To think some things should just be turned away from A&E?

Often minor injuries clinics are attached or near A and E. Often you go to A and E first and when booking in get told to go to minor injuries or urgent care.

I think before we start turning people away from A&E, we need to look at the reasons they feel the need to go there in the first place.

Our GP has a triage service for appointments and most of them start with a phone call, so in practice it’s quite a lengthy business to actually see one face to face. We should be looking at the reasons why, since Covid, GP’s are so reluctant to actually be in the same room as their patients.

Humans do stupid things sometimes. That might well include you one day OP.

i cant make my mind up if your unreasonable simply because when i ride my horse and i fall off i will become a bed blocker by your standards lol

Where I used to live, security guards at A&E judged someone “drunk” and tipped him out of a wheelchair onto grass outside, where he died of the head injury that made him appear “drunk”

I think YABU on the specific issue. I do think that A&E is being increasingly misused for things that are neither A nor E, and people with routine ailments should be sent elsewhere. The reason why it happens isn't a mystery; it's because in many places, it's become much harder to see your GP. Nevertheless, A & E can't be expected to be a substitute GP surgery as well as all its other functions.

However, the judgements should not be based on whether the person is considered to have done something foolish that caused or contributed to their injury or illness. Triage should be basewd on need and urgency, not on percived 'deservingness'.

I dunno, where do you draw the line? Most accidents are caused by some degree of fault or stupidity. I snapped my wrist clean in half aged 8 because I was jumping between beds and fell. Is that more my fault than an elderly woman breaking her hip because she chose to venture out in the ice? Sure I guess, because mine was more demonstrably stupid. But both are avoidable with hindsight, like most accidents. Both were foolish to different extents. Both require emergency care.

Same goes for someone presenting with complications from a smoking or obesity related cancer. Obviously they should receive care but they're just another example of someone making bad choices and having to deal with the consequences like that guy who burned his feet.

It's too complicated and inhumane to draw these kinds of distinctions and if there's one thing the NHS should always strive to be, it's humane.

When I had a “pulled muscle” it was pneumonia, and I was admitted via resus. Sadly it isn’t always obvious.

You are underestimating how genuinely stupid some people are.

He probably didn't think about putting shoes on and probably wasn't bright enough at school to learn basic physics about heat transfer... you only have to look at all the people who walk dogs in the heat!

A&E will triage people, and it's only fair that those that don't qualify as an emergency have to wait hours.

Patients are redirected from A and E to a more suitable service on a daily basis. A person qualified to do so makes that decision.
Whether something is self inflicted or not is irrelevant.
People being turned away because of their own 'stupidity' is a slippery slope.

Thing is they do turn people away - after they have seen them.

My mum suddenly lost the use of her legs and was having muscle spasms - they gave her a muscle relaxant, painkillers and sent her home. (I wish i was kidding).

I read an article about a mum with a newborn who went to A&E as she herself was unwell - they said it's a cold or flu and sent her home. (She died a few hours later btw)

Etc etc

They do turn people away - "give them pain relief and tell them to get out" seems to be modus operandi

I agree .
On Sunday evening I had an accident and needed stitches.
Waited 3 hours for an X Ray and 5 hours for the stitches.
I really wish there was a private alternative to standard A&E.

There should be consequences for some. Difficult to decide which ones though.

The system is fair - all resources are allocated equally regardless of an individual's financial contribution in tax and NI.

No, trying to sort our care for my young children when there is no-one, and hoping I could ride it out at home. Someone not going in at first sniff of illness isn’t contributing to the problem. The people who go when they are not seriously unwell are the problem.

Our local A&E makes you check in and awnser loads of questions to prioritise you. Nobody wants to wait 4 hours to be seen for a burn; but nobody is going to wait that long unless they think they really need to are they?

Your comment about self inflicted is unreasonable- it wasn't self inflicted it was an accident. Even then, self inflicted things can still be an emergency!

Looking for a medal for putting your life at risk isnt helping those "hero" medical staff. You are part of the problem.

This isn’t a nhs problem. I recently went to ER in NYc and not only were people Ordering take aways, a couple asked us if we wanted to pop out to get dinner with them. In a paid system.
In fact it was much worse than anything I’ve seen in the uk, I assume because in the uk it’s generally accepted you shouldn’t eat when you know you may need hospital treatment

When my ex was in psychosis he made me take him to hospital and told the receptionist he’d had a headache for a couple of hours. He wasn’t capable of explaining what was wrong -but it was life threatening.

you get all sorts in a&e, a snapshot tells you very little

No. You are the people who think of the NHS as sacred and godlike so you shpuld see every loser and moron and treat them with equal respect. Or just have a more fair system where people actually contribute to their health and have a level of accountability for their actions.

I'm so fed up of seeing threads where people blame individual responsibility for huge systemic issues.

Yes it was a silly thing to do. But

1. We can't start judging who is and isn't eligible for help because of where that leads us, interrogating people about if the injury was self inflicted before giving help? Refusing help if it was seen as a silly thing to do? It's a slippery slope
2. Our system should be able to handle it! It's broken after years of chronic underfunding and mismanagement. It should be able to deal with stuff like this without falling to bits and that's the real issue!

Maybe they would have made better choices in the first place if the NHS was g free. Yes, I know it’s paid by taxes but what is the betting this twit has paid little but wants to get his money’s worth!

When my parent was end of life I went in to hospital and had to go through ED.

There were whole families in, someone playing cards and a chap with a take away looking for someone. For some people it is a day out or culturally they all go when one of the family needs attention. I had to sit on the floor with my son as there was a family of nine many years ago in A and E. I spoke to the Receptionist and she told me she couldn’t say anything as culturally it was to be expected.One children had a cut but is it really necessary to bring Granny and various kids.

How on earth can you decide they don’t need A&E?

I still believe stupid people should be able to go to A&E.

Thanks, I am.

Our local A&E has an out of hrs GP and a lot of minor things get diverted there. I’ve been in 3 times, one ruptured appendix (waited 2hrs) and 2 x acute pancreatitis, waited 15-20 mins for triage and never went back to waiting room as life threatening condition. In those short waits many came with very minor stuff. Even with acute pancreatitis, I stayed at home several days first (don’t recommend). I’d never dream of using A&E apart from a real emergency. Even with one acute pancreatitis I called my GP first and she said ‘don’t you think you need to go to A&E’ and I said I couldn’t until today as can’t move in so much pain so she reminded me of the ambulance service for times like that (did make my own way).