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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to hate a and e?

271 replies

Fuckingforriner · 22/04/2014 15:53

I'm waiting at the a and e in at the moment and I hate it.
I have a toddler who loves to scream all the time and I have everyone looking at me as if I can stop the toddler from screaming.

I've got an earache since Friday and when I tried to get to my GP today I was offered a telephone appointment. My phone rang three times and they hanged up as I was picking up the phone.

I'm in a lot of pain and when I get to the reception I found a rude woman who happen to be a nurse. I might be wrong but I noticed she was friendlier to other patients, maybe she didn't like my face, but I can't help thinking it's because I'm a fucking foreigner.

OP posts:

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 20:07

Poor OP. Good Friday is a terrible time to get what sounds like it could be an ear infection. Hindsight is 20/20 but by today, she must have been desperate for treatment.

I hope she's been seen by now, and I think that if she was told to go to A&E, she should go. I had a bastarding earache (which turned out to be infected) this year over a weekend, and NHS direct told me to get my arse to OoH within two hours. When I asked if that was really that necessary, the nurse was very firm with me! And that was only the day after it started.

If the OP has had it since Friday, she really did need to be seen today!

Musicaltheatremum · 22/04/2014 20:14

Oh my receptionists are such softies. We actually get asked to speak or deal with lots of things when duty doctor. Sometimes we go too far and do deal with a lot of inappropriate requests like urgent prescriptions last Thursday for oilatum cream.
It is annoying when you try to phone back and no one answers or it keeps going to answer phone but if you did phone back you would be given another phonecall.
Agree with lyndie. I would have seen you if you had had pain since Friday but don't see those who have only had it for 24 hours as it is commonly viral and just needs analgesia.
The Emergency dept (not called A&E or casualty anymore apparently) nurse may not have known you have been told to go down and may be tired and fed up as they are overwhelmed. I don't think it's fair to raise the "racist" comment every time something goes wrong though.

And no Scotland don't have walk in centres. They are all closing down anyway. They are hugely expensive to run and if GP surgeries got a reasonable amount of that money we would be able to see far more people.

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/04/2014 20:24

Every day is a school day on MN, I genuinely had no idea that an ear infection was considered urgent. Will make mental note!

Arkina · 22/04/2014 20:25

Scotland DOES have the equivalent of a walk in centre. If you phone nhs24 theyll very often refer you to a walk in centre at the local hospital. I was there the other night

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 20:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bathsheba · 22/04/2014 20:30

Arkina - ours is at the local hospital but it's the out of hours GP.

Sounds like yours is quite similar, you have yo go through NHS24 to get a slot - it's not the same as the walk in centres they gave in England where you, well, just walk in and wait

hiccupgirl · 22/04/2014 20:30

A&E does give antibiotics and to be fair the OP was advised to go there.

I took my 4 yr old DS 2x last week for a treatment when he was running extremely high temps that wouldn't come down with no clear infection to find. We were sent by the walk in centre doctor the first time and the second time was 5.30am on Saturday when there is no other options - the OOHs service had a helpful message saying my doctors surgery would be about to open...I think not! Not a single doctor or nurse suggested we should have taken him somewhere else and he was given antibiotics and taken care of.

I completely agree A&E shouldn't be rushed to without looking at the other options but sometimes it is the only option at that point in time or you are advised to go there by other medical professionals.

Waltonswatcher1 · 22/04/2014 20:30

My dd was hospitalised with an ear infection . I was told by the consultant that they were the most painful infections to get - just before the drum bursts .
I have never had one so don't know what it's like as an adult , but my dd was really sick with one and she was sent to the hospital ASAP by a gp .

devoniandarling · 22/04/2014 20:43

OP I hope you have been seen by now and had some resolution to your situation. No one likes A and E and there have been some very rude, very thoughtless people on this thread. Ear infections can be horrendous and CAN be a reason to go to A and E, especially if you have been told to go there by another HCP.

for you and as I say, hope you've got it sorted now.

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 20:46

I have never had one so don't know what it's like as an adult

Fucking awful. I woke up screaming at 5am when it properly escalated from beyond an itch. It was MNers who made me call NHS direct. I will be grateful forever. I thought it would be time wasting because it was 'just an ear', and was going to force myself to endure until Monday. I was barking mad. Cocodamol wasn't even that effective, tbh. Not compared to codeine for childbirth contractions.

