to state the NHS has gone to the dogs, run by monkeys and staffed by halfwits?

[DameHermione]

The saga........
DD has infected looking pussy blistery spots.

It is friday evening. No hope of seeing locsl GP until at least monday.

I ask the MN hive mind for advice. Possibly impetigo. Definitely sore and pussy. OOH is suggested.

I trundle off 15 miles to OOH.

We arrive. There is a notice pinned to the door, 'If you are not expected please report to the Emergency Department'.

Odd. And not what it was a few months ago but off we trot to A&E round the corner.

In A&E i say to the receptionist 'We came for the OOH GP.'

'No problem' she says. Takes some details and we get asked to take a seat.

An hour later DDs name is called.

'Senior Sister' triages DD.

First she looks me up and down and snaps 'who are you?'

I explain what the problem is and say once again 'we came for the xxx unit, the out of hours GP'

She asks not once, not twice but Four times how long DD has been pussy. I tell her Four times it has been getting worse over the last few days.

She shouts at me. 'This should be seen by your GP'.

I replied 'I know. Thats why we came to the OOH unit.'

At this point she tells me the OOH unit has moved 5 more miles away.

Then she tells me to take DD to the GP tomorrow.

I say 'but tomorrow is saturday, which is why we csme to the OOH unit'

I am then told i need to take DD the extra 5 miles to the real OOH unit which closed in 5 minutes.

I give up at this point and suggest maybe they should put a notice on the door of the now ex-OOH unit or tell their receptionists to redirect people.

Only 'they can't do that as they aren't clinical and patients need triaging'


So at this point i tell the half-witted monkey who is masquerading as a nurse that as i too am a nurse, with considerably more braincells than her i will just treat DDs pus myself.

i might then have gone and purloined approriate dressings snd stuff from my mates upstairs but that would be theiving so i shant admit to it oh no

I will be wtiting to PALS.

[Latara]

I will defend my local OOH surgery - they will take walk-ins if not busy - if not you have to phone the GP for the emergency number.
They do triage you on the phone via a nurse, then the GP will phone you (IME quite soon after you call) - if they think it is an urgent issue that they can sort out then they will give you an appt time relevant to the urgency.
If they think you are worrying too much they will reassure over the phone, but tell you to phone back if you need to.
The receptionist is usually a paramedic filling in - they are always lovely & sympathetic.

If you have a potential life threatening or disabling problem like chest pain / severe allergic reaction / suspected stroke / severe injury / vomiting blood etc then phone 999 immediately - paramedics would rather visit someone whose symptoms / injuries aren't as serious as they thought, than find a body IYKWIM.

Anything else serious but you aren't sure what to do - then phone the emergency GP number.

[McHappyPants2012]

so as a nurse, you took a possible infectious child into a busy waiting room. Never heard of infection control i take it.

I work in the nhs ( Domestic) and if i suspected an infection that was ozing i would phone ahead and make sure they had a private room to stop other people getting the infection.

[Greatauntirene]

how is pusy pussy pussie pusie pusey spelled?

Well don't look up pussy on google.

[Latara]

ROFL

[cutegorilla]

Aren't hospital and Drs waiting rooms always full of infectious people? If everyone who was ill and potentially infectious had a private room it could get a bit ridiculous!

[MyBaby1day]

NO!, YANBU, the NHS has really gone down the pan!. Something needs to be done about it!. Yes, run by monkeys and staffed by halfwits as you said. It's true!.

[Sirzy]

Who would have thought half wits could save so many lives hey!

[Aboutlastnight]

I've just spent my night dispatching ambulances, drs, district nurses - half wits in charge of half wits!

[shergar]

YABU. If you need to see a GP out of hours, you ring the usual number for your GP surgery and follow the instructions given on the answering machine. You get given a second number to ring out of hours, you speak to a nurse, a GP rings you back and you get an appointment at an OOH centre if he/she feels you need one. It's really not that difficult. Turning up unannounced and expecting to be seen anyway is not the way to do it, particularly when you don't know that an OOH centre even exists where you've turned up and you end up dragging a child with a highly contagious skin condition around with you in an A&E waiting area filled with sick old people etc.

I know who I think the halfwit is, and it's not the NHS staff in this saga.

[Shiftinglard]

As somebody who has worked in A&E and a minor injuries unit, what I used to find unreasonable was the monkeys who waited all week with ailments which should be seen by the GP and then deciding on Friday night they really need to be seen and use an emergency service.

What I find even more astounding is that a nurse would do this

YABU you should have taken your daughter to the GP in the week.

[AnnieArsehole]

Yabu

Only have admiration and respect for the nhs.

I had to use 999 a few weeks back for what turned out for kidney stones (yes,renal colic hurts like hell on earth) and can't fault paramedics and a&e,ward staff.prompt,professional and FREE treatment? Yeah it's going to the dogs huh

[pumpkinsweetie]

Yabu- if you saw what they do for cancer patients, you would see just how great the nhs still is.
There are parts of it that need improving but without the nhs, we would be stuck paying for highly expensive treatment.