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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

379 replies

SubwayAllTheWay · 24/10/2012 15:57

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.

OP posts:
GoSakuramachi · 24/10/2012 16:30

A percentage of our taxes go towards the NHS. Go, yes its free as you dont have to pay for it when you get there but you pay for it through your taxes.

Um, no, you've misunderstood. Add up the tax you pay. Then think about what you get for it, all the things it has to pay for. The free teachers in the schools for your children. The free street lights and roads. The free police and criminal justice system. The child benefit, the tax credits etc. The government, both local and national. Then the NHS. Had a couple of children? 10 grand a time, for a straightforward birth.

Now, you tell me honestly of you think you pay enough tax to cover all that and more? If you do, you must be a millionaire and really should have gone private for your trapped nerve.

ChuffMuffin · 24/10/2012 16:31

You had to wait 4 hours in A&E because it was more than likely half full of people exactly like yourself who should have gone to their GP or a walk in centre. AND they offered you the scan you wanted and you said no?!

I will never, ever forget going to A&E at the age of 8 with a broken wrist. I had to wait for two hours to be seen, crying my eyes out. While I was waiting there was a woman on the payphone scoffing donuts, telling whoever was at the other end "yeah, I just came out of Asda and my back was hurting a bit so I thought I'd come here". Angry

minouminou · 24/10/2012 16:31

You're quite welcome, LEM.

Now my piss is in fact boiling....I wonder where that would leave me in triage......

IWantAnotherBaby · 24/10/2012 16:32

YABU, obviously. What pain relief had you taken yourself before showing up at A&E? In no way is this any kind of emergency, and you proved that by leaving before the investigation they recommended!!

Original poster
SubwayAllTheWay · 24/10/2012 16:32

Yes the saints are in full force today....

OP posts:
Sirzy · 24/10/2012 16:33

Or people who are able to appreciate what an emergency is and what is a bit of an inconvenience. Was your life at any point at risk because you were in a bit of pain?

minouminou · 24/10/2012 16:33

People generally have no idea how much NHS treatment actually costs.....you're something like £20k "in debt" by the time you're born (iirc), and that's for an uncomplicated pregnancy and straightforward vaginal delivery.

Fucking whinging about taxes......

Kethryveris · 24/10/2012 16:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ExitPursuedByAaaaaarGhoul · 24/10/2012 16:34

Chuff - I could recount many tales like that, having spent an unnatural amount of time in A&E. The number of people who come in with a mild headache or similar and leave with a packet of painkillers. The longer the wait the better, it might put them off trying it next time they have the odd twinge.

minouminou · 24/10/2012 16:34

This may be a wind up.....
It's worked, OP, I'll give you that.

TakeMyEyesButNotTheGoat · 24/10/2012 16:34

Wonder if you were this rude to the Doctors and Nurses treating you?

You sound delightful.

ThatVikRinA22 · 24/10/2012 16:35

if you didnt feel the need to wait for the scan then you didnt really need to be there - your gp could arrange a scan by appointment.

people do get grouchy when in pain but really - you are being very unreasonable. if you wanted instant treatment all you had to do was say 3 magic words

"i'll go private"

you would however have been expected to pay about £100 for the scan though. i think thats your choice. wait, or pay.

you chose to use the NHS. Its not perfect, but its there and its free. so stop moaning.

foxyhen · 24/10/2012 16:36

You are so so lucky to have access to decent free healthcare

YABU

Original poster
SubwayAllTheWay · 24/10/2012 16:36

To thoes that were asking if i took any pain relief, Of course i did before i went. would have been a bit of an idiot if i went to A&E just for 16p paracetamol. I thought i was having a stroke, thats why i went. Not because i fancied staring at grey walls for 4 hours.

And I had my 2 year old daughter with me the whole time. She was irritated, I was irrritated and i just wanted to know what was wrong with me for being in such excrutiation pain.

