Would you go to A&E for a cough?

She is not demanding a resus bed. She is requesting a proper examination of worrying chest symptoms.
Have you heard of walking pneumonia? Exacerbation of asthma? Interstitial lung disease? Pulmonary fibrosis?

Why isn't triage given more power then, if people are turning up so don't need to be there and it's causing unwell people not to be able to get the help they need?

Someone at the very top needs to kick it into shape.

Just read your post to my husband. He,wonders if you are on an ACE inhibitor.

Triage will not do this as nurses do not get paid for that level of accountability. Doctors however do.

I’m not making any sweeping statements, you literally said you went and they expedited your referral. At no point did you say you received emergency treatment in resus.

Could you be more passive aggressive, yes I know it is breathe, predictive text sometimes changes this and what if I was dyslexic, do you often make fun of people if they have issues with spelling and grammar?

I would be interested to see the outcome.

It was an emergency, expediting treatment wasn't all they did. If I'd stayed at home, I would have died. I was taken straight through from the desk without even being triaged, given emergency treatment in resus and then admitted. You need to be very careful about making sweeping generalisations when you don't have all the information.

Why isn't triage sending people who don't need to use its services away?

She has been to the GP five times already with no help.
She is coughing so much she is having difficulty breathing.
she should go to A&E

You do realise people can, and do, die from asthma attacks. And there is such a thing as cough variant asthma ?

And btw it’s breathe, not breath.

It’s still not an emergency, finding it hard to breath , also able to sleep 8-9hrs a night…..wasting time on Mumsnet……you are absolutely right….must go to A&E and demand a resus bed for this life threatening emergency. Do you not think going back to the gp is the most sensible option? What do you think A&E are going to do beside some obs and a dr to listen to their chest. They don’t Xray every little thing because you know….radiation! It’s a chronic problem, yes it needs looking into but it is not an emergency.

this is why healthcare will end up private and when it does and people can’t afford it…..use A&E appropriately.

It’s still not an emergency, finding it hard to breath , also able to sleep 8-9hrs a night…..wasting time on Mumsnet……you are absolutely right….must go to A&E and demand a resus bed for this life threatening emergency. Do you not think going back to the gp is the most sensible option? What do you think A&E are going to do beside some obs and a dr to listen to their chest. They don’t Xray every little thing because you know….radiation! It’s a chronic problem, yes it needs looking into but it is not an emergency.

this is why healthcare will end up private and when it does and people can’t afford it…..use A&E appropriately.

But clearly was not an emergency if all they did was ‘expedite an outpatient clinic appt’. We need to use A&E resources appropriately, if we did then the waiting times wouldn’t be the worst it’s ever been. I arrived on shift the other day with a 9.5hr wait for a dr…..yet when the football was on, A&E was the best it had been for years. Says it all really.

no

a and e is for emergency care - stitches plaster cast or admission to a ward for treatment - if you are in an asthma attack or copd. a and E can so nothing fir you

you need referral to a consultant who is expert in asthma or whatever it is that us wrong with you

Had a cough for 7 months. Have had some tests done for gastro as the GP initially thought acid reflux, have literally today been referred for chest x-ray and lung tests.

It has gotten to the point where I cannot stop coughing. Literally having fits of coughing every few minutes and this lasts from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep and sometimes throughout the night too. I also feel unwell with it and I’ve felt unwell since the cough started at the beginning of the year. I feel like I can’t cough up whatever is there but I also can’t swallow it back down so it just feels stuck in my throat and all the constant coughing is leaving me feeling like I can’t breathe properly.

I have been in tears all day because I genuinely can’t go on like this, I dread every second of the day because of how bad it is. I am at my breaking point with it.

Would you go to the hospital for a cough that is constantly there and you’re never getting a let up from it along with everything else I’ve written?

But clearly was not an emergency if all they did was ‘expedite an outpatient clinic appt’. We need to use A&E resources appropriately, if we did then the waiting times wouldn’t be the worst it’s ever been. I arrived on shift the other day with a 9.5hr wait for a dr…..yet when the football was on, A&E was the best it had been for years. Says it all really.

This sounds horrendous.
If I were you I’d call 111 and tell them that whilst you’ve been referred and are waiting, things have escalated and become unbearable. Your breathing is compromised.

They may send you in to see someone. good luck

Had a cough for 7 months. Have had some tests done for gastro as the GP initially thought acid reflux, have literally today been referred for chest x-ray and lung tests.

It has gotten to the point where I cannot stop coughing. Literally having fits of coughing every few minutes and this lasts from the minute I wake up until the minute I go to sleep and sometimes throughout the night too. I also feel unwell with it and I’ve felt unwell since the cough started at the beginning of the year. I feel like I can’t cough up whatever is there but I also can’t swallow it back down so it just feels stuck in my throat and all the constant coughing is leaving me feeling like I can’t breathe properly.

I have been in tears all day because I genuinely can’t go on like this, I dread every second of the day because of how bad it is. I am at my breaking point with it.

Would you go to the hospital for a cough that is constantly there and you’re never getting a let up from it along with everything else I’ve written?

You know very little about me, I’m actually an experienced A&E sister of over 20yrs, I’m the least cynical person ever, my dept of over 200 colleagues would vouch for that. It does not change what the purpose of A&E is there for.

What I’m saying is if someone can ask for opinions on Mumsnet then it’s hardly going to be a life or death emergency that needs immediate investigation and treatment. If you have to second guess whether you need A&E, it’s highly unlikely you need it! A&E needs to be used appropriately, it’s exactly why waiting times are so high. Exactly the same argument as people calling for the big yellow taxi to transport them there. I’ve seen it all and I can spot a sick patient a mile off.

The OP needs to get the gp to refer appropriately, I agree this should have been done months ago. it’s needs investigating but they won’t do the relavent investigations in A&E. They will ask the gp to refer on. There are other gps available to have a second opinion. No GP practice is run single handedly by one GP. OP needs to be on their case.

@Springisintheairohyeah and @HumberSquid You find the thought of people dying because of medical negligence funny? Why?