Piss take waiting in A&E for an very very long time,

[SubwayAllTheWay]

I had a very sore neck, couldnt move it and was getting shooting pains every 5 mins. As I was near the hospital, I went in at 11am today. I was seen at 3pm. So i had to wait for nearly four hours with shooting pains to the point I had to leave the A&E reception to shout out my pain.

AIBU that this time takes the mick? I know ambulances have priority but If it takes that long, I would have phoned for an ambulance because then atleast i would get seen early.

It took the piss because there were people who seemed to be happy, able to walk but a sore wrist and they got seen after an hour of being there.

I didnt go to the doctors as i was in so much pain i thought i might faint and A&E seemed better idea as they could do a scan and find out the cause.

YABVU, it's because of people like you OP who don't need to be in A&E that the waits are so long.

Believe me, you do not want to be the person who is rushed into A&E.

My daughter went to A&E. She was pale and feverish, but she could walk. People were probably miffed she was seen before them.

Turns it she had cancer, her bone marrow was 60% of a rare, lethal strain of leukaemia and a bruise she had on her shin was going sceptic.

She was immediately admitted that night and didn't leave for another 3 months.

YABU.

What a waste of (someone else's) time and money. You do realise that any A&E visit is paid for out of your GP's budget and, as a nation, we spend millions on unnecessary and innappropriate A&E attendances. It's a big problem.

And then to complain about the time you had to wait? I'm speechless.

I remember some years ago, I was sent to A&E by GP, for blood clots in my wrist after a GA a few days later. I did wait 4 hours, but soon after i arrived, a very young couple sat next to me, and the girl looked in shock and the man very concerned. I had to ask what they were here for, and it was so shocking, I couldn't worry about my problem. They had come for an early scan of their baby, and had the terrible news it was dead. She had been told to wait in A&E as there was no bed available for her yet, as she had to give birth to the dead baby as soon as possible. I knew she was traumatised, and was so horrified for her at having to sit with all the A&E patients until a bed was ready for her. It was 10 years ago, but still I remember this couple.

Just because you can't see anything doesn't mean it isn't an emergency. I got sent to a&e by my optician when my eyesight went skewiff suddenly. I thought it was a waste of time and waited until I had finished my day's work.

But at a&e they triaged me and saw me really quickly. They could tell it was potentially something far worse, despite me having no pain.

Yes, I felt bad being seen in front of those who were in pain. But they got done and dusted that evening, whereas I had lots more scans and tests, quick deterioration in my eyesight and problems three years later still.

And OP, I've had trapped nerves. It's really sore and you have my sympathies. I hope it gets better soon, and that next time you go through the proper channels.

'Its A and E, if bones arn´t broken, if blood is not gushing, and you can say your own name, can breath, speak and are concious.

You didn´t need to be there, simple as!'

I don't agree with this, either.

My daughter could do all these things, but she was very very sick. Her death would have been a certainty within weeks if that bruise hadn't developed into cellulitis with no break in the skin and showed up her leukaemia. We were sent there by the GPs who did not like the look of that bruise or the fact that it wasn't responding to oral antibiotics and she was feverish.

As it was, she died less than 8 months later.

expat {{{hugs}}}

My dad was "rushed" to hospital in an ambulance with a suspected heart attack. The paramedics decided it wasn't a heart attack so left him in A&E - he was screaming out in pain but basically had to "wait his turn" - he was begging to die - he got his wish. Took a further 11 days in ICU though - it wasn't a heart attack but it was multiple organ failure - he was in so much pain that when they gave him morphine it didn't touch the agony. He ended up on life support, dialysis and had a pacemaker fitted after 2 heart attacks and then the 3rd did kill him. If someone is crying out in pain then they should be seen urgently. There was a guy sat calmly eating a sandwich in the waiting room - no obvious signs of injury or illness - he was taken in first. This was in June - yes I'm angry about it. Stop paying so many people at the top to push around paperclips and start paying for more doctors and nurses and more hospitals. My nearest A&E is 25 miles away. I dread the day I need to take one of my children or go myself.

My uncle, an anaesthetist, drove himself to A&E, not the one he worked at. Told the triage nurse, I think I'm having a heart attack. She asked how and he told her what his job was.

And you know what? He was having a heart attack! He was only 37.

But he wound up having angioplasty very soon thereafter.

YABU

I dread to think what would have happened if my son who was choking and turning blue, or my daughter who was fitting and foaming at the mouth should have had to wait for an ambulance because it was dealing with a pain in the neck.

Take a family first aid course so you have a better understanding how to deal with an incident or indeed what the symptoms of a stoke genuinely are.

NHS direct could have given you a better idea how to deal with your symptoms all from the comfort of your own home. Either NHS direct or a good GP surgery would have had you dealt with in far shorter time and with less disruption to your child.

Incidentally I have waited 4hours in A&E only to be told to go home and return 2 days later to sort out a minor break. I would never have occurred to me not to turn up simply because I had had to wait in A&E, it needed sorting and I appreciate we live in a country that does it without asking for your credit card.

I didn't resent it in the slightest, I'm damn sure if I lived in another country and had to pay for the healthcare DS has needed and will likely need in the future, I would be broke and uninsurable.

NHS Direct, GPs Surgery, A&E. If you need an ambulance you really do know you need an ambulance

Oooh I hate trapped nerves and get them a lot - definitely get a hot water bottle or wheaty bag and a hot bath. Those neurofen with codeine are good too.

