Walked out of A and E after 9 hours and only triage completed !!

[bumblebee1000]

Don't consider myself at all naive but haven't been anywhere near a hospital for any urgent treatment in over 30 years. Rang 111 yesterday due to constant headaches for almost a week, was advised to attend local hospital [london]. Queue out the door, after 7 hours was seen by a doctor for appx 1 minute who said they will want to do blood tests and possibly an mri scan, was told blood tests could be a further 5 hours, a scan possibly a further 7 to 9 hours so in total basically 24 hours. I couldn't wait so told nurse I was leaving and will follow up with GP and a wealthy old friend has offered to pay the £300 for the mri scan which is lovely. I was stunned to see so many people sleeping on floor and who had been there for hours before me. Then a man went beserk and grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed in the windows of the reception area, coffe machine and a door, police already on site as were with a chap in hancuffs.....awful. I did notice that many names were called and nobody responded so assume they just left without informing anyone, I felt informing them of my departure, was the least I could do so time isn't wasted on no shows etc.

Poor op hasn’t been for 30 years. She was told to go. So she went.

You weren’t wrong for going when told. But you do need to get a bit more savvy about your your various hospitals and CCGs. If you straddle a border it’s worth checking a few out if in the area. Just pop a head in and see are there people sleeping on floors and smashing receptions.

I say this because I straddle a CCG border. Ones triage within 5/10 mins. Seen almost immediately after. Was in one today actually. The other is 6-10 hours on average and you can tell that just by sticking a head though the door.

At the end of the day we don’t know anything about the OP’s health, their medical history or the conversation they had with 111 so nobody on here is in a position to say they shouldn’t have gone. Wind it in!

Ok I'll wind it she when she stops cracking on about waiting times for like saving machine's that she it seems didn't even need or stay for . Some really need these machines .
That doesn't take anything away from the mess that is NHS .

There's another thread that's been active today talking about how impossible it is to get a GP's appointment at some practices, and how people end up being left with no option but to go to A&E.

You can't tell all the people at A&E to go to the GP and all the people wanting GP appointments to go to A&E... 🤨

What are you on about.

So only 111 mentioned MRI as a possibility based on your phone call and ED doctors just wanted to do bloods but you wouldn't wait for them to be done? Have I got that correct?

Op you always get stick for posting about going to a&e in here. Don't let it get to you you were just following advice of 111. Sadly this is the state of our NHS. You need to experience what you have just experienced to understand

I had it recently where I needed a repeat prescription and for two weeks couldn't get an appointment. In desperation I phoned 111 for it. They insist on going though all my symptoms and say I need to go A&E despite me KNOWING what's wrong and the treatment being medication the gp surgery had failed to put on repeat. Had two separate 111 drs call me back and I argued with them both that I did not need A&E. they said some of my symptoms need urgent investigations. Yes I know I've been trying for months to get help and am on waiting lists for the needed investigations. I went to A&E the first time I was told and was admitted had the mri told I've got degerative illness here some painkillers follow up with go. Symptoms get worse and referrals are bouncing back/getting lost. Symptoms are in line with what I'm told I have. On a bad day I call 111 to ask if I can mix different painkillers told him A&E urgently all I got was the prescription to tide me over and see your GP for referrals. I'm getting worse all the time the NHS is broken I will cost the tax payer for the care I need in future that could be significantly delayed with prompt treatment. But I'm not an emergency for A&E but repeatedly told to go.

This is why privatisation is coming. I don’t even bother trying to use my GP anymore and just use my private healthcare. There’s the yearly excess but it’s the only way to get any medical treatment.

I waited 11 hours in a&e recently with a preterm baby, 5 weeks old who hadn't made due date yet with respiratory distress!!!! and he was "prioritised". Waiting means nothing anymore!

111 saying go to A&E is just a cop out -awful experience for you OP - i'd have been more critical but for the fact that you've not been there for so many years. Seriously, nobody should be at A&E with a headache

You weren't in the correct place for your symptoms. It was neither an accident or an emergency. That's probably why everyone else had to wait so long as well!

