a&e bad experience

[cucumberpeach]

Just having a little moan as feeling a bit sorry for myself. I know people go through worse things.

I woke up with agonising abdominal pain which worsened all day, vomiting and everything and not keeping anything down. DM called the GP for me and they sent for an ambulance which took several hours to come (not complaining, it's not their fault, obvs there will have been more serious cases to attend to).

Eventually they came and I've now been in the hospital for hours in agony. They didn't give me pain relief, had to beg for it several times. It helped but then wore off and they ignored my polite requests for more. They actually shouted at me when I tried to lie on the floor as it brought relief. They told off a kind lady who went to ask if I could be seen as I was in a lot of pain for misleading them as they thought she was asking for her own mother and asking on behalf of someone else is apparently 'against the rules'.

After asking at the desk four times over the course of an hour they gave me a codeine pill but I'm dreading it wearing off.

Just a bad experience and still haven't seen the dr. Upside is seeing how kind the patients are to eachother, we're all sticking up for eachother! One women was stroking my hair as I lay on the floor in pain.

I realise nurses and medics have a really hard job btw. Just quite miserable at this point.

That's awful. My partner had severe abdominal pain and the CT scan showed he had cancer and needed emergency surgery. We were waiting for hours before that - they thought it was less serious- but it was at least on a bed.

Every time I sat around waiting for pain relief I was due and had asked for several times, the nurses were stood around the central desk laughing for ages, no sense of urgency or care. They were more attentive to male amd elderly male patients, I think they saw me and just thought I looked fine.

Thank you ❤️

If it's a top priority case they will come quickly. Glad to hear he had such good care

It’s scary how bad A&E is these days. I hope you’ve managed to be seen now.

I was in A&E with DH on NYE 23/4 when he was assaulted (through no fault of his own I feel the need to add!) and he spent 11 hours on a chair in the corridor after being brought in by ambulance and it was horrendous.

First of all the patient behind us had to divulge information about her chron’s disease in front of the whole corridor.

Then they lost a patient ffs. They had 3 with the same name, of which DH was one, and they kept wandering round asking if he and others were X, musing that they’d lost him and doing nothing about it. I told them multiple times he’d been admitted to a ward but they kept looking 🙈.

The DH’s blood pressure was very low in the machine and the nurse commented that the machine must be broken but didn’t try again with another machine despite us being sat right next to the machines.

Then they somehow hadn’t realised DH had been knocked unconscious and I had to tell the incoming staff after the staff handover (as we were sat right by the nurses station and could hear everything about every patient).

Worst of all, several patients asked for water and the nurses said they’d get so and never returned. I ended up going round getting water for everyone as the only non-patient on the corridor which I didn’t mind as 1. It gave me something to do but more importantly 2. Everyone, particularly acutely ill people have a right to something as basic as water ffs.

Wait no I have a possibly even worst one. A lady came in with severe dementia and after her ex-consultant father complained and started throwing his weight around about the wait, the ward sister came down to apologise and ask if there was anything they could do for them including did he want anything to eat or drink 😵.

bet its gallbladder - you’ll have morphine soon, hang in there

Oh I see you’re already home. Hope you feel better soon

I have experienced the same with A&E, last time I went by ambulance with abdominal pain, luckily I was given morphine by the ambulance crew (maximum amount) just to get me in the ambulance. I had no idea that I would be dumped in the main A&E in a wheelchair as soon as I got there. A&E was packed and I was unable to move as the morphine started wearing off. I had a similar experience when my appendix went too, I had to wait over 48 hours before they had me in for emergency surgery.

A few days ago I had abdominal pain again and decided I would just ride it out at home rather than go to A&E. I am pretty sure mine is ovarian cysts which burst and cause excruciating pain for 24hours+, I now just ride it out with painkillers and hot water bottles and hope they don’t cause any damage 😬. I would need to be almost dead before agreeing to go to A&E.

My son had an ambulance called by the GP due to low oxygen and he started sucking in under his ribs and wheezing in the waiting room.

Took almost a hour for the ambulance to arrive at the GP surgery. Could have drove him up to A&E in 15 minutes but wasn’t allowed. (Also up north).

Just because your nephew had a good experience, doesn't mean other people have or that it’s fit for purpose.

I paid for health insurance while working abroad and it was cheaper than what I’ve ever paid in national insurance. Standard of care was impeccable in comparison to the NHS.

'I finally got home at about 4am'

How did you get home op because if there's a next time I'd use that mode of transport to get there too rather than waiting for ambulances.

I'm sorry that you feel ill but the fact that you are home hours later shows it wasn't anything serious. I understand you weren't to know that but they have triage for a reason so the very ill people get seen promptly. Everyone else waits. I guarantee if you were bleeding profusely you would not have been left in the waiting room for hours. Hope better soon.

I had some undeniable hip pain last year, getting worse by the minute. I couldn't stand up straight, I could sit so I drove to a&e.
Got out of car and couldn't stand, so a passing paramedic got me a wheelchair. Then I was 'parked' waiting for triage. The pain was so bad, I just couldn't sit still, constantly moving and writhing to try and find a position that helped. I wasn't making a fuss and I didn't notice anyone around me.
Another patient wheeled me back to desk and I said very quietly that i really wasn't coping, at which point I was examined. All a blur, but I had a massive haematoma on my hip muscle, which is super dangerous, super painful, and I was quickly admitted and stayed 5 days.
I also had a heart attack a few years ago, that also hurt like hell.
I have always had amazing care for life threatening things, but at the time, we didn't know they were life-threatening.

I get a bit fed up when people defend our precious nurses when staff are cold and cruel to people that are vulnerable.
So many of us have seen and felt it first hand. Compassion costs nothing.

