Health Anxiety clogging up A&E

[Influencerofcrap]

Im really pleased that finally someone within the NHS has come out and said this.

Having been treated myself in A&E, in the corridor (outside triage) due to lack of cubicles, I was genuinely shocked at the amount of patients that attended who shouldn’t have been there. I’m not talking about those that were genuinely ill and couldn’t see the GP and had no other choice but the ones that were clearly anxious about their health and symptoms that didn’t warrant an A&E visit. They were all sent on their way but it still was time that was taken away from those patients that genuinely needed help. I wonder what the answer is to this, because something has to change.

Health anxiety not emergencies clogging-up A&E

Is this still not an issue that points back to lack of GP appointments? If people could see their GP for reassurance when they had a bad cold etc. the anxiety wouldn't manifest itself to the extent they genuinely felt they needed to attend A&E.

Back in the day you could call the Dr. They might have popped round or seen you in surgery but at the very least you'd have had a chat over the phone and be told that your symptoms are quite normal for x,y or z and that you only need to worry if...
That doesn't happen for most any more and people are left fumbling in the dark, resort to Dr Google (which is doom and gloom for most) and end up in a right state.

I think fixing some of the other services mentioned in the article, GPs, diagnostics, elective surgery would probably help.

Until that happens people will keep showing up at A&E, and we will continue with a high level of easily preventable deaths.

These people are clogging up the GP as well!

But where are we meant to go?

I have a sinus issue. I get told to go to the pharmacy who then don't treat me due to my history.

Agreed but that’s not what this is about - it’s the walking anxious that are the issue.

I'm anxious about my health.

If I cannot be seen genuinely where am I meant to go? Sit at home worrying?

"I was genuinely shocked at the amount of patients that attended who shouldn't have been there"

Can't help wondering how you knew that information. Did they all tell you why they were there then, or did you overhear private conversations between them and the A&E staff?

If people were able to see their GPs easily I think the problem would improve almost immediately.

Has anyone ever given you a realistic expectation of what treatment there is for your sinus issue?

There are loads of day to day health issues like this that Medicine, even today, just doesn't have great treatments for.

@AnnaMagnani after seven years I've just found out I have a spur on my septum (I've started a thread because despite being told this in a letter nobody's told me what to expect now!)

Even as a moderately mild chronic health condition it's fucking awful to live with. I can't imagine having something more serious with the state of the NHS as it is. It's genuinely debilitating at times.

I think this is accurate. People will have a variety abilities to accurately reflect on their own health. So while, yes some people have genuine health anxiety (and suffer from that as a mental health condition which needs it's own treatment) , others simply won't have the education or ability to know what's a and e appropriate and what isn't. Being unable to access a gp means that for some people, their ability to triage has decreased and they are more likely to end up at a and e.

The other issue is of course the chronic under funding and active cutting of the community sector which has been unofficially propping up the NHS for many years. If people have less access to community support particularly mental health support then you are obviously going to see more of those people in statutory settings. So rather than blame people who are anxious/ struggle with their mental health/ haven't received the level of education and information you have... blame your government for abandoning them.

I don't think people realise how distressing health anxiety and OCD (which is what health anxiety actually is) are.

There are obviously time wasters who are not actually anxious, but just want a DRs opinion on a non emergency, but to tar people with a very real mental illness as a drain on resources, is shitty.

If people were able to access actual help for their OCD etc, not just being told to sign up to talking therapy, which is not a therapeutic treatment for OCD, then they would be able to manage the symptoms of health anxiety properly.

I was expecting this reply 😄 and yes unfortunately when you’re placed in a narrow corridor with a drip in your arm straight outside triage who have the door wide open as staff are in and out, then you do hear it all! I even had the privilege of having my shoes vomited over by a drug addict cuffed to a policeman.

Someone being a drug addict doesn't mean they don't need healthcare.

Where did I say that? I was pointing out how cramped it was, after all, I was being treated in the corridor.

Exactly. Especially since they had clearly been taken to A&E by the police.

If it wasn't so bloody impossible to get a GP appointment (even when you have seen a pharmacist who has advised you to tell the receptionist that you need to be seen by a doctor urgently), it's no wonder people rock up to A&E instead.

Oh, and by the way, extreme health anxiety is in itself a medical condition.

It was heavily implied, you were responding to a comment about how you knew people didn't need to be in A&E.

At the end of the day, the system is utterly broken.

@theboffinsarecoming my favourite thing about the entire health system is that the letter I received today says I shouldn't get a copy, nor should it go on my app (I guess because I need a scan to confirm what he saw).

Yet I got it and now I know that the best line of treatment is a surgery that i probably won't be offered

Why the hell does anyone need to see a GP when they have a cold ? No wonder A&E is full of people that shouldn't be anywhere near it. Anyone that goes near the place because they have a cold, sore throat, feeling nervous, less than 24 hours of D&V ( not just an upset tummy) or any other minor ailment needs to be fined on the spot. Accident and Emergency is for what the sign on the door says, Accident and Emergency only.

@ERthree my dad needs to see a GP when he gets episodes of diarrhoea because he has an undiagnosed gut condition that means it soon turns into weeks of it and he ends up in hospital.

His GP has given strict instructions that if it's out of hours he's to report to a&e. Should he be fined?

Part of the issue is that the health service has been failing for so long that everyday there are horror stories in the Daily Fail (mail) and so on where people have been suddenly told they’ve got terminal cancer that’s been missed many times by doctors etc who haven’t picked up on it. (I have experience myself of being fobbed off for 18 months before finally being diagnosed with a fatal if untreated condition). So of course people are going to be anxious. There’s a huge mistrust of medical professionals etc now. People are seeking second and third opinions and turning up at a and e because they’re frightened, and often quite rightly so.

Learn relaxation exercises. Occupy yourself with something useful. Go for a walk. Or yes, sit at home worrying.

Would it help to extend GP surgery hours to include weekends also? I know a lot of people that use A&E because they've left things all week due to not being able to miss work.
Would it also help to make spaces for junior doctors?
Everything is 24/7 now so I don't see why this doesn't make sense.

I agree with this, people don't trust their GPs anymore.

@LoserWinner it's just not that simple I'm afraid. I've been palmed off for seven years. I've ended up in A&E with a fever of 40 because the pharmacy refused to treat me. The system should be better.