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

It sounds like you yourself were nowhere close to dying.

Why were you clogging up A&E?

Or are you special in some way?

Sepsis is an emergency silly. 50,000 people a year die from it.
Your response is ridiculous.

THIS AND THIS AND THIS!!!

I've just realized, you don't have walk-in health clinics in England. This city of 250,000 people has 24 walk-in clinics (I just counted). Walk in, register, take a seat and wait. That's the first place to go, for most people. Most clinics are open 10 or 12 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week. I think there might be a 24 hour clinic, I'm not sure.

Obviously ERthree didn’t mean anyone like your dad.

The conversation about pharmacist led treatment came up this evening at my Spanish class. Spanish and French pharmacies are so much better than Boots pharmacies: Boots will tell you to take the weak OTC preparations they are licensed to sell to anyone; Spanish/French pharmacies are allowed to sell and dispense higher-strength medications, after consultation. Simple example: I suffer from acute allergic responses to insect bites and hay fever. In Spain, the pharmacist can recommend and sell me a powerfully effective anti-histamine that is only available in the UK on a doctor's prescription. In the UK all you can get is stuff safe for infants that supermarkets have on the shelf for 50p.

I added "after consultation", because that's actually quite an important control.

I’ve seen the advertisements for call handlers and it’s minimum wage or about £1 more per hour. They are not medics.

I dont there’s much that can be done about the ‘I visit A & E for cold’ people, as theres nothing that can fix it, other that plough millions into mental health and triage services. I personally think we need to start educating children and young adults (perhaps 9 years and above on what is an emergency and what is not, (not chronic medical conditions of course), maybe a visit from an ex nurse? Backing it up with activities related to health and the nhs. Maybe include first aid? I know it means more work for teachers, but it means that in 15-20 years we’d have an basic medial educated society that no longer goes to A & E for a cold. (Obviously not relevant for those with chronic medical conditions and disabilities).

I am a GP ( puts hard hat on 😂)
I am a bit sad to see all the comments about GPs here… I trained 11 yrs to be a GP.. I consider myself privileged to share people’s lives.
The lack of appointments and limited time to see patients is not the doctors fault.
i have patients with health anxiety. Its awful.. I can also be prone to some myself … it’s common in doctors. We have an anxiety disorders clinic and they refuse to treat people with health anxiety! It’s an awful debilitating condition and I am unable to get specialist mental health care at all for people.
Health anxiety is a condition that needs lots balance ..as a doctor I want to be respectful and listen but I don’t want to over-investigate as this makes it worse.

I know. That’s why I was so persistent about getting the antibiotics. I was alluding to the magical place where A&E is a 2-3 hour wait and a previous post that said A&E was exclusively for people with blood spurting and bones sticking out. THAT was ridiculous.

ERThree might not have done, but the poster who responded with “chronic illnesses are managed by speciality teams at hospitals and/or specialist nurses” when I said I often have to go to A&E when my serious illnesses flares up did.

People really have no knowledge or understanding of other people’s medical history and why they may be sitting in a&e for vomiting or diarrhoea, so really should just STFU and mind their own businesses.

Sorry - my above post was meant to quote this.

How on earth can you know that the A&E was full of people who suffer with health anxiety @Influencerofcrap?

@xRobin are you ok?

🩷🩷

I can't help thinking that article is just designed to get people all worked up about the wrong things and get us all sniping at each other rather than angry at the whole system being underfunded and short staffed.

I mean sometimes it is difficult to know where to turn. I've been very fortunate not to need the GP or anything much in my life but a few weeks ago got hit with an overwhelmingly painful back and leg. Saw the GP same day (very fortunate I know!!) and was sent away with painkillers and a physio referral. This was on a Friday.

Over the weekend the pain vanished! But my foot and leg went weak and numb, spreading up my leg and I was struggling to weight bear, although could limp. I was planning on going back to the GP on the Monday but a friend who is a doctor said to go to A&E. I did, and they arranged an MRI quickly (sort of, it was still an 8ish hour wait) So despite not being an accident or an emergency it ended up being the right place to go! When I saw the physio I did ask if I should have just waited and she said the GP would have just sent me to A&E anyway as that would have been the best way to get an emergency scan.

Now I bet other people in the waiting room would have seen me head in looking fairly well, with a bit of a limp, tell the receptionist my leg was numb but no real pain, and assume I didn't need to be there... I think all the armchair experts on who "needs to be there" really need to stop!

That’s shocking. Of course, practitioners in health or education are always blamed when there aren’t enough of them to go round. It’s no surprise that well-qualified and experienced people burn out and leave.

I have health anxiety. I really really hate it. I've tried all types of therapy to try to minimise it. Nothing has worked so far. If someone offered me a big lottery win, bare in mind i earn minimum wage, or get rid of health anxiety, I'd choose getting rid of health anxiety every time. Its just really overwhelming, embarrassing and i know, totally over the top. I absolutely hate it. I've been at the Dr's for things i didn't have. I know I've taken appointments i probably didn't need. But to me, those appointments, they were desperately needed.
The constant cancer adverts/ catch it early adverts/ horror stories every day terrify me and fuel my anxiety.
If someone young, fit and with the best of care, like Princess Catherine can get cancer, or someone as fit and health aware as Sir Chris Hoy can have terminal cancer, what chance has someone as ordinary as me have?? I feel its all just a matter of time and its inevitable...this leads to gp visits i probably dont need but my terrified mind is desperate for the reassurance only a medical professional can give me...

Why didn’t you go to Asda

@Iwanttoliveonamountain because it's 25 miles away, about an hour away when traffic is taken into account and I wouldn't have been able to put up with the car journey.

Same with GP though! The amount of people that book in with a 2 day sore throat/cold/pimple. No one seems capable of self care these days

No, they're clearly just reading from a script. But if it was staffed by people with actual medical knowledge then perhaps it would be more effective.

As a former teacher, if any more work is put onto teachers there will be no teachers. As teachers, we are fairly good at assessing whether a child is genuinely unwell but I really don’t think teachers can be expected to teach children to triage health conditions. Nurses do a three-year degree to learn that skill.

Absolutely this. I was once asked if I was unconscious and then told to call back if I became so.

FFS!