92 year old woman left sitting on a chair in A&E for over a day

c68zapdsm5i1ru

!A 92-year-old woman was left sitting on a chair in a Dublin A&E facility, her family have revealed.
Gladys Cummins visited the A&E department of the Mater Hospital on Monday when she was feeling unwell.
Her daughter Dee Cummins was with her, as she was moved constantly from one chair to another while waiting for over a day in the department to see a doctor."

What on earth has gone wrong in this country? There is a heartbreaking photograph accompanying this article of the poor woman, slumped ill and weak, in a chair in the A&E Department.

ebbsy

But yet, some of our elected gob****es will concentrate on the Trump visit instead.

CeilingFly

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

And then whine to the fickle hysterical media who do a sensationalist piece leaving out a lot of facts so that some fools can get all hysterical.

Never ever ever fully believe the sh1te written in hysterical sensationalist media - ESPECIALLY the Indo.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

How do you know she had a minor illness. I have often had to take elderly parents to hospital, or call an ambulance, and they have been left on trollies for hours before eventually being admitted and given the treatment they needed.
Her mother is now in a hospital ward so obviously did need to be in hospital.

dudara

It’s really bad that an elderly lady was left so long, but it’s hard to comment without knowing more of the specifics. When did she enter, when was she triaged etc.

Unfortunately, despite her years, she may have been the least sick person there.

Hammer89

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

What constitutes a minor illness if you're 92

CeilingFly

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

How do you know she had a minor illness.

Triage system places you in a priority system. She was not regarded as priority.

This I reckon was a stunt.

verycool

This is knee jerk tabloid stuff all right.

Shirked responsibility so it must be the "system" that's wrong.

As dudara said, it's hard to comment without knowing the details. One comment however is that ideally nobody should be waiting that long! A few hours max

Omackeral

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

And then whine to the fickle hysterical media who do a sensationalist piece leaving out a lot of facts so that some fools can get all hysterical.

Never ever ever fully believe the sh1te written in hysterical sensationalist media - ESPECIALLY the Indo.

Get lost with your personal responsibility guff. The fact of the matter is simply that gubbermint blah blah blah, homeless yada yada, that shower-in-the-dail, it's a disgrace, this country's a joke, rabble rabble entitled. We should look after our own. Oh and bankers. Don't forget bankers.

Omackeral

dudara wrote: »

but it’s hard to comment without knowing more of the specifics.

It's really not for most people. Keyboard smash!

Turtwig

Nobody should be waiting that long. However, this outrage and use of age in headlines is disturbing. Worse yet is people "diagnosing" others in the A&Es "Saw one lady who didn't look like there was much wrong with her".

People should be - and are - triaged according to perceived medical need. Sometimes that triage will be wrong and the priority of a patient's need won't be recognised immediately but most of the time it works as it should.

The waiting times need to be addressed, but as nobody in Ireland wants to pay for basically anything then I can't see any resolution there either. Health, Prison Service, Water are all in danger of collapsing.

Most annoying bit is how opposition political parties will use this woman as a stick to beat the current goverment with rather than recognise it was actually decades of incompetence and inaction by everyone that led us here and there isn't going to be short term solution.

I think people would be happy to pay, and we already do. I think the issue is we don't think throwing more money at the problem will have much or any effect

Shenshen

bluewolf wrote: »

I think people would be happy to pay, and we already do. I think the issue is we don't think throwing more money at the problem will have much or any effect

I agree to some extend, I think a good amount of re-structuring is required.
People presenting to A&E for not feeling well is not scaleable - you couldn't build A&Es big enough to cope with that. People need to use their GPs more, and I think GPs generally should be better equipped to deal with more issues directly.

Turtwig

bluewolf wrote: »

I think people would be happy to pay, and we already do. I think the issue is we don't think throwing more money at the problem will have much or any effect

I partially agree but I think the level of restructuring required few want to pay for. Unfortunately to fix this mess it's gonna be a fair assumption for such a large problem any step you take to resolve it will invariably have some degree of money wasted. The trouble with it being healthcare is one mistake perceived by the public will drastically alter all future spending plans.

Plus, call me cynical, but I don't believe we're capable of having a level head discussion to plan something so intricately complex as a health system. Even more so, when it's a solution who's time span is longer than any potential government.

SEPT 23 1989

i would want to be literally dying before I would set foot in Tallaght A & E such is the carry on I have witnessed in there

Sonics2k

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

And then whine to the fickle hysterical media who do a sensationalist piece leaving out a lot of facts so that some fools can get all hysterical.

Never ever ever fully believe the sh1te written in hysterical sensationalist media - ESPECIALLY the Indo.

