24hr A&E why have they gone there?

[Oooblimey]

Just watching 24hr in A&E.
AIBU to be annoyed at the woman who has taken her 6 yr old to A&E, he got a splinter in his foot a week ago which has turned into a puss filled blister. How is this an emergency? And we wonder why A&E departments are on their knees?
Surely this should be a GP appointment. Yes he may be uncomfortable for a couple of days but he's not dying. Is it a sign of today's expectation of instant service or AIBU to think that this situation is unacceptable?

[tempname12]

That's surely one for a practice nurse? Or even something that could quite easily have been dealt with at home? (Sterile needle to scrape the splinter out and salt water or antiseptic wash to clean , if not possible you contact nurse or GP and don't leave it a week!!)

[ChemistryHunt]

YANBU - however it seems an alarming number of people either do not understand where you should go for various ailments or even what is on offer.

We are pretty fortunate in our area, we have a couple of 7 day walk in nearby, A&E and a miner injuries walk in. However I still know several people who go to A&E by default. Some don't really know what's on offer and some seem to think that A&E is for anything that you can't wait for a regular GP appointment for.

[Sirzy]

I thought the same. Surely an area like that has walk in centres/minor injuries units?

[PunkrockerGirl]

YANBU!
And the whole family has gone along too
This was clearly a GP/practice nurse issue. Why didn't the A&E staff send them packing? Surely, until cases like this are turned away, people will continue to take the piss.

[Kpo58]

Maybe they couldn't get a GP appointment? Its almost impossible to get one at my GP. They just say try phoning again tomorrow and then the next day, etc...

There does need to be more Walk-in-Centres though...

[Oooblimey]

Glad it's not just me then. The self indulgent 'me' bubble that so many people seem to live in now days makes me so angry! Grrr!

[GreatFuckability]

was the splinter still in his foot?
there are no walk in centres or minor injuries near where i live (though i appreciate that show is in london!)

[Owllady]

The trouble is, some places don't have walk in centres and minor injuries and the GP can't/won't deal, so you get sent to a&e
I had to go last summer as I fell with extremely hot water with bleach in and it went all over my skin and in my eyes
I had a cold shower straight after and it started to ease but the Dr would even see me and said I had to go straight to a&e. I felt like a right nob tbh. They cling filmed my arms, tested my eyes, tutted and sent me home

[lorelei9]

So has the show finished? I woukd hope a & e staff woukd tell them this was not right, or make them wait seven hours!

And wtf with a whole family going...?

[lorelei9]

Owl, it sounds like you DID need to go to A&E...why did they tut at you I wonder?

[Oooblimey]

They should be sent packing but I don't think A&E are allowed to do that so they have to rely on people being sensible. Which they're not.
They may well have struggled to get an appointment at the GP but all GP hold back emergency appointments which they may have got if she'd phoned and explained, and if they were told it's not an emergency surely that's more reason not to waste A&E time?!

[StarlightMcKenzee]

Sirzy I have been to walk-in centres, who have huffed and puffed about being too busy. Twice, though I got 3 buses to it, they have refused to see me with a child crying in pain, once in winter without a coat, and told me if I need seeing I should go to A&E (A walk from my house).

So now I get torn, if I have a child that needs attention. Do I spend 180 minutes on a journey for hostile and possibly no treatment, or go straight to A&E?

I get the impression that A&E is becoming the go to because other services are too stretched to meet needs.

[SirChenjin]

Our hospital has an out of hours appointment service for minor stuff that you can be referred to but go to A and E and you'll find it filled with entire families clogging up the waiting room with pulled muscles and grazes - it's like a night out. YANBU.

[londonrach]

He did need a&e as infected. Poor lad. Felt sorry for that guy with the high heart rate.

[TheHemsleysAteMyHamster]

In london?, I can't see my Gp ever for an appointment that I haven't booked about 3 weeks ahead. I had gastro problems for 7 days "come see us after 5 if it persists"... Yah like fuck. Ended up going private. There is barely GP coverage in some areas, it's a fucking joke.

[Oooblimey]

Owl you had bleach in your eye I think that would class as an emergency! My issue is waiting a week and then going to A&E.

[Owllady]

Maybe I was just paranoid then [ I was carrying a washing up bowl to rinse out the chicken coop which was invested with mites and I'd tripped on a hula hoop that flung up and hit me and the bowl and fell over, whilst it went all over me. I couldn't see and then fell down some steps I'm v clumsy, maybe I just felt silly!

[OhWotIsItThisTime]

Friend of mine called GP earlier this week and was told to ring back in April as all the March appointments were gone. This is why people end up in a&e.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I thought that initially but then he needed entenox didn't he so maybe he wouldn't have coped with it been done by a gP or practice nurse???

Being a bad mother I would probably have stuck a sterile pin in it at home while getting Dh to pin the dc to the floor.

[Owllady]

My son waited with me and when we left the hospital he wanted some chips from the chippy across the road and he said, can you please wait somewhere else cos you look like a monster. I went to the loo and my eyes were bright orange and I had cling film all over my arms....he had a point :o

I hope this bloke is going to be ok

[cricketqueen]

We don't have a walk in centre and the out of hours gp covers such a huge area and is so understaffed that sometimes they have to turn people away. I ended up in a and e with my daughter at the weekend. She had got hair twisted round her toe, it had gone so deep I couldn't see if I had got it all out and the circulation had been cut off for a short amount of time.out of hours gp wouldn't see her and sent her to a and e. Sat there for 4 hours for a 10 minute check, believe me I would have preferred to be anywhere else. Then had to take her back on Monday for them to check the cut it had made. More walk in centres/minor injury units are needed.

[Oooblimey]

So maybe I am being a tad unreasonable as the bigger issue is lack of other resources, because the barstool Tories have cut everything. I would be happy to pay a bit extra NI if it meant more resources.

[HerRoyalNotness]

It seems like the public could do with some general first aid knowledge. Perhaps teaching it in high school? Get some common sense back into people, and learn how to take care of scrapes and bumps and yes, splinters, at home.

[SirChenjin]

I agree Royal

I'm sure there are some areas where the lack of GPs result in people using a&e instead, but that's not the case across the UK - there's just too many people using a&e as a minor ailments service.

[ClashCityRocker]

Ours works quite well; we have A&E, minor injuries and ooh GP andwalk in centre in the same building, sharing a check in and waiting area.

When I last went in with dh to A&E we were seen after a fifteen minute wait and he was admitted within an hour - this was a Saturday night/early Sunday morning so I was quite impressed.