NHS Direct ringing back 6+ hours after I called them about ds's head injury.

[bibbitybobbitybunny]

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that they called back (even though it was 1am) but do you think that is a long delay when a head injury has been reported in an 8 year old?

If they can't respond sooner than that to something potentially serious then I do kind of wonder what is the point?

They've been pretty good on the 3 or 4 occasions I've used them, some were situations where I wasn't sure whether DD needed further attention, and they didn't tell me to go to A&E.

I've always had good experiences with NHS Direct too. They do have to ask the std questions and follow a flow chart. If your answers indicated something serious they would have said go down to A&E. If your DS wasn't drowsy, dizzy or vomitting then it probably wasn't serious. What did they say when they called you back at 1am?
On one occasion when my DDs breathing was really bad they put a nurse on the phone to listen to her breathing and then a doctor straight away who then called Paed A&E to ask them to expect us. The service was good.

I've had good experiences with NHS Direct. They've either taken my call directly or phoned me back depending on the urgency of the situation (barely conscious friend vs burnt hand). They have ordered ambulance for a&e, booked out of hours Dr appointment and told me to get down to the a&e. The most I waited was around 2 hours with a burnt hand for a call back. The out of hours appointment was around 4 hours after call I think. All of my calls have been made in late evening/during the night.

I have noticed that they get a Dr -from your local area- to call you back to follow up (or at least so i was told) so it is possible that some areas are better than others.

I used them a couple of years ago during the swine fever thing when I thought my 18 month old had flu and started sleeping all the time.. they said that was a good sign.. just keep her at home and keep giving paracetemol.. luckily I spoke to my Dad (not known generally for having medical knowledge or common sense) and he said take her to the hospital now. She had pneumonia and was admitted for three days.
I would NEVER used telephone medical advice for anything to do with children.. and I now always go to the doctor

I phoned with agonising stomach pains once only to be told that I was hungry and to eat something! Ignored this 'advice' and went to my GP who sent me straight up to A&E with a suspected appendicitis.
Completely useless.

I do think Nhs direct is a bit pointless sometimes. I agree that is a long time to wait, but if you were very concerned it was serious you should have taken him to a&e. 6 hours is not important for a minor head injury, but might be fir a serious one, in which case you would have presumably used your judgement and taken him in. But no, I don't think you're being that unreasonable.

You may have just caught them at a verybusy time. I have always found the response to be quite quick, but is always fairly useless, either "take them to a&e" if it's serious, or "keep an eye on them" if it's not! But I suppose it's just that second opinion to your own that is reassuring I suppose! I would always trust my own judgement though, so in that sense the exercise is probably pointless!

I've had nothing but great advice from them.

I would also add that I have always found our ooh drs service to be much better. You speak to a nurse first anyway who takes your history, so in that sense you are "triaged" and the dr will call you back I am guessing in order of importance and either give advice on the phone or tell you to come in to the centre at the community hospital where they are based. They are who I'd call for anything remotely urgent or serious, I would only use Nhs direct for the most minor of things such as finding out where the nearest open pharmacy is! Our service locally is called Devon doctors, but I'm guessing there must be similar around the country? It is normally the number on the ansaphone when you ring your own gp out of hours.

Gosh stranded, that must have been worrying. hope your dd was ok?

NHS Direct can only give advice based on the info they are given- people saying that they are always sent to A&E are only done so based on the answers they give.
People that decide that they are just going to A&E anyway because they don't want to wait for a callback usually don't need to be there, and then end up complaining that A&E is always busy
I'm a firm believer in the service, and when used properly I think it's fantastic.

The head injury would have been triaged via the computer algorithymns though - loss of consciousness? wound? vomiting? confusion?

And they give you a health warning don't they - any change to symptoms, phone back. So they are are relying on you to watch your child and if anything changes, to phone back and be re-assessed.

I hope your son was ok Bibbity - did they tell you to go to A&E? Or gave you some advice and all fine?

I've only had experience of the Scottish one and it's a good service - it's amazing to have medical advice there 24/7.

I never bother with NHS Direct anymore.
Not since I rang about my DS, then a young baby, who had a cold for a couple of days and his breathing had become vey grunty and his stomach was pumping in and out with the effort of each breath.
The person on the phone asked to listen to his breathing over the phone and pronounced him fine, just doing a bit of abdominal breathing, nothing to worry about. He clearly thought me a paranoid mother.
About half hour later my DH got home, insisted we take him the a and e, where the dr declared DS 'a very poorly baby' and he ended up on a nebulizer and pumped full of steroids.