I get that a&e is busy, but was not expecting to be spoken to so rudely

There is - they are called streams here. So for instance, the man in front of us, in the triage queue with clearly a lower leg injury (on crutches) was in a different stream to DD1, who was also there for a lower leg injury, but hers was caused by loss of consciousness.

Nobody 'nips off' to A&E.

I've been 4 times in the past year. Because as I said upthread our surgery is overstretched and tends to send people there direct.

two times- massive chest pains and racing heart beat and breathlessness. Not a heart attack, turned out I have a particular disorder that can mimic that sort of pain. But I didn't know that and it took ages to be diagnosed. Once for an asthma attack. Once because I thought I had DVT after a long haul flight (turned out it was - embarrassingly- gout.) I'm 52 and when I am in pain and fear I tend to go very still and quiet and to sit there very calmly. Anyone looking at me (and the latter episode DH was away so i had to take my 2 Dcs with me - for the family jolly as someone upthread said ) would have thought I was a time waster on a fun day out. But although I knew very well I was having the asthma attack I had no idea what the other issues were. Because I'm not a medical professional and was sent to A&E by 111 (twice) and by the GP (once). For the asthma attack I knew myself I needed to go on account of being unable to breathe.

Meanwhile there was a toddler who arrived with partial thickness burns and a 5 ISH year old with severe concussion. They really did need seeing quickly and that's where the staff want the attention to be.

Yes, perhaps there should be some system of seeing patients in order of seriousness...

Potential loss of hearing, or sight, is absolutely an A&E issue.

Constipation can be an emergency. Bowel can perforate. It's very judgemental to assume the child has a poor diet. My child has chronic constipation. He is on dialysis medication. His diet is varied and not a factor in his medical condition. However, many children with ongoing constipation are also autistic and may have restrictive diets due to autism or AFRID and you can't just force feed a child. This doesn't make them time wasters btw it just means their medical conditions are complicated with additional disabilities.
Sometimes medicine isn't enough and hospital is this right place for constipation. Waiting is neglect when a child needs medical attention now.

In addition children have died recently with what was thought to be simple tonsillitis but the child deteriorated rapidly.

Not feeling well could be anything from minor to major.

Children are also renowned for being up and down. The child with the sire leg could have been limping earlier. We once got sent to a and e by GP when one of the children woke up unable to weight bare at all. The GP assessed and was concerned, a and e were concerned it was a bone infection caused by strep a. They were admitted to the ward for antibiotics. It was worrisome as I hadn't expected anything serious.
As it turned out it wasn't a bone infection thankfully but the hospital was concerned enough to start treatment in case it was.
I have also been sent to hospital by GP with a different child who went from looking very unwell to fine once we arrived at a and e. However, the GP had sent us and we needed to stay to get the all clear. If we had just gone home this would be Potential neglect red flag.

Because ED is for major incidents where you are likely to die or unlikely to repair without fairly immediate specialist attention.

Broken bones, severe head injury, needing stitches, urgent x-ray required to establish if someone is broken, heart attack etc.

People nip of to A&E with all sorts. My friend is a resident Dr and she's looking for a different job as she's so sick of treating people that don't need to be there.

I was in a couple of months ago post seizure with my son. New seizure activity. We waited absolutely ages because of the time waters. There was a child who was constipated secondary to poor diet. Parents had a GP appt for the next day but decided a night out to A& E was more convenient, a 6 year old child with tonsillitis, a teenager who "didn't feel well" and Mum had brought her knitting and a KFC with her, a kid with a supposed sore ankle who was bombing around happy as a clam whilst her Mum excitedly phoned everyone in the phone book to tell them she was on hospital.

Meanwhile there was a toddler who arrived with partial thickness burns and a 5 ISH year old with severe concussion. They really did need seeing quickly and that's where the staff want the attention to be. This is why the staff are very irritated.

They should have told her that paracetamol doesn't work for migraines and sent her off to get something more effective.

Of course, it might not have been a migraine or headache and might have been a brain tumour. Unless they examine her, they won't know. She could also be a repeat offender and just be an attention seeker, who knows.

What I genuinely don't understand is when they post 3 days after the OP wrote it and several hundred people have said the same thing.

