My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

111 Again, total and utter waste of time and money.

81 replies

YoniWheretheSunDontShine · 26/05/2013 21:34

My DD came screaming in from the garden, she has speared her eye with a bamboo cane. she was screaming and nearly vomiting.

Sat her down and in spite of the initial and unusual screams, shortly she seemed to recover, Within 40 mins she was running round again like nothing had happened, the eye, whilst v red and slightly swollen seemed OK. However being an eye I thought a doc should just shine his light on it - make sure all OK.

called out of hours. nothing its 111 now. call them. speak for ages.....long list of questions, get someone to call me back. about two hours later get a call back.

useless, can I see anything in the eye? ! No, I cant but that means jack shit.

I just thought a doc should take a look.

Can I get to A&E, no, not with EBF baby and her. She doesn't bloody need A&E.

She then tells me I cannot even see local doc, usual out of hours, round the corner but one, 9 miles away?! AND she cant make the appointment. She has to then call this other out of hours, to then call me to make an appt.

What a load of useless bloody shite.

Hours ago, had the normal system been operative, we would have been seen already and sent away or given something.

Oh - just got another call and asking the same questions again.

OP posts:
Report
HollyBerryBush · 26/05/2013 21:38

TBH with you, eyes would be one thing I wouldn't have called 111, I would have A&E'd. If you don't think it worthy of A&E there is google and cold compress.

You either need medical attention or you don't.

Report
ddubsgirl · 26/05/2013 21:42

Tbh ooh would send u too a&e

Report
gordyslovesheep · 26/05/2013 21:42

I kind of agree with Holly - in fact I probably would have gone straight to A+E taking her and the baby with me - eyes are funny things

Report
CSIJanner · 26/05/2013 21:45

Please say you went to A&E? It's not worth taking a risk with sight. Any micro-organisms or parasites from dirt could have been on that bamboo which can leave you in risk of blindness.

Report
BoysAreLikeDogs · 26/05/2013 21:45

Yabu
Your child speared herself in the eye, A and E is appropriate

Report
cardibach · 26/05/2013 21:46

I don't really get out of hours services. I think Holly is right - you either need medical attention or you don't. I'd either A and E or wait until Doc open, I think, for accidents. If I obviously had e.g. tonsillitis, I might ring Out of Hours to access prescriptions.

Report
WorraLiberty · 26/05/2013 21:47

I'd definitely go to A&E

Surely it needs some sort of antiseptic rinse?

Report
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 26/05/2013 21:47

Take her to A and E, as soon as possible. I used to be a nurse, and I would want that checked out ASAP.

Report
TheCrackFox · 26/05/2013 21:56

Go to A and E right now.

My brother did something similar as a child and was in hospital for 10 days.

Report
Marcheline · 26/05/2013 22:06

I don't get why you can't take an EBF baby to a&e? If DD1 had done somethig similar, we'd be straight into the car, with EBF DD2 in a heartbeat.

It may not be a fun way to spend your bank holiday, but it's necessary. Please take her now.

Report
Floggingmolly · 26/05/2013 22:09

What did you actually expect them to do, if you'd already decided for yourself that she didn't need to be seen at A & E? Hmm

Report
Sirzy · 26/05/2013 22:15

I am with the others. She needs seeing in a and e

You phoned, they said a and e and you said no. That is hardly there fault.

Report
Methe · 26/05/2013 22:16

I'm not sure why you think it waste of money? 111 is free.

You should have gone straight to A&E. 111 are not at fault here.

Report
gwenniebee · 26/05/2013 22:20

If she has "speared" herself in the eye she needs A&E, not faffing about with ooh doctors (who most likely would need to refer you to an optician/someone at A&E with more of a specialism in eyes, anyway).

One of the things about bfing is that it is easier to take them places spontaneously, so that is a silly reason not to go to A&E.

Both in defence of the 111 service and of the concept of ooh GPs generally - last bank holiday my dh and I were really worried about my 10mo dd whose temperature was up and down like a yoyo, not herself, off her food etc etc. Had my surgery been open I would have rung to speak to my doctor and ask her if she thought I needed an appointment. This is why ooh services are useful - sometimes you want advice as to whether your problem is urgent enough to seek medical care. In this instance they did think my dd should be seen by someone, and we had an appointment made for us at our local hospital. We were all back home on bed two and a quarter hours after initially decided we were worried about her, having been seen by a lovely and sympathetic GP. And all free of charge, with no need to worry whether or not we could afford the help we got. We're bloody lucky in this country.