People don't speak out because they are scared. How awful is that?

Exactly. You only have to watch thise A&E 24hr thing to see the emergencies get seen immediately, the gp type illnesses wait. It is how it should be tbh. I'd rather wait while those seriously ill are managed.

I agree we've probably all experienced cold and disinterested hcps however I've also come across kind and caring ones too. It's the luck of the draw sadly.

Thing is A&E will of course prioritise the collapses, the bleeding injuries, the respiratory failures. Someone conscious and alert with abdominal pain will always have to wait.

Her mother was with her and drove - OP described the difficulty parking (in the middleof the night?) I agree - not an ambulance job. The problem is when one area of the NHS is overstretched due to misuse, it has a knock-on effect with other areas. The whole system is creaking.

DD1 was in A&E majors a few months ago. A registrar stood up and said that if anyone could leave, they should, because the wait was at least 8 hours as long as no-one needed resus. A bunch of people left. We asked the nurse if they thought we should leave and she referred us to a junior doctor, who invited DD1 (who has learning disability) to sign an 'Against Medical Advice' form which warned of sepsis, limb loss, organ loss, pain and death. I told them that DD1 couldn't sign it, and I wouldn't sign it. I then said 'What happens to all those people who left when you told them to?' He said that they would document that they left against medical advice. I said 'But you literally stood up and told them to leave.' 'No, I just told them that they'd be waiting a long time so if they wanted to leave they could.'

I have had a problem with my knee which I twisted 3 weeks ago, The pain spread up my thigh and Ive been screaming with pain to put any weight on it. When I asked at the GP about a cortisone injection they said it will need an x ray first (in case there is any damage) and to go to A&E. I have no intention of sitting in A&E for 10 plus hours just to see "A" doctor who is not a sprcialist who then refers me to MR X, who will tell me the x ray dept is closed today. Come back tomorrow. Been there, done that.

Contemplated going to the private clinic up the road. Hellish expensice but the pain is a little better since beginning the RICE treatment (rest, ice pack, compression, elevation) so Im going to see how it pans out over the next few days. Its still painful but I can now walk on it without screaming.

I don’t doubt your treatment was horrendous in terms of the lack of sympathy and so on however you were discharged with nothing more than codeine which available in Boots therefore it does beg the question whether the GP overreacted in the first instance in calling an ambulance and you could have given yourself more time at home (with a mother who was formerly a nurse monitoring you and dosing up on the max codeine and being able to lie down)

i read a lot of theses posts where the first port of call has been ambulance and a&e only for the person to sit in a&e 8 hours or more and be discharged with over the counter remedies and a diagnoses which would never have warranted significant medical intervention and a hospital admission

Oh sorry I missed the bit where the mother drove!

Why did you wait for an ambulance op? Can you not see you were using a service whilst someone else was also waiting for an ambulance who didn't have a dm to take them?

I think the problem is everyone thinks they need an ambulance, everyone thinks they're an emergency and should be seen quickly so it is that that puts massive stresses on the service.

Obviously I've every sympathy for anyone feeling unwell but perspective and common sense is needed.

Hugs OP. IV paracetamol would certainly have helped my appendicitis, although that was lower right side for me. I’m so sorry you’re going through this, it’s really rotten when you’re so ill and can’t get comfortable. I was lucky (kind of) that by the time I realised how ill I was I’d left it until it turned into sepsis and couldn’t I stand so I went straight into a bed, but even then I was left in a side ward for hours and had to shout if I needed water or pain relief because nobody answered the call bell. I honestly could have died if I was in cardiac arrest. It’s terrifying. It’s only when you see it from the inside that you realise how bad it is. All the staff were wonderful with me, though. How they manage it when they’re under so much pressure is beyond me. I made a huge effort to be appreciative and pleasant and I think that goes a long way. I had several trips to a&e during that period and I saw (or heard the aftermath of) assaults on staff at every one. And yet they still turn up for work ❤️

If you feel up to it please complain to PALS.

I know everyone on here thinks we should worship the NHS and the staff are stressed etc so it can't be helped etc etc.

But NOTHING will change if people don't start making a noise. It's not acceptable to be treated that way.

I get it. I'm in social services. I know how difficult things are. But people need to speak up so those who are higher up cannot continue to ignore on the basis that the population continues to accept this nonsense.

Hindsight though, isn't it? DH would have been sent home from the GP surgery with an inhaler and antibiotics if I hadn't intervened and said that I thought he was more poorly than the Nurse Practitioner thought, and although his heart rate was only just on the border of the upper limit of normal, it was double his usual heart rate. We then went to A&E and he was admitted for IV antibiotics, nebulisers, etc., because he had a very severe pneumonia.

People who are discharged with OTC medication and advice after a full investigation and examination are safety netted. Until that has happened, you have no idea if they are actually the person who needs to go into hospital for treatment.

What is there to complain about? She was taken by ambulance when her dm could've taken he, she was seen given painkillers and sent home.

If any complaints is to be made it should be to the GP who sent a patient to A&E without even seeing them. They clearly could've managed the patient themselves and saved everyone's time.

I am so bloody sick of people piping up with "well I got care that was tolerably competent AND IT WAS FREE" in the face of dozens and dozens of stories of undignified misery. I would vastly prefer to pay to avoid the terror of ending up in the hands of nurses who often frankly seem to behave like callous bitches if not worse.

Of course as above it's not clear money will wipe away the problem, which is caused by people and their awful behaviour. Is it possible to buy compassion?

Shouting at a patient for lying on the floor in agony for a start. Do you seriously not see the problem here?