Fwiw with a 2 year old I would either have gone to the GP or out of hours gp as a least you would have an appointment time particularly with a toddler.

YABU.

Don't be ridiculous OP.

Do you think the staff were sitting round the back with their feet up, drinking tea and deciding if they could be bothered to save soneone's life?

Or do you think it is just about possible that they were prioritising more serious conditions?

I find it very hard to believe that you thought you were having a stroke and yet calmly drove yourself and your child to hospital before leaving without a scan.

I have had a fair few a&e admissions, mainly related to a congenital foot problem that has a knock-on effect on my spine. I have always had lengthy waits.

I recently had a flare-up of my back/neck issues to the extent that I couldn't lift my arm, get the baby out of his cot, move my head at all or sleep. I booked myself urgent physio and got it sorted. It flared up again 2 days later and I finished up driving home from work, crying and trying to find a route without too many junctions so I didn't have to try to turn my neck and endure the excrutiating pain. It occurred to me to go to a&e - and then I got over myself, booked more physio and dosed up on anti-inflammatories until I could get there.

A&E is for actual emergencies - not just to get you seen a bit quicker than by other methods such as GP or physio appts.

I dont think you were being unreasonable to go to a+e - as you have said you thought you might be having a stroke. I do think you were very unreasonable not to wait for the scan though. You either thought your problem was serious or you didn't. If you thought you were having a stroke, you would surely wait?

I posted in general health the other day about what I thought was a trapped nerve in my neck

I was debating whether or not to bother my GP with it or just stick to painkillers.

You were being ridiculous and it you havn't realised that by now then there isn't much more I can say.

There's no point people trying to persuade the OP she was unreasonable. She won't see it. Her posts indicate a massive sense of entitlement. That will block out everything else.

not a piss take in least.pts triaged by clinical priority.you weren't high risk or priority
sore wrist may have been complex fracture,xray and physio on dc
I appreciate it felt like ages but 4hrs for non-emergency is sometimes what it takes

i have banked shift doen A&E and sometime the 'time waster' are not even time waster.

unless you know a person medical history you can not sit in a busy waiting room and speculate if they should or should not be there.

what get on my last nerves is when people can not be bothered to wait, go home without telling anybody

Its A and E, if bones arn´t broken, if blood is not gushing, and you can say your own name, can breath, speak and are concious.

My dh could say his name, breath, speak and was concious, he was also having a stroke a real actual stroke.

Advice like the above is so fucking dangerous

And if it were a stroke they could get an ambulance and ring ahead to ensure the right team are waiting for you.

Also out of hours GP is normally situated in a&e so if it were an emergency you would be on site.

You were triaged, you were FAST negative, you had no history of trauma. Your symptoms did not indicate a stroke or fracture and you were placed in a catagory based on the triage nurses findings. If I had brought you in my ambulance I would be reporting my very similar findings to the duty CNM who would have instructed me to bring you to triage.

Ambulances are not a ticket to be seen quicker and shame on you for even thinking it. You would sleep well knowing someone had died or suffered brain damage or the unncessary loss of a limb waiting for an ambulance so you didn't have to wait four hours? Disgusting.

I love my job when I'm making a difference, funnily enough to people who are very poorly yet apologise profusely for wasting our time but I despair when I get the ones who when questioned as to why they didn't attend their GP or get one of the seven other family members in the room to drive them to the hospital in one of the seven cars sitting outside say "I don't want to have to wait for hours"

I bet the OP was huffing and tutting and generally making it clear that she resented everyone who went in ahead of her.

I have twice gone through A&E fairly quickly. Once was on one of my rare, non foot-related admissions after I fell off a horse and punched myself in the eye as I landed, splitting my brow open down to the bone. I walked into A&E with blood and plasma running down my face and soaking my clothes and I was taken straight through. As I went through a lady got up and started having a go at the staff about why "she just bloody waltzes in and gets seen first".

The other time was a late-night admission with DS2 at about 5 months old. He had gradually worsening breathing problems but the A&E had so many absolute emergencies that they sent us to the out of hours GP on the hospital site to get seen quicker. We were waiting for about 45 minutes with DS2 getting worse, to the extent that a nice elderly man went up to the receptionist and said "can't you bump that poor baby up the list?" with most of the waiting room nodding agreement. It turned out she had already called through to tell the doctor she needed to see us asap, but as we were called in, another woman who was sitting with a teenager with his wrist bandaged, but not so painful he couldn't play on his DS constantly, started moaning to the man with her about people "jumping the queue".

When you are ill or injured, or there with an ill child, the last bloody thing you need is grief from someone else who doesn't understand the point of the triage system.

999 call handlers triage using a system in response to someone up above. Take someone ringing up with a swollen knee (for example). So you triage and ask the questions and all it takes is for a question like "do you have any pain?" Yes "where is the pain" it's in my chest. And bam, ambulance response. Does that person have chest pain? Who knows. But you can't question their integrity, because the one time you do they will be having a heart attack

Recently I sliced my thumb really badly while preparing the kids' packed lunches and went to A&E. I waited 3 + hours. Sure it wasn't pleasant but I was much more annoyed at the person who was triaged before me who had taken himself to A&E because he had woken up with a swollen eye (yes really!).
At the end of the day, if people like you and this guy went to their GP instead of A&E the wait would be much shorter for everyone!!
So yes YABU
HTH