I'm not saying you're wrong here, but when it comes down to it a person shouldn't be left sitting in AE, especially at that age for 25 hours.

At 92 years old even a flu or cold could be fatal in a short amount of time.

Sure, if she was 28 and had been complaining about a sore throat then a GP would be the place to go, but again, it's a 92 year old.

Shenshen

Sonics2k wrote: »

I'm not saying you're wrong here, but when it comes down to it a person shouldn't be left sitting in AE, especially at that age for 25 hours.

At 92 years old even a flu or cold could be fatal in a short amount of time.

Sure, if she was 28 and had been complaining about a sore throat then a GP would be the place to go, but again, it's a 92 year old.

I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow - why should a 92 year old not go see a GP?

conorhal

Shenshen wrote: »

I agree to some extend, I think a good amount of re-structuring is required.
People presenting to A&E for not feeling well is not scaleable - you couldn't build A&Es big enough to cope with that. People need to use their GPs more, and I think GPs generally should be better equipped to deal with more issues directly.

Since there's no link to an article I can only guess, but given the length of time waiting I'm guessing it was over the weekend when A&E is chock-a-block.
Good luck getting your GP to see you on a Friday night or Sunday morning!
In fact, good luck getting an appointment within 2-5 working days....


Anybody that imagines GP's can be a stop-gap for A&E's are dreaming.
Firstly we don't produce enough of them, the ones we do leave (and I'd have plenty of suggestions on how to remedy both if these factors but that's a different thread) and far to many that stay (in my experience) will give you 15 minutes of half their attention before writing a script or consultation letter. Far too few seem to have any diagnostic ability, instead seeing themselves a 60 euro gatekeepers for consultants.

Shenshen

conorhal wrote: »

Since there's no link to an article I can only guess, but given the length of time waiting I'm guessing it was over the weekend when A&E is chock-a-block.
Good luck getting your GP to see you on a Friday night or Sunday morning!
In fact, good luck getting an appointment within 2-5 working days....


Anybody that imagines GP's can be a stop-gap for A&E's are dreaming.
Firstly we don't produce enough of them, the ones we do leave (and I'd have plenty of suggestions on how to remedy both if these factors but that's a different thread) and far to many that stay (in my experience) will give you 15 minutes of half their attention before writing a script or consultation letter. Far too few seem to have any diagnostic ability, instead seeing themselves a 60 euro gatekeepers for consultants.

Well, last time I needed one on a Saturday (having narrowly avoided a collision with an oncoming car on my side of the road on my bike by strategically navigating it into a wall and in the process spraining my hand, my shoulder and obtaining some nasty grazes), I rang up South Doc who saw me within an hour.
Similar situation a few years back when the husband had a bad case of kidney stones at 3am Sunday night.

As for the GPs not being up to scratch on treating patients, I would completely agree with you. And that's why part of my post was about making sure they have the training, competency and equipment to deal with patients, rather than just take blood pressure and issue prescriptions. I'm overall rather shocked at the state of GPs in this country, and I do think the lack of qualification there is a massive contributing factor to the state of A&Es.

1982

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

And then whine to the fickle hysterical media who do a sensationalist piece leaving out a lot of facts so that some fools can get all hysterical.

Never ever ever fully believe the sh1te written in hysterical sensationalist media - ESPECIALLY the Indo.

Actually that's not necessarily the case.

We don't know the details, but she may well have been seen and treated and still left on a chair.

My mother is currently in A&E 26 hours.

The details are she had to be brought to hospital because she almost collapsed in pain at home and had been vomiting since the previous day. She was immediately assessed and sent for xray. Following the xray they transferred her to another hospital for a scan. She had to go through A&E in the other hospital. She had her scan almost immediately and has been fasting since yesterday morning (she is a type 1 diabetic). However, she spent most of yesterday in a chair on various drips. She has been moved to a trolley but spend the night on it and she is still there - in a corridor. She is awaiting surgery and a bed.

It's not about her priority (I work in healthcare, I understand how triage works) it's that they literally and physically have nowhere to put her.

lawred2

Hammer89 wrote: »

What constitutes a minor illness if you're 92

all the minor ones as determined by the professional triage staff

Berserker

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

Bang on. Given the fact that she was left in A&E for that length of time, it's clear that it was not an emergency.

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

How do you know she had a minor illness.

Do you know how A&E works?

Sonics2k wrote: »

I'm not saying you're wrong here, but when it comes down to it a person shouldn't be left sitting in AE, especially at that age for 25 hours.

And where were they supposed to put her or do with her?

Sonics2k wrote: »

At 92 years old even a flu or cold could be fatal in a short amount of time.

