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

its not okay that the nurse was rude but at the same time OP is a big girl and can’t run away because someone wasn’t all smiles with her, she was still being seen by the team and chose to leave. The nurse clearly felt OP should’ve sorted the problem sooner rather than wait until it needed to be seen urgently, waiting until the condition worsened just costs more time and money.

well of course people aren’t reading the updates, there’s over 600 responses and I don’t care that much to read them all, I’m only here for a bit of drama not a real investment.

You have my sympathy. I fell into water last week hitting my ear very hard on the water. I immediately experienced a lot of pain and assumed I had put a hole in my eardrum. When I got home I rang my GP for advice (2 hours before closing time) but they told me to ring 111 who in turn told me that a consultant will ring within 60 minutes or an ambulance will be dispatched. It was completely mad!!! Luckily the consultant rang back within 20 minutes and sent me to A&E. I asked for minors, out of hours or majors instead but he was adament it had to be A&E. I got there and waiting to be seen was 6 hours :( but got fast tracked and was seen in 35 minutes. Turns out I had completely blown my ear drum and was put on very strong antibiotics (rivers not the cleanest) and got given tons of really strong pain killers. I have to go back yo GP in 3 weeks and if not healed they will refer to ENT. I just thought it all was bonkers to waste A&E time but every person I spoke to said its an A&E job. Who knew?!?

I read the thread so didn't need a recounting of the issue. She knew about it long before she went to A&E.

Exactly this. My mum had advanced dementia and broke her wrist. They set and splinted it in A&E to allow the swelling to go down so they could put a cast on. Every day for the next five days we woke up to the fact that during the night mum had taken the bandage off and thrown the splint on the floor. She had to be taken back to A&E each time to have the bone reset and re-splinted until they finally put a cast on as a last resort even though the joint was still swollen. Judging by what some posters have said only the initial attendance at A&E immediately after the break was the emergency. So where should she have gone in the aftermath ?

The nurse said she should’ve seen the GP but didn’t tell her to leave.

The OP said she decided to leave A+E after this.

OP never went to her GP, she spoke to a friend who is a doctor who advised on going to A+E. An actual GP may have just referred OP to the correct service (a friend cannot do this).
so yes, the nurse did do the right thing. There’s nothing wrong with educating the public on correct use of services, OP should’ve gone to her GP when she first realised there was a problem.
I imagine OP was told “you should’ve gone to your GP but we’ll triage you anyway” and OP still left, she was aware she would still be seen but chose to leave.

No. That’s on the nurse. If she was so rude to OP that she made her feel like a nuisance for seeking help, and OP left without treatment as a result, then the nurse needs to take responsibility and re-examine her attitude. I wouldn’t have left but then I’m gobby and would have stood up for myself - lots of people aren’t. The fact that OP has a bleeding ear and hearing loss this morning indicates that it needed urgent treatment - further evidenced by the call to her GP who told her to go straight to A&E.

The thread is going round in circles because people haven’t understood the OP and aren’t reading the updates.

But she didn’t know it had happened then, just thought she had ear ache

Some people end up in A&E days after breaking a bone, as didn’t think it was serious at the time and then as pain worsened realise it was something more serious. Should they not go to A&E as they hurt themselves a few day previously

Nope. Read the thread. OP thought it was a simple earache and at one point it disappeared. At that point she probably would have gone to her GP. Once her friend pointed out that there was a foreign body there that she hadn’t previously been aware of, then it became an A&E/minor injuries issue. As evidenced by the fact that when she contacted her GP this morning she was told to go straight to A&E. The reading comprehension on the thread leaves a lot to be desired.

Then it was an 'emergency' two weeks before when it happened.

Wish everywhere did this..

we were in A&E the other day and got wheeled through the adult bit on our way up to children’s ward… god it was packed with old people laid in beds in corridors and stank!! It was horrendous!!

my mum got bitten by a cat, called 111 as I know cat bites are gross but my mum wouldn’t believe me… 111 told her as long as the cat was vaccinated she’d be fine.. 2 days later she was in agony, arm swollen and inflamed.. GP said she should have called out of hours or gone straight to A&E for treatment!
111 can also also prescribe things in an emergency (if on your repeat/ out of hours) so they are useful for that… although what they deem as urgent is different from what we would… a friend of mine had their insulin injection pen break, 111 said this wasn’t urgent (not sure how you’d inject without it!!!) anyway luckily I had spares and gave her one of mine!

The nurse told her to leave the MIU she was in and go to the gp, who told her to go back there, so in what way was the nurse right?
It can be pretty difficult to defy a health professional who says you're in the wrong place so I don't blame the OP for leaving even though she should have stayed.

Yanbu. Just because you work for the NHS, doesnt mean you get to be rude.

That nurse should work in the private sector then, since shes so important.

Hope they get it out ok for you.
You should complain about the way you were treated last night.

@alfagirl73 it's awful isn't it something very deep has gone wrong with the NHS

😂 Okay dear. Funnily enough A&E took me very seriously. No complaints there.

And we did used to have Klinik and it was better because the requests were reviewed by a GP. Now it's Rapid Health and it's all AI which misses stuff...

People often don’t realise that an “emergency” isn’t always something that just happened or involves a limb hanging off. An emergency can often present as a symptom or group of symptoms that appear much more subtle, but to a doctor are actually red flags indicating the need for emergency treatment if the patient is to avoid permanent damage or a much more complex and catastrophic outcome.

Also, something going on days or weeks doesn’t necessarily make something a non-emergency. Indeed, symptoms that do not improve or that get worse with a history over days or weeks can often suggest even more of an emergency as the window for optimal treatment closes and a patient could be heading into serious infection or other complications.

OP I’m sorry that the nurse was so dismissive. Just last year I was treated dismissively by a nurse and it nearly cost me my life as in reality I was in a very serious way. I hope your ear gets sorted.

Ah you got me lol
the nurse was correct, she should have seen her GP and shouldn’t have waited weeks to get it sorted in A+E.
the nurse told her what she should’ve done and didn’t send her away

If your leg hurts, rest it. If you can't bear any weight on it, go to a+e.

Yes conservative management with crutches and monitoring by orthopaedics. Plus physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. I'm not entirely sure what your point is, but my original point was that if had waited for my appointment at the GP my high risk injury which required strict non weight-bearing may have progressed to a full fracture and required a hip replacement. And more generally that most of us can't just magic up a GP appointment within an hour when we need an x-ray!

I think you need to take some ownership of your claim that the nurse was correct.

So, knowing this,why did you leave a&e? Please go back and don't let yourself be pushed out again. If I decided a&e is necessary I wouldn't leave until a doctor okayed it.

Most practices use online triage since covid. Might be through your NHS app like it used to be with ours. Worked exactly the same. Sick people get seen promptly.

You don’t stop do you?! You still think every practice behaves like your one and your experiences are universal. You do know that not every GP practice uses ‘Klinik’?! I’m in London and I’ve never heard of it. You really need to get out of your own little world.