Report
YoniWheretheSunDontShine · 26/05/2013 22:22

So, after lots of un necessary back and forwards calls through 111, I got a call back from the out of hours docs, saying, its worth having a look.

This is what I thought hours ago.

111 has been a totally un necessary barrier that i have had to go through to get to where I knew I should be.

ie. she seems fine, eye seems ok - to the naked eye, but lets have a quick look.

Ridiculous.

Instead of calling straight through to out of hours, I have had a stupid barrier to go through.

how this is helping or stream lining the NHS I would love to know.

OP posts:
Report
cardibach · 26/05/2013 22:22

Absolutely gwennie - people take the free at point of use care for granted and don't realise what a wonderful thing it is.

Report
cardibach · 26/05/2013 22:23

But it wasn't a barrier to anything - you could have gone to Accident and Emergency with your Accident at the start, as several posters have suggested.

Report
ENormaSnob · 26/05/2013 22:27

You should be taking that child to a &e.

You don't fuck about with eye stuff.

Report
YoniWheretheSunDontShine · 26/05/2013 22:29

I do have a modicum of common sense, I have been to a and e quite a few times in her short life, and I was grabbing keys as she came in screaming, my DH calmed her down, looked at the eye, as best he could and as I said she calmed down, very quickly from hysteria. We kept checking the eye, and it swelled but not a lot, I have seen her with other things, looking like a golf ball.

She was running round, not complaining of any other symptoms, it was obvious to me at this stage it was not A&E worthy, however being an eye - it would help to have a doc shine a light on it for a proper look.

111 said - with the eye if it was a graze, it might be considered useful to have anti biotic s and the sooner given the better.

So after a long and round about waste of time, where an extra person has entered the equation, we finally where given an appointment where I wanted to go hours ago.

So yes - pointless and waste of time and resources!

OP posts:
Report
foslady · 26/05/2013 22:29

111 isn't a screening service, it's for if you aren't sure and want extra advice/ They said to go to A&E, you said no, what did you want? They're not going to sent a GP for a house visit for that, it's a hospital job to get it checked over

Report
foslady · 26/05/2013 22:31

And put plastic bottles over the end of your bamboo canes..........

Report
YoniWheretheSunDontShine · 26/05/2013 22:33

It wont be free for much longer, if stupid things like 111 replace a normal and direct service that we used to have.

Its an extra and un necessary hoop to have to jump through.

Normally I would have called out of hours, had a doctor call me back and make an appointment.

I have had to answer the same questions Three times tonight! To get me to the answer I knew it would be.

It wasn't worthy of A&E would have been even more a waste of poor A&E time; we are told here not to go to A&E unless its absolutely critical.

This was not critical.

OP posts:
Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

YoniWheretheSunDontShine · 26/05/2013 22:35

I didn't want screening I just wanted to call out of hours, I did not realise until tonight that I cant simply call out of hours any more.

My out of hours has been brilliant I usually get an appointment within two hours, and if its baby or more serious, sooner than that.

HOwever if I have to go through that again, I can see that in future, I will be clogging up A&E because I wouldnt be able to wait.

OP posts:
Report
lougle · 26/05/2013 22:36

Eyes are very, very sensitive. DD1 complained of a sore eye. I looked. She had the teeniest scratch on the eyelid. I thought she was trying to swerve school, being a Sunday.

The next morning, her eyelid was sealed shut and bright red, with green pus oozing from the corners. The other eyelid was also swelling.

Periorbital cellulitis - cue 3 days as an ambulatory patient, backwards and forwards to the children's ward for IV antibiotics, then a week of oral antibiotics.

All from a scratch no bigger than 3mm.

Report
BimbaBirba · 26/05/2013 22:38

How is she now Yoni? Have you got her seen? Can you tell if she can see properly?
I agree it's frustrating having to repeat the same info and is very poor customer service. However on this instance what really matters is how your DD is so please don't waste time on here and get her seen

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.