A&E I couldn’t cope. Unfortunately, this is something that is becoming more common.

[joshuadavies-jones]

I live in Romford and know the hospital well. It was brand new and meant to be state of the art - built in 2004 at a cost of over £330, 000 a bed. Four existing hospitals were closed because of this and so most people have to travel a lot further to go to hospital. I stayed there last month. The staff were all nice, but the ward I was in had no windows and the ceiling lights shone directly into my eyes when I was trying to sleep. The problem is not that we don't spend money on the NHS, but that so much is wasted.