Lol my grandad recently went in for suspected sepsis, kidney infection and pneumonia ravaging his system and he still had to sit outside in an ambulance for 6 hours hallucinating and in A&E for a further 5 waiting for an ICU bed to open up. So basically sat there waiting for someone to die quicker than he was. You had a headache. You'd have been lucky to be seen before Christmas.

The NHS is just absolutely fucked across the board. You should have been able to see a GP easily for a week long headache. Absolute joke sending you to A&E. Not your fault I know but it's ridiculous.

I know it's not actually funny but if I don't laugh I'll scream.

Not true at all and fed up of people making this bullshit up

Do you realise how many people DIE from Waiting in A&E?????????

You're talking out of your arse.

111 is an emergency service, they would have to direct you to A&E as per their algorithm. Your GP will be much better placed to organise the tests you need and good luck with them.

These stories about waits in A&E are terrifying. I haven't seen my GP for years and don't even think to call anymore if ill as I can't be bothered with all the hassle trying to get through then wait weeks for an appointment.

I'm slowly coming to the realisation that if I get sick I'll probably die due to no services. It's very sad the way it has all gone.

The NHS is in a dreadful state.

My local hospital is fabulous, they're amazing at triaging and they don't mess about if you need urgent care - I went in recently with sepsis secondary to a ulcer perforation (I was in a really bad way) and was taken from triage, straight to resus to start receiving treatment/investigations.

There's one other hospital near me too; that one you will wait 4 hours to be seen in an emergency. If you're not about to lose your life, you're left for hours and hours on end - it's easier to get to than the other hospital, and it serves a new housing estate (full of people who can no doubt not get a doctors appointment because demand outweighs provision.)

There's plenty of people in both waiting rooms who don't meet the 'conditions' of accident and emergency, but you can't blame them for being there.

111 really doesn't help the situation - they inappropriately refer people to A&E when really what they need is their own GP, or an OOH. It's not your fault in the slightest, if you're told to go when you aren't used to dealing with 111.

I hope you manage to get sorted soon

I dont think you should have left, you were in the queue to get medical attention. I went to A and E a couple of months ago and had a 18 hour wait, but it turned out I had a dangerous pneumonia, and was hospitalised for weeks. I hated being in A and E, it was awful - but it was the way to get seen and treated, and it saved my life. A and E is terrible, but it is the gateway to the medical care you need, and in the end, however horrible it is, it is one day of your life, and many places in the world you can't get medial care in such a short time span

It’s a 4 week wait to see a GP in our area which would have been no use for the OP.
Oh, and our GPs are sending people to wait in A&E for non emergency X-rays rather than referring them directly to the X-ray department directly 🤷‍♀️

The bit about the guy smashing windows with a fire extinguisher should have gone in the title. I feel this would have been my take home memory of the evening.

I had a recent visit to A&E with a bowel obstruction. I’m living with cancer & on treatment so I was thankfully prioritised but I was repeatedly vomiting & in terrible pain. I was given a side room where I was left overnight with inadequate pain relief until the amazing day staff took over & sorted me out. I couldn’t help but notice that the majority of people awaiting triage were reading, chatting, snacking, on their phones etc. I’m not saying they weren’t unwell but I did question how many of them needed to be seen via A&E. I basically had no choice & was unable to leave as I was so unwell. The system does need an overhaul.

You cant judge- I sat in A and E for about 18 hours, reading, snacking, and playing on my phone, and very dangerously ill. I would have died if I hadn't gone in

@60andsomething, I know, you’re right. Just being totally honest about how I felt. This thread has been useful for underlining that. Glad you went in!

This.

my local gp told me to take my child to a and e for a persistent style.

Well look at it like this, a lot of very very unwell people were more needy of A&E services than you. Should have gone to a walk in centre, or your GP. Accident and Emergency is just that,, for accidents or Emergencies. Yours was clearly neither.