And no, i live far away from my family and no one was around to look after her

OP posts:
OneMoreChap · 24/10/2012 16:36

Yes, YABU.
I've waited 2 hours with a bleeding child.

On the flip side, I once tapped up because I'd been asked to go via A&E for an Xray diagnostic - no idea why, my GP sent me. I was in and out in about 40 minutes with a diagnosis and medication (OK, about 2 days worth and sent back to GP with a note).

If you've been triaged, sit down, shut up and wait till you're seen.
I strongly suspect if I went in with pain - in my chest - I'd get seen but then I'm an old bloke who they'd suspect heart attack...

You? You were a neck pain/pain in the neck.

OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos · 24/10/2012 16:36

Not saints, people with common sense.

GhostShip · 24/10/2012 16:37

The wait is long because people like you go in for trapped nerves. I can understand that they're painful, but things like that are for the walk in centre or your GP.

If you do feel you need to go to A&E, then expect the wait.

Two times recently I've been in - once with a ruptured esophagus - I was rushed straight through and was seen in minutes. Thats because I could have died.

The second time I had unexplained vaginal bleeding following by excruciating, blinding pain. I was waiting for an hour or so, and despite the pain I knew there were people who needed help more than I so I was willing to wait.

What did get on my fucking nerves was a woman in the next room, who'd only come to get some tablets because she didn't want to wait for her prescription!!

helpyourself · 24/10/2012 16:38

The clues in the name [hhmm]
It wasn't an accident. You walked out because you value your time more than the medic's, ergo it wasn't an emergency.

Sirzy · 24/10/2012 16:38

I remember once going outside to make a call while Ds was in a and e and over hearing a woman saying "Ye he fell down 2 steps and twisted his ankle. I called an ambulance but they made us wait in the fucking waiting room and others are getting seen before us now"

Some people are so deep in their own bubble they don't realise how they are wasting much stretched resources.

CailinDana · 24/10/2012 16:38

OP you're on a hiding to nothing looking for sympathy here. The triage nurse knew you weren't having a stroke, otherwise you would have been seen immediately, just as I was when I had a TIA (a sort of mini-stroke). She could see you had a non-urgent problem and treated you as such. Basically you shouldn't have been there.

HoratiaWinwood · 24/10/2012 16:39

To echo posters, if after four hours I had been told it was 2-3h for a scan and I thought I needed one, damn straight I would have stayed and waited.

In fact, when I was taken by ambulance to hospital screaming in pain, it was something like a four-hour wait just for the xray. In the end I was in A&E for about nine hours before being admitted.

For what it's worth, there is I believe a four-hour target for emergency departments or did Casualty make that up so you might have deserved to wait longer from a triage point of view.

In short, YAB totally U but get well soon. I've trapped and bruised nerves and it is excruciating. I went to my GP who told me to take painkillers.

Sidge · 24/10/2012 16:39

The reason you probably had to wait 4 hours is because loads of other people just like you pitch up at the Emergency Department instead of using other, more appropriate services such as their GP, pharmacies, Walk-In Centres, Minor Injury Units etc.

You can't use a service inappropriately and then complain about the wait really.

I appreciate you were in a lot of pain and worried but if you'd seen your GP, been assessed and they decided you were a clinical emergency they could have organised an admission to the most suitable unit, such as Medical Assessment or Surgical Assessment Units, bypassing the ED altogether.

starfishmummy · 24/10/2012 16:40

OP Next time you or a loved one is rushed into a&E with a life threatening problem, I am sure you won't mind waiting a while, because someone with a trapped nerve has been there longer...

Ephiny · 24/10/2012 16:41

If you'd actually had signs/symptoms of stroke they would probably have seen you sooner. If that was your concern, you probably should have been reassured by the long wait!

ExitPursuedByAaaaaarGhoul · 24/10/2012 16:41

There is a four hour target. When I was waiting with a broken foot, I heard someone say "Exit is about to go into the red" and they started dealing with me. I am not complaining, I was sat in a wheelchair and was bored but comfortable.