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

No, but the fact she could wait for a date and time that was convenient to her suggests that it’s not quite a&e material. Go to MIU.

I like that tactic! Will use it at some point no doubt. My dd has 4(!) friends who have been sent to our local hospital with suspected appendicitis in recent years and then had them burst because they leave them hanging around for days….

It’s hugely difficult to get a GP appointment for many. Surgeries switch off online booking early in the day for many and there is more often than not a 2 week wait if you do get to fill out a form. No GP is going to fiddle around with the inner ear. I guess the op is supposed to wait until the object has got infected and she’s rolling round in agony.

Play on their hierarchy.

"She was sent here by her doctor. You think a doctor is wrong? That is concerning. Can you put this in writing so that I can take it back to the surgery. You're sure the doctor is wrong? If that is the case I will make a complaint to the GP surgery saying the nurse said the doctor there was wrong."

Then watch then go "uuhhh no errr no no of course not uhhhh"

Miu is exactly where you should be - your gp can do nothing to sort this. Go back, it’s where you were told to go by 111. Incidentally I also had an unpleasant experience with our local MIU this week - at ours you have to make an appointment - I rang them to say I had a dc with an injury (open & bleeding) and they just flatly & rudely said ‘no space today’, I asked where else they’d recommend I try instead and she said ‘no idea, how would I know?’. I ended up driving to another miu an hour away who sorted the injury really efficiently and quickly. I get they are under pressure but being rude is just so unnecessary- especially in your case where you’ve gone home with an issue that really needs sorting! Get yourself back there and put on a thicker skin. Hope they sort you asap.

Yep. It told me to go to a&e for eczema once. I just wanted help with getting a GP appointment.

I’ve found it’s much more useful to phone, but every single encounter is recorded on your record. I find that annoying.

There are signs everywhere about "zero tolerance for rude behaviour to medical staff"

...pity we patients can't have the same!

All very well saying that but not all places have those separately to the actual hospital. Where I live doesn’t.

Agree, I don't really see the purpose of a service which just says "go to A&E, we can't risk telling you anything different". Also have had several pointless visits until I wised up!

"I dont know what the GP does anymore"

They are glorified pharmacists.

My DD was sent to paeds A&E by the GP last week with suspected appendicitis. The triage nurses were very dismissive and told me ‘she looked fine’.

Sbe had surgery to remove her appendix the next day.

That’s really stereotypical and rude.

I repeat, the GP won’t touch this, it’s an urgent treatment centre job.

The nurse is right. It clearly wasn’t an emergency. You should’ve gone to your local urgent treatment centre. What a waste of time, leaving!

IME nurses are usually like this. I used to work in a call centre and would get a lot of nurses. They were the most entitled, abusive people who phoned. I now don’t have a lot of time for them.

That’s awful! Good on you for making the trip to the other hospital as I doubt most other people would have done that. Hope they take your complaint seriously.

I made a recent complaint to my GP surgery after a GP completely dismissed something my 1 year old ended up needing surgery for and I had to go private to be taken seriously. They didn’t deal with my complaint properly but i will just refuse to see that GP again.

Our GP has said she cant do anything on an urgent basis and sends most people to A&E.

Are posters really suggesting that you shpuld wait a two to three months for an GP triggered ENT referral?

You were right to be in A&E, ideally minor injuries if there is one, which is where you were.

The nurse/receptionist was wrong.

I’d head back to the minor injuries unit first thing this morning. Shift change at 7, so the nurse will have gone home, and it’ll be a lot quieter now, than it was last night. GP won’t be able to remove it, and frankly, shouldn’t try. The most they will do, is give a “referral” to avoid you being sent home again. Good luck

I was going to suggest putting a complaint in as well. What is the point in working there if the nurse acts like that with patients who need treatment? Especially if op sees the gp today and gets sent back to the same place. Everyone’s time has been wasted.

Op speak to the gp this morning and then just do what they ask. If any more staff are rude to you, get their name and advise you’ll be complaining to PALS.

And yes do bring snacks and water if you get sent back to hospital as you’ll be waiting hours.

Straight back to miu. Don’t waste a GP appointment as you’ve already been referred by 111. You caught a nurse on a busy day but that doesn’t mean you start the process again. Follow the advice 111 gave, your hearing might thank you for it.

I think the GP will send you back to minor injuries. The hotness and pain is worrying. Please keep a careful eye and go back if you're worried. You can't mess about with potential infections in ears/eyes etc.

What a horrible woman.

I remember going for chemo right at the start of COVID. I had advanced blood cancer. I was about six weeks into my regime so had gotten familiar with the staff. The usual woman came over and was setting me up then noticed on my file I'd been sent to a&e earlier that week with a fever so asked me about it. I told her what happened then commented it was crazy seeing a&e so quiet (due to lockdown), empty seats and beds.

It was just an observation of another big change during lockdown.

She immediately stopped what she was doing and conspiratorially leaned in.
"I agree with you, it's ridiculous how busy it is otherwise and just goes to show how many people are abusive the system normally. There is nothing, wrong with them - nothing! I worked there for years. Yet they are piling into a&e simply because they want some attention."

I heavily disliked her after that. Some months later I was sent to a&e again. A different nurse was checking me in, she was chatting as she did so and said something along the same lines; "look at all the people here, and its the same people showing up. They just have nothing to do so they are in here annoying the staff "

I don't feel sorry for a&e staff anymore. Nobody is forcing them to be there and the times I was there I had no choice and was repeatedly subjected to hours and hours of waiting followed by rude staff

You need to advocate for yourself and not just leave because of one nurse. You should have told her about your pain that got significantly worse and that you consulted 111 who told you to go there.

having said that you might get faster help from the GP. If a GP can’t remove an object they have become completely useless

A GP doesn’t have the equipment to remove the foreign object, they will refer you to minor injuries or A&E. You’d have been better ignoring the rude nurse, telling her you were told to go there by 111, and staying put. Now you’re going to use a GP appointment and then end up going back to hospital.

I had a similar problem - a bit of a silicone earplug fell apart and got stuck in my ear. I went to the GP explained the problem and the practice nurse immediately tried to get it out. She couldn't. I was then referred to ENT at the local hospital. Think the appointment was a couple of days later (can't exactly remember).

The 111 service gave you the wrong advice and I would have told the nurse in A&E that this had happened. She needs to know that you had only been following their advice. Sorry she was rude, that is uncalled for, but it must be one hell of a stressful job.

Try your GP first, to save you another long wait at A&E. Good luck.