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

You just need to be less sensitive. Yes she was rude but you still have something stuck in your ear which you are no closer to removing and which could cause an infection. If you had just ignored her attitude and waited it would have been sorted by now.

I got an earring back stuck inside my ear lobe as a kid. God knows how it got there. Anyways A&E promptly cut it open to retrieve it.

She sounds rude. I had it once with a doctor after I had taken ds there with chest recessions and tracheal tug (baring in mine GP had sent him up to A&E 2 days prior with tonsillitis).

Said he didn’t really know why I’d brung him in as his chest was clear UNTIL he put him on the monitor a few minutes later and his oxygen saturation was 88! Suddenly he could hear chest crackling and he was admitted to hospital for oxygen. His response was ‘well ds was crying a few minutes ago so I didn’t hear the crackling’ 🤨

I once went with severe one sided abdominal pain, swelling and bleeding and had one nurse at A&E ask me if I had medical anxiety as it was just a period. They reluctantly did an ultrasound and I had ovarian torsion and a huge dermoid cyst. Straight down for surgery.

No, they wouldn’t.

And a night away in a hotel.

The reason why she delayed care is irrelevant. She misused a&e and threw a tantrum and walked out because she was called out on that. It clearly wasn’t that bad if she could voluntarily leave and refuse care.

Prioritising your child over your own health is also very normal.

She prioritised her childs health any decent mother would of done the same why you making out she went out for a few drinks or a spa day

Dont be ridiculous .Anybody working in the NHS would say attend the specialist appointment your child has waited months for (as they hate cancellations) and go to A&E the next day if you can. And as for galavanting , have you ever had a child that needs specialised care?

@amijustnaive your username is absolutely spot on.

If the GP could make her an appointment to see someone to get the foreign object out within the correct timeframe then no problem. But we all know GPs cannot do that. Even 111 know that. GP led referrals take months. The ones initiated in A&E do not. This is why GPs up and down the country are sending people to A&E. My GP has told me this off-record.

The trouble is there is nothing bridging the gap between "urgently needs to be seen in the next two hours or something awful happens"
and
"this can wait weeks or months no problem"

OP was clearly aware that there was something in her ear and prioritised other things over it.

She absolutely did. This was neither an accident nor an emergency. MIU or even the GP was an appropriate first point of call.

And going a day or more later because the condition has clearly worsened is quite normal. You might think something is just a mild issue that'll go away by itself so you don't go to the GP but then it suddenly gets worse and too bad to wait for a GP appointment

I got a raging infection in my breast after an excision biopsy - big needle, 18 samples of tissue taken. Advised by 111 to go to A& E. Triaged by very nice nurse. Then seen by utter cow of a nurse who talked to me as I were a) stupid. b) had done the wrong thing in coming to A&E

If they have a problem with 111 then they need to sort that out, not take their frustration out on patients, The minute they forget what it's like to be a patient they should not be in that job. I have worked for the NHS, and there are people who have lost their humanity. They would not get away with it in any other field.

Edited to add. this is not the norm.

Pals because she was appropriately triaged and called out for her absolutely ridiculous misuse of a&e?

She didn’t abuse resources at all. We absolutely need to start pushing back on rude NHS staff, the same as in any sector.

No but there should be. The clue is in the name. It’s for the most urgent medical care needs. If you can delay in order to go and galivant in a hotel, then you don’t really need A&E do you?

Some NHS staff are just horrible you really need to stand up for yourself and call them out for it. If i was you i would call the gp this morning not to ask for an appointment but to explain the situation to the receptionist and ask if this is something the gp will be able to sort and if not where are you supposed to go you will most likely be sent back to minor injuries unit and if you are and they deal with it I'd contact pals about how you where treated.

There is zero law, ban or protocol that says because you’ve waited a day you can’t use A&E.

She could’ve had that if she didn’t walk out. It’s entirely appropriate as part of the triage process to challenge why medical care was denied, in this case partly due to a night away in a hotel. We need to start pushing back on people who abuse resources like a&e.

Irrelevant. Accidents and emergencies cannot be delayed. If it was causing her that much pain she would’ve found another way to get her child to the appointment and seek relevant medical care for herself.

She wouldn’t have needed to A&E can and do remove foreign objects from ears. Advice from anywhere re a foreign object you can’t get out of your ear - is go to A&E.

There was zero need for the receptionist to be so rude either.

A day! Because of another medical appointment she’d had to wait ages for, for her child.

She doesn’t have to do that ffs. She can go back to MIU. She would’ve had an on call ENT come down and see her if she’d not thrown a tantrum in a&e.

She did go to the MIU

If you can afford it, could you see a private ENT specialist as an emergency? Ears and hearing are so precious. You shouldn’t have to but it feels like this is rapidly getting worse. Infections in that area can leave scarring with life changing impact.

Sounds like you were in the right place and she perhaps misunderstood the situation.
From reading your post it sounds like you have been in pain for a while (but you just thought it would get better/was general earache) so maybe she couldn't quite understand why it has taken until the evening when it is busy for you to decide to do something about it. Likewise if you included the details about staying in a hotel, attending another appointment she may have felt like you were trying to use minor injuries rather than seeing a GP and were suggesting that there was now an item in your ear as a way to get around waiting for a GP appointment (as it does sound a bit odd as an adult that this item must have been in your ear a while but only now have you realised it).
I would go back to minor injuries first thing when hopefully it is quieter. Don't give the whole back story. Focus on there is an earring back lodged in my ear, pain is getting worse.