Correct but she wasn't a high risk patient at any point during the 25 hour period. She would have been attended to if that was the case.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Yes I know very well how A&E works. I've been there many times with elderly parents. On several occasions they were extremely ill but were still left on trolleys for hours and hours.


It's not always that easy to get an ill, very elderly and not very mobile patient to a GP even if you were lucky enough to get an appointment. Sometimes your only option is to call an ambulance as it's just not possible to get them into a car and then out of the car and into the surgery.

If GPs still did house calls it would be a different matter.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Berserker wrote: »

Bang on. Given the fact that she was left in A&E for that length of time, it's clear that it was not an emergency.



Do you know how A&E works?



And where were they supposed to put her or do with her?



Correct but she wasn't a high risk patient at any point during the 25 hour period. She would have been attended to if that was the case.

Well that's really the point. How have we come to have a health system where the only option for hospitals is to leave elderly and ill people in chairs for 25 hours?

lawred2

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

Well that's really the point. How have we come to have a health system where the only option for hospitals is to leave elderly and ill people in chairs for 25 hours?

they probably should have sent her home

c68zapdsm5i1ru

lawred2 wrote: »

they probably should have sent her home

But it turned out that she did need to be hospitalised, but it took 25 hours to get her out of a chair and into a bed.

We either need a better system where elderly and infirm people can be visited at home by GPs, or A&E Depts and hospitals that are better resourced.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Omackeral wrote: »

Get lost with your personal responsibility guff. The fact of the matter is simply that gubbermint blah blah blah, homeless yada yada, that shower-in-the-dail, it's a disgrace, this country's a joke, rabble rabble entitled. We should look after our own. Oh and bankers. Don't forget bankers.

So the 92 year old should have cured herself? A bit of personal responsibility and she’d have been seen sooner?

Franz Von Peppercorn

Shenshen wrote: »

I agree to some extend, I think a good amount of re-structuring is required.
People presenting to A&E for not feeling well is not scaleable - you couldn't build A&Es big enough to cope with that. People need to use their GPs more, and I think GPs generally should be better equipped to deal with more issues directly.

They used to be. It was called a doctors surgery for a reason. Now they are mere conduits to a hospital or consultants so visiting them in an emergency is not that useful.

TallGlass

Had to do it once and seemingly regular my advise after my day and a half chair experience at least purchase some ****ing decent chairs that are fit for the purpose to hold people for a day and a half.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Shenshen wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow - why should a 92 year old not go see a GP?

Because all he’s going to do is send her to hospital.

gctest50

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Because all he’s going to do is send her to hospital.

What's he going to do in some cases ? make an xray machine or whatever out of some sticky tape and a cornflakes box ?

If he draws blood and sends it off to be tested, they'll be waiting hours at the GP instead

Place needs more "Urgent Care Centres "

c68zapdsm5i1ru

To the posters saying they should have gone to their GP - genuinely have you every been in a situation where a very elderly parent, not in the best of health, becomes ill during the night or early in the morning? Often, waiting for the surgery to open so you can ring and maybe get an appointment later that afternoon, and then have to move your vomiting or dizzy or very very frail and weak parent from their bed to the car and then out of the car and into the doctor's waiting room is just not an option.

You have to call an ambulance because you have no idea how serious it is and, at that age, you really can't afford to take the risk or try and move the ill person by yourself.

Graces7

Do you know a web site called "Rate my Hospital"?

http://www.ratemyhospital.ie/ from irishhealth

Go to General Comments.

There are some episodes like this and worse. Two longer ones especially about old folk.
And today in the news

https://www.rte.ie/news/health/2018/0910/992835-nurses/

with deep concerns towards the end about the coming winter and A and E.

Graces7

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

To the posters saying they should have gone to their GP - genuinely have you every been in a situation where a very elderly parent, not in the best of health, becomes ill during the night or early in the morning? Often, waiting for the surgery to open so you can ring and maybe get an appointment later that afternoon, and then have to move your vomiting or dizzy or very very frail and weak parent from their bed to the car and then out of the car and into the doctor's waiting room is just not an option.

You have to call an ambulance because you have no idea how serious it is and, at that age, you really can't afford to take the risk or try and move the ill person by yourself.

and the paramedics are wonderful...caring, expert.... then they hand you over to A and E and it all changes. Been there ....

Mrs OBumble

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

Yes I know very well how A&E works. I've been there many times with elderly parents. On several occasions they were extremely ill but were still left on trolleys for hours and hours.


It's not always that easy to get an ill, very elderly and not very mobile patient to a GP even if you were lucky enough to get an appointment. Sometimes your only option is to call an ambulance as it's just not possible to get them into a car and then out of the car and into the surgery.