They must think they're contributing something... but what? Maybe they just enjoy typing opinions based on half-read text and a lot of imagination?

OP was rightly sent there by her GP. Delay was caused by the triage nurse wrongl and rudely sending her away. RTFT fgs, or at least some of it!

This is nonsense, nobody knows why a whole family might necessarily be there, nobody sees it as a jolly day out

Yes, I know what happens in A and E and probably could do that job. I have been a hospital consultant for over 20 years. In my early years as a junior, I was doing 56 hour shifts, a large part of it spent in A&E. It was pretty damn stressful but I never let myself be rude to patients. No regrets.

Healthcare workers' anger is misplaced. Government has underfunded and cut the NHS so badly that many departments are operating on bare bones and sheer good will of the workforce, and sometimes there is nobody to blame other than the patients.

Yes there are those who abuse the system, who come into A&E/MI because they are not registered with the GP/health tourism/minor issues they could go to a pharmacist or GP for. However there are those with life-threatening injuries waiting hours for ambulances, and those for whom an ED is the right place to be because there are no other services available. Health workers are tired and see people abuse the system and so this is where much of their ire is directed, when it should be directed at no.10 Downing Street.

I hope that it's now sorted. For what it's worth, you did exactly the right thing. Rang 111, who told you to go to Minor Injuries (attached to your locals A&E), so you did. The nurse was rude and should NOT have sent you away. It's perfectly understandable for you to leave it so long, thinking it's earache, because who wants to bother any aspect of the NHS with minor stuff right now?

When you realised it wasn't minor, you sought help. But even then, you didn't rush to A&E or your GP. You STILL tried to reduce your load on the NHS, by ringing 111.

Everyone getting on at you can't read. Or comprehend. Or both.

Yes. You are correct 😂

Surely you mean ‘junior Disprin’. The adult version would be excessive in these circumstances 😆

Looks like the ear nose and throat specialist is still inside OPs ear drum somewhere…

It sounds as if this has become urgent and in the ear could cause very serious problems as infection could leak into the brain. A and E normally have a triage system which would determine next steps. Being judgemental is not acceptable by any health care professional. Despite or because you have left it so long A and E is the right place.

Typical Mumsnetter....
"Nah....you don't need A+E for that. Just put a wet paper towel on it and take a Disprin"

People always lose their minds a little here when a poster asks about going to A&E. 'Stiff upper lip' all the way. Armchair MD degrees out in full force.

Ridiculous isn’t it ? OP says in the very first post that she was advised to go to A&E by 111. The thread seems to be going round in never ending circles and we all know what happens after that !!

Good point. If you’re not in A&E often yourself how would you know whole families often go there for jolly days out !!

Yep. This. Same here. We’ve now got 32 pages of people essentially saying the same thing and clearly not reading the updates or they would know that OP had been told to go back to A&E yesterday morning by her GP, and hopefully by now has been treated.

OP was told to go to A&E by 111 and having been sent through to minor injuries, that was where she encountered nurse nasty.

OP also updated that yesterday morning she woke up with hearing loss and a pool of blood from her ear - does that sound like ‘absolutely nothing’ ? When she rang her GP they told her to go to A&E again. What else would you suggest she do, since A&E was absolutely the appropriate place to go in the first place ?

My nearest hospital you have to check in with A&E for everything, the receptionist then directs you left to A&E, right to Minor Injuries or across the car park to Urgent Care.

That is the only way of accessing these services so everyone describes it as going to A&E.

The OP has already said her hospital has the same set up, so when she went to A&E they directed her to Minor Injuries. Which is exactly where she should have been.

Hopefully the delay hasn’t caused any harm and the OP is feeling better now.

Ridiculous comment. How is she self-involved? For going to minor injuries, for asking a friend who is a Dr to give a view, for waiting weeks and not bothering anyone, for putting her son first (rightly)? Do explain the self involvement?

BTW minor injuries do not "patch up road crash victims". No need for the dramatic language for effect and no factual basis for your remark.

So you're saying her GP was wrong and you know better based on a MN post than her GP who saw her in person.

If you think it's advisable to take medical advice from such people I'd suggest you're not the best person to be giving it!

Sorry that you're going to a&e often - i hope it's not because you think it's advisable to listen to internet strangers over your own HCPs.