Last time I went to A&E I was there for 5 hours, immediately before starting my night shift. It was full of folk who seemed to be there because it was cold outside and/or there was nowt on telly. Dozens of docs/nurses walking up and down seemingly bored and with absolutely no apparent sense of urgency whatsoever. Finally got to see the doc ( I was there hoping to get a prescription for amoxycillin to treat a raging tooth abscess til I could get to a dentist) but I was in and out in two minutes after waiting 5 hours, sans prescription and the sage advice to see a dentist...
You should try walking in with a fractured maxilla (upper jaw) and teeth still in their sockets but knocked back into the middle of your mouth. I was sat around for hours and even when I was seen and sent for x-rays, I had to wait hours more for them to call in an emergency dental/maxiofacial guy who promptly grabbed the teeth and pulled them back to where they should be without any aesthetic - at which point, I (much to his alarm) pulled both arms off the chair I was sat on.
Oh, and I was stone cold sober at the time....
Last time I had an emergency, I took myself to the eye hospital and yes, there were plenty of folks sat around with obviously very minor problems. Fortunately, they had triage in place and I was seen almost immediately, diagnosed and although they couldn't treat me right away due to an emergency, I was scheduled for urgent surgery latter that night.