Should I take DS to A&E?

[BitBroken]

He's hurt his knee. Probably pissing about wrestling with his brother.

He's 14. He walks 2 miles to school.

So had the last couple of days off. Icing it.

He's hopping around, not weight bearing.

It's swollen but not bruised. Am 99% sure he's just twisted it.

Called GP today and they said there's nothing they can do and to go A&E.

I went for myself a few weeks ago and was there 8 hours 😑

Will they actually do anything apart from tell him to rest and ice it like we are already doing?

I just feel like it's one of those things they can't really do anything for? Or should I just pack a sandwich and go 😭

@Rattysparklebum

My son did similar, came off his skateboard, he knew was swollen so we iced it and the swelling went down and he seemed ok, a few days later he was having a kick about with friends and his knee swelled up and he was limping.

I took him to the GP (pre covid) who said he might have a fractured kneecap and sent us to a&e with me feeling incredibly guilty that I hadn’t taken it more seriously. A&E didn’t even X-ray it, just said it needed rest for 3 weeks and gave us one of those surgical bandages to help decrease the swelling.

The strange thing is he's not done anything he can think of that would have caused it.

I just presume it's from play fighting, which him and his brother do alot of!

He just woke up with it sore. A gradual thing rather than an incident, making me think it's more of a sprain that's come on gradually than a break.

@Newuser82

And also a physio probably won’t treat him without seeing a doctor first?

A decent physio is likely to have much more knowledge than the doctor. My latest injury (also knee) was found as a result of the physio telling the Dr what scans I should be sent for and what they should be investigating. The doctor (whilst a great doctor) will openly admit doctors aren't great with bones/muscles. NHS physio is (generally) poor and has a long wait time. A private physio appointment will be available much sooner and in my experience be better.

@JingleJingleAllTheWay

I hurt my foot when I was his age. I had to convince my mum to take me to A&E. She thought I was putting it on and said "if you waste my time, I will not be happy" few hours later, come out of A&E with crutches. I had broken a bone in my foot!

You cannot possibly know it isn't broken. Take your son to the hospital and get him x rayed!

I just asked him do you think it's broken and he is laughing.

He says it doesn't really hurt much anymore but when he puts his foot flat he feels pressure in his tendons

Don't know how he knows where his tendons are but there you go 😂

I’d go to minor injuries- is there one near you?
As @MariaAngustias said, if he’s been NWB for 2 days he should be seen.

I don't have private physio money unfortunately.

People are acting like I'm being a cunt and just not taking him when he's in agony.

I've 5 kids, I've done countless shifts in A&E at the blink of an eye when I knew it was needed.

I'm just trying to find out if a whole day in A&E and £25 in taxis is actually necessary before I go.

I've fried GP who gatekeepers won't let me talk to. 111 who say call GP again and have been on hold to 111 for 30 mins.

He is 14 and probably knows if the pain is bad and needs someone to look at it. My 2 sons played football and often had swollen knees for no apparent reason, one did tear his acl and he couldn’t walk on it and was in considerable pain, even laying down. It’s good if the swelling is going down. I think your GP receptionist was wrong, my GP was very good at diagnosing my son’s acl tear, she had been on loads of courses for this.

or may be ho is not telling you the actual reason. Juse be safe than sorry. Children's a&e have quicker processing time.

111 are saying it's a GP job but no available appointments.

She said A&E is 'a bit overkill'

Suggested seeing a pharmacist but GP is more appropriate.

On hold to see if she can arrange something.

She seemed annoyed GP wouldn't book an appointment and that suggested A&E

I spoke to the receptionist who said 'you might be best off just going to A&E cause the Dr won't see you for a sore knee'

I took my DC 2 to the doctor yesterday for the exact same reason, they gave me a same day appointment.

I just presume it's from play fighting, which him and his brother do alot of!

For this exact same reason too!

And going by this and the non-answers on my other thread, I still have a good few years of such injuries [cries quietly and opens wine]

Do you not have a walk in centre where you can just walk in? You don't need appointments or to ring 111 for the centre near me. You can just turn up, albeit may have to wait for a while. But probably better than going to A&E initially.

Vote for A&E here. The walk in centre will only be able to provide a best guess.

That's ridiculous that you can't see the GP

Did you search for minor injuries near you?

I would be careful about just leaving it, I did that with my ankle earlier this year and ended up really damaging it so that I'm still hobbling around months later.

@JingleJangler

Vote for A&E here. The walk in centre will only be able to provide a best guess.

111 have told me not to go A&E. They're trying to source a GP appointment.

@dreamingbohemian

That's ridiculous that you can't see the GP

Did you search for minor injuries near you?

I would be careful about just leaving it, I did that with my ankle earlier this year and ended up really damaging it so that I'm still hobbling around months later.

I definitely won't leave it. Just trying to source the appropriate care.

I feel pretty lucky that we have a minor injuries clinic at a local hospital which does x-rays 9-5 weekdays, then an A&E with minor injuries at a bigger hospital further away if you are outside those hours. You'd go to A&E but would be triaged to the minor injuries part if appropriate. Also they have a children's section so you go and wait in a separate waiting rom once triaged.

That is terrible advice from the receptionist, on so many levels. I cannot believe the GPs in that practice would sanction that level of gatekeeping, I would be surprised if they even know their receptionist is telling people that. If they do, it is very unprofessional and dangerous. What else are they saying to patients?

@BitBroken

For fucks sake. I haven't spoke to a GP. It was the RECEPTIONIST who was trying to get me off the line as it was prime appointment booking time. She didn't even ask what was wrong with his knee, is she better qualified than a GP than I didn't even speak to?

And then you got shouty and now sweary, not your OP was not clear you had spoken only to reception.

It is understandable the GP sent you to A&E because GPs are underfunded, understaffed and overstretched. A&E will at least look at you is their thinking and the GP won't want to use an appointment they could use for e.g. prescribing meds for someone they definitely can help if you might need to be advised to go to A&E anyway.

The system is broken (thanks to the Tory party and all Tory voters) - I hope his knee is OK.

Hope you have some luck with the GP. Such a nightmare getting appointments it's ridiculous. I dislocated my knee (taking off a shoe, thanks EDS) and could only put down my toes otherwise it was painful (it didn't actually feel that painful). The GP did send me to A and E though and they gave me a full leg brace as they couldn't do anything with it swollen, so maybe worth a decent brace in the meantime to immobilise it as much as possible?

What I would say is if you go to A&E (without minor injuries) you may have a long wait - but now is a good a time as any to go.

No-one will criticise you for so doing, even if it turns out not to be broken or just need ibuprofen etc. It's not an emergency but it is an accident!

Also GPs can't do x-rays, what is what the knee almost certainly needs. Neither are they orthopaedic specialists, able to check mobility and so on and whether it needs an x-ray.

Hope 111 gets you a GP appointment. No receptionist should be making diagnosis or recommendations over the phone.

It’s crazy that we are now in such a state that a doctor can’t take a look at him.

He might end up needing an xray but surely a doctor could assess that and potentially not clog the local A&E up with someone who might well be easily treated elsewhere. I don’t think it’s ok for the receptionist to tell you to go to A&E. Id ask for a GP to phone you but as it’s now past 11am I doubt that’s going to happen today.

Yep, Notat, GPs send to A&E as if A&E aren't ALSO overstretched, understaffed and underfunded.