Emergency care -- Casualty vs. ER

How have you found the emergency room care in the UK? For those who have been unlucky enough to have emergencies in both countries, how would you compare the two?

Aw, I thought this was going to be about the television shows! LOL If so, I'd totally vote for ER (but I like Casualty, too!)

How have you found the emergency room care in the UK? For those who have been unlucky enough to have emergencies in both countries, how would you compare the two?

Seriously.  Are you writing a book?

[sarcasm]
In the UK, the doctors have bad teeth, and there are no mixer taps in the bathrooms. In the USA, the doctors have little cash registers attached to their white coats.
[/sarcasm]

 

I think that's one of those questions with an answer "it all depends on so many factors"

We've been up to A&E a few times with minor(ish) problems and have found that we were well looked after and the wait wasn't too long.  So much depends on what else is happening in A&E when you arrive and what your actual problem is.

In the UK you don't get a bill at the end!!!!  Seriously, I haven't ever been in a US emergency dept but in he UK I have had a few A&E experiences over the years and they were all just fine and dandy. My most recent experience was a few weeks go when my son had a bad tummy bug, the out of hours GP told me to take him to our local "minor injuries unit" (we don't have an A&E here), even gave us an appointment time (on a Saturday night) so there was no waiting around, seen straight away, sorted.

I've had the misfortune of having to use both on more than one occasion and the only difference I have noticed is that in the UK you don't get a big fat bill at the end of it.

It depends on a lot of things: the size of the hospital, the size of the city, etc.

I've only used Casualty once in the UK and it was a breeze. In and out with really good service and, as others have said, no bill at the end.

I've used the ER a gazillion times in the US (for my mother) and we never waited less than 6 hours. It was usually overnight. And it was sheer hell, and something I hope I never have to go through again.

Having said that, the place I went to in the UK was a small hospital in a rural location. The ER in the US was a large urban hospital in a pretty densely populated part of the country. I wouldn't be surprised if the results were completely opposite if you went to a small quiet rural ER in the States and a big inner-city Casualty in London. Does anyone know?

I've never used an A & E in the UK, but always lived in a rural area in the US and had lots of Emergency Room experience through the years whether for myself or my kids... mostly good experiences for the reason that, of course, we were often the only ones IN the ER!

Basically, if you knew you had an emergency and were coming to the ER, you'd call ahead to let them know you were on your way and they'd contact the on-call doctor, who might or might not be in the hospital (we lived 1/2 hours' drive from the nearest hospital, never had an emergency that required an ambulance call out and the doctor was usually waiting when we got there!). 

Just that big fat bill at the end. 

my daughter, my husband and myself used the A&E in the UK in the short year we were there.

My daughter fell off a changing table onto a concrete floor at a store in Croydon (me == worst mother ever) and we took an ambulance to the A&E. It was packed (the ped one). We were seen relatively straight away and we had to wait in observation for 4 hours due to the nature of her injuries. No paperwork, no bill.

My husband cut his head. I had to take care of the kids so I didn't go but he was there for a while. This was in Kingston.

I got a splinter of a 150 yr old beam under one of my fingernails and couldn't get into the dr so I went to the A&E  in Kingston. It was just fine. A bit of a wait but not too much. Again, little info given, no bill.

The last time I went to the ER for myself in the US was years ago. I was at a hospital already though about to visit someone and I fainted. They put me in a wheelchair and took me to the ER. My mom was with me (but I was already married so not a minor). I don't really remember bills or much paperwork and was seen straightaway. This was at Emory in Atlanta.

Had to take my son to the ER at the Childrens's hospital in Atlanta when he was a baby as he kept choking on phlegm. Medium sized wait, small bill.

Not sure what info you really want. I agree its probably mostly the same but in the UK no bill at the end.