If GPs still did house calls it would be a different matter.

If she'd arrived by ambulance she would have been on a trolley.

And they do. But you have to pay.

Berserker

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

But it turned out that she did need to be hospitalised, but it took 25 hours to get her out of a chair and into a bed.

We either need a better system where elderly and infirm people can be visited at home by GPs, or A&E Depts and hospitals that are better resourced.

Firstly, this lady didn't need to go to A&E, as you've said. A&E isn't the place for people who have not had an accident or who are not in need of emergency care.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

So the 92 year old should have cured herself? A bit of personal responsibility and she’d have been seen sooner?

What personal responsibility? What could they have done differently? Are you suggesting that they prioritise this lady over another patient?

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Because all he’s going to do is send her to hospital.

He or she would not have sent her to hospital. She did not need to be hospitalised.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Berserker wrote: »

Firstly, this lady didn't need to go to A&E, as you've said. A&E isn't the place for people who have not had an accident or who are not in need of emergency care.



What personal responsibility? What could they have done differently? Are you suggesting that they prioritise this lady over another patient?



He or she would not have sent her to hospital. She did not need to be hospitalised.

But she has been hospitalised.

How were her family meant to get her to a GP if she was elderly, infirm and feeling very ill? Particularly if it was out of hours or all appointments were taken. Many many elderly people have no choice but to go to A&E when they become ill. It's not ideal and not what A&E was originally intended for but because of lack of options it's become the only choice.

Also with a very old person, as with a young child, you're often not sure if it's an emergency and you don't take the risk.

Genuinely, have you ever been in a situation where your very old, weak and frail parent has suddenly become very ill and you're not sure how serious it is?

Graces7

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If she'd arrived by ambulance she would have been on a trolley.

And they do. But you have to pay.

Yes the paramedics take you in on a trolley from the ambulance and you are then either transferred on that trolley to a cubicle or corridor and the paramedics take the clean trolley back to the ambulance
OR as happened with this old lady and with me on one occasion, triage move you from the trolley to a chair.

At that age the lady is on medical card so no charge for a house call.

Odhinn

Shenshen wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow - why should a 92 year old not go see a GP?

Few GP's do house calls. The quality of locums varies wildly. And besides, odds are they'll say go to A&E anyway.

1982

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If she'd arrived by ambulance she would have been on a trolley.

And they do. But you have to pay.

Incorrect on both counts.

If she had arrived by ambulance it would have been on an ambulance trolley, she would have been transferred to either a hospital trolley or chair.

As for GPs doing house calls, that is almost unheard of in Dublin these days. There are out of hours clinics but these are still not 24/7.

I completely agree with people saying you should only visit A&E when necessary and I have seen people present for terrible reasons but if a 92 year old woman suddenly becomes unwell your company you are not going to risk using your total lack of medical knowledge to asses the situation yourself.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

1982 wrote: »

Incorrect on both counts.

If she had arrived by ambulance it would have been on an ambulance trolley, she would have been transferred to either a hospital trolley or chair.

As for GPs doing house calls, that is almost unheard of in Dublin these days. There are out of hours clinics but these are still not 24/7.

I completely agree with people saying you should only visit A&E when necessary and I have seen people present for terrible reasons but if a 92 year old woman suddenly becomes unwell your company you are not going to risk using your total lack of medical knowledge to asses the situation yourself.

Yes totally agree. I have no doubt that A&E is abused by people going there for trivial reasons and they fully deserve to be kept waiting. It also annoys me that drunk people have to be treated there, taking resources away from those who are genuinely ill.

But frail elderly people are not abusing the service. They are there because there is no other option. The days of ringing your family GP and him/her calling around within the hour and making a judgment about whether or not they need to be in hospital are over.

Family members with no medical knowledge, faced with an elderly person who has suddenly become ill and is in no condition to travel to the GP, are not going to hang around for very long. The only way of getting immediate medical attention is to call an ambulance.

c68zapdsm5i1ru

Odhinn wrote: »

Few GP's do house calls. The quality of locums varies wildly. And besides, odds are they'll say go to A&E anyway.

The only time we used one for my elderly father, it took 5 hours for him to arrive, he spoke very poor English and had no knowledge of my father's medical history. That's not satisfactory and we never risked it again.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Berserker wrote: »

Firstly, this lady didn't need to go to A&E, as you've said. A&E isn't the place for people who have not had an accident or who are not in need of emergency care.

A 92 year old wouldn’t know that.

What personal responsibility? What could they have done differently? Are you suggesting that they prioritise this lady over another patient?

