to wish people would use services appropriately?

[mree]

I've been reading a topic on another forum about ongoing health worries someone's having. She doesn't seem to be being taken seriously by her GP and is becoming increasingly frustrated, quite understandably. Her condition isn't immediately life-threatening (ie., she's not bleeding, she's not burnt, her ability to breathe is not restricted, her circulation is not affected, there's no suggestion of an abnormal pulse, etc.), and is not acutely painful. Several posters on this forum have advised her to dump herself in A&E and refuse to move until they perform a diagnostic test usually done as an outpatient. This test is, in fact, not usually available in an emergency department and, when it is, is used to diagnose such conditions as a leaking aneurysm.

AIBU to jump up and down in frustration at the total lack of understanding from large portions of the general public as to what constitutes an emergency?!! These people are the reason those who attend A&E with appropriate problems have to wait so bloody long!!!

Walk-ins are limited to what they can offer so that wouldn't be an alternative. I have found that one GP does not like to argue with another in the same practice. There was a four year old who lived by me who the ambalance refused to take because she had been to A+E in the last week and had seen the GP in the last 48 hours, mistakes are made.

How can you judge who shouldn't be there when people are being misdiagnosed. The last time that my husband went in there was a nurse on duty who we had met a few times and her attitude was terrible towards us. I did make sure that i invited her to my DH funeral, though. For those that are saying their doctor relatives are telling stories are they then following up the cases to see if they got it right before saying anything?

GP's do get it wrong yes, so do A and E Dr's. Dr's are not Gods in their own right, they are merely human beings trying to do their job.
But then I expect GP's get fed up to with telling people that if they have a cold there is really not much they can do about it.
The stats where 'genuine' emergencies are seen in A and E are actually quite low as are 999 call outs. When I went in with my daughter there were drunks falling on the floor which the staff had to move around by themselves. That is not their job.
Was the little girl eventually diagnosed with something birdsgotta?

My cousin's wee boy was having problems with his eye (not sure exactly what it was but he had cysts under his eyelids) She got nowhere with her GP (not true - he got put on 5 month waiting list to see consultant opthalmologist). She took him to A&E, got to see consultant that day and he was in having surgery within a week - consultant said if they'd waited to be seen he would have lost some of his sight. She's been told if it flares up again to take him to A&E and ask to see the consultant.

I agree that GP should be first port of call - but when they are crap what is someone supposed to do?

"we had a man bringing his daughter in with a fractured collarbone at two in the morning (after she had broken it at school that morning) because "he knew it would be a bit quieter and he wouldn't have to wait so long". "

Is there something wrong with this? It's a 24 hour service isn't it, with doctors, nurses and X-ray technicians all available. I've often waited with injuries until I think it will be quieter. I don't want to wait 4 hours unless I have to.

Having said above for A and E, I have had a few crappy GP's myself.
I think one of the problems is that many of them have trained abroad and although I think they have some exams here (not sure if other European Dr's do) they might not be at the same standard or at least they might not have encountered the same medical problems in their home countries.
It also really gets to me when I can't understand a Dr properly because of their accent. Quite a few times I have had to repeat myself or they have got the wrong end of the stick. I have no problem with seeing a Dr from overseas, we obviously need them here to fill vacancies but I do think its a bit like playing with fire sometimes. I am also a TEFL teacher and married into an African family so am very familiar with understanding different accents!
Not sure if anyone would agree with me here but like I said earlier, There needs to be more emphasis on language I think.

Butter 4 hours?
Bloody hell thats quick!

I can see why people do it in my area. You are assigned to one GP in the practice and that is the only one they will give you an appointment to see. If you want to change GP practice, you need to take a lot of documentation to the new practice, they won't let you see a GP until you have seen a nurse for a "check-in appointment" and then you can finally make an appointment to see a GP. It takes at least a week to get the nurse appointment and another one to get a GP appointment.

We have a lot of people in our area who have trouble with English, and don't have the sorts of jobs where you can take days off easily to go though this malarkey. If I had a child in pain or discomfort, the GP was useless , I had problems with English, could not afford to jeopardise my job and I knew that it would be a minimum of 2 weeks before we could get help, yes, I'd certainly strongly consider A&E.

How do I know this? DH had health problems and I rang around and discovered this situation. Fortunately we were able to afford to see a private GP right away. That GP sent us to A&E where DH was immediately admitted and kept for 10 days. He might have died waiting for a GP, but his problem wasn't immediately obvious as serious to someone who wasn't a doctor.

Butterbur would you really make your child, with a suspected fracture, wait 17 hours before you take her to A&E?

I used a bad example there because of course that was an appropriate attendance, it was just unbelievable to me that someone would make their child wait until the parent thought it would be quieter so they didn't have to sit in the department so long.

When I worked in A&E we had a rotation service where local GPs used to do a few shifts a month if they wanted. It was quite funny to see situations where a patient had been to see that GP that day and not got the answers they wanted so gone to A&E that evening only to see the same GP!

It depends on how much pain the child was in, and whether there were any apparent complications, such as numbness, or lumps under the skin.

I have waited until the following morning to take a child with a suspected fractured toe, so as to avoid the Friday night drunks.

What about out of hours GP's, do people not use them?