I’m suggesting the HSE gets its act together

He or she would not have sent her to hospital. She did not need to be hospitalised.

You don’t know. Many GPs err on the side of caution. It’s largely a referral service these days.

Odhinn

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

The only time we used one for my elderly father, it took 5 hours for him to arrive, he spoke very poor English and had no knowledge of my father's medical history. That's not satisfactory and we never risked it again.

We got one who looked like he was there at gunpoint and was visibly terrified of the two dogs in the house (two small breeds and totally non-aggressive). He took the fathers pulse, said he should go to the a&e and fucked off. Second time we got an african guy who was actually grand, gave him a proper exam and made a prescrption for some medication (though as ever he also said he should go to a&e).

c68zapdsm5i1ru

I'm wondering how many of the 40 people who liked the third post on this thread have ever had the worry of a very old and infirm relative being suddenly taken ill with no way of getting them to the surgery. All this 'why didn't she just go to the GP'.

I only wish it was that simple.

redshoes15

Haven’t read through this thread just yet but will share my own peach of a tale from a couple of years ago. Mother (60) very ill for a number of weeks. Multiple visits to local GP. Couldn’t eat or drink a thing without it re-emerging into the word in the form of puke. Was very worrying but she’s recovered fully now. She was sever dehydrated at one point so doc suggested she head to A&E to be given a 24 hour drip. Hospital staff amazing as always. 5 hour wait, eventually called in, popped on a plastic chair and her drip inserted into her arm. Her chair mate was an 89 year old lady with a deep open bleeding wound on her head and blood all over her. The 2 struck up a conversation and we, along with the older ladies family kept an eye on them in between grabbing cups of coffee. 26 hours they both sat in their respective plastic chairs. Directly across from them, curtains open for all to see was a couple of Dublin’s finest junkies. Boyfriend and girlfriend it seemed. Both off their faces. Both up and down every 15 minutes to beg someone in the waiting are for a smoke. I spoke to one of the nurses on duty in the wee small hours. They’d been the 2 days and basically had been refusing to be discharged. Not a thing wrong with either of them. It was in that moment I realized that this country had lost its way. I don’t blame the hospital staff. I don’t blame the HSE. I don’t blame the government. I don’t blame the junkies. It’s very hard to know who to blame. When the country I love so dear lets it’s most vulnerable people down time and time again it’s hard to know where to proportion the right amount of blame in the right direction. People marched for money in the water charges protests. They marched for equality with the marriage referendum. They marched and rallied at the atrocities the Catholic Church carried out when its leader decided to grace us with his presence. They will no doubt march, protest and scream blue murder before Don arrives to our shores. Where are the marches for our parents, grandparents and elderly? Are our heads so up our own ar$es we’ve forgotten them?

CeilingFly

Pedro Fluffy Apprentice wrote: »

I'm wondering how many of the 40 people who liked the third post on this thread have ever had the worry of a very old and infirm relative being suddenly taken ill with no way of getting them to the surgery. All this 'why didn't she just go to the GP'.

I only wish it was that simple.

I have and I'm the poster and I looked after my dad for three years before he passed away.

First call was ALWAYS to the GP who gave best advice as they knew his history and would also know of any local respiratory and other issues at that immediate time.

It was the daughter who brought her in and its the daughter who should have known to bring her to her GP as with such a long wait in a&e, its obviously it was not an urgent case.

Problem is once you go to a&e they tend not to want to let you go until you are seen so that they don't get sued in case someone is more ill than the triage saw.

There are issues with a&e, but if you have an actual accident or a real emergency they are great.

endacl

Hammer89 wrote: »

What constitutes a minor illness if you're 92

Hiccups.

Your Face

She should have dropped her aul wan into the nearest Garda Station.

Mint Sauce

CeilingFly wrote: »

Why did her daughter not take her to her local GP?

A&E - ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY - this was just someone who felt a little unwell and obviously when seen by the triage was deemed not a priority.

Her daughter needs to wake up and stop clogging up ACCIDENT and EMERGENCY departments for minor illness

And then whine to the fickle hysterical media who do a sensationalist piece leaving out a lot of facts so that some fools can get all hysterical.

Never ever ever fully believe the sh1te written in hysterical sensationalist media - ESPECIALLY the Indo.

How do you know what was wrong with her, the same minor illness for me and you, may not be minor for a 92 year old, and whilst we might be able to afford to wait a day or two for an appointment, or wait for it to clear up, in a 92 year old, it can excerbate quickly, and turn into something serious.

The curtains were probably taken up by a drunk who had to much, and put out of the way to avoid up set. Should have been fecked out, and let the 92 year old there instead.