I spent more time in tears with pain with my ear despite cocodamol than I did over a five day labour on codeine + paracetamol. (Long and boring, but basically I couldn't have anything better.)

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/04/2014 20:50

"So to those who question going to A&E with an ear infection then they obviously have never had a serious one."

Or maybe we just exhaust every attempt before resorting to emergency services.

Waltonswatcher1 · 22/04/2014 20:50

Tilly
And here's hoping I NEVER get one !

JerseySpud · 22/04/2014 20:50

The OP isn't in Jersey i don't think.

But i am.

If the OP WAS in Jersey they would have been sent to the out of hours doctors rather than A&E and then charged for the pleasure. and if they weren't from Jersey it would be about £80

Waltonswatcher1 · 22/04/2014 20:51

Candy
4 drs had looked in my dds ears and missed the infection that in the end hospitalised her ...

JerseySpud · 22/04/2014 20:53

And at one point when there was no reciprical health agreement with the uk (for about 2 years) it was amazing how many people on holiday went to a&e for stupid reasons because they didnt want to pay to go to the GP and didn't take out holiday insurance.

But thats rather off track!

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/04/2014 20:56

Walton What's that got to do with what I said? You went to the GP and your DD was misdiagnosed, continued to be unwell and you appropriately used A&E. I'm not saying I'd never go to A&E for ear pain but I'd certainly try other avenues first.

Sirzy · 22/04/2014 21:02

I have had a serious ear infection more than once. I have been hospitlised with a serious ear infection. But that is only after every other avenue had been explored. Peoples problem with the op (other than the apparent chip on her shoulder) was the decsion to go to A and E simply because she missed the phone call from the GP rather than exploring other avenues available to get help.

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 21:11

I may be projecting, but I think the OP may have been too self-sacrificing early on, like I would have been if MNers hadn't kicked some sense into me. She told herself it was a GP issue, and forced herself to carry on over the entire bank holiday extravaganza until Tuesday, today, when the doctors' surgery reopened. When the mess-up with the receptionist happened, the poor love had no reserves left.

In 20/20 hindsight, what she should have done was to call up 111 on Saturday. She'd have been given a referral to OoH or told to go to A&E back then. Like I was.

WheresRyder · 22/04/2014 21:13

Obviously too late now but when I had the most horrendous ear ache the NHS direct nurse gave me a tip that really worked. I had taken the strongest pain killers I had at home (ibuprofen and paracetamol) but seemingly no effect. I couldn't go to the out of hours or a&e as the dc were in bed and I was on my own. Her advice was a flannel placed in water as hot as you can bare, wring it out and hold against your ear and face, repeat when flannel cools. It really worked. I still needed to see the gp for antibiotic ear drops the next day but it really soothed the pain.

Recommended this to a friend in Facebook who had earache over a bank holiday weekend and she messaged to say she couldn't believe how well it had worked for her to.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 21:24

Peoples problem with the op was the decsion to go to A and E simply because she missed the phone call from the GP rather than exploring other avenues available to get help.

If that is people's problem, perhaps they could RTFT. She tried phoning back the GP's surgery, they said nothing doing till tomorrow; there is no walk-in clinic available; she phoned the hospital and they said come to A&E. She followed advice.

It's also rubbish to say earache is not an emergency. A mega earache is, in the worst case scenario, capable of being life-threatening; it can also be incredibly painful. It is perfectly valid to go to A&E when you are in major pain.

As for the toddler - have you ever tried to quieten a fractious, bored toddler in a stressful situation when you are in agony?

Classic example here of herd mentality - first few posters jumped on the OP, the others obediently followed. Why not try a bit of independent thought?

Sirzy · 22/04/2014 21:26

As for the toddler - have you ever tried to quieten a fractious, bored toddler in a stressful situation when you are in agony?

I don't know but perhaps putting your phone down and entertaining them would have helped rather than posting on mumsnet about being sat there with her upset!

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/04/2014 21:29

A&E departments are not for when you can't get a GP appointment. The system is its own worst enemy!

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 21:31

I was hospitalised last month with a quinsy infection, at the time I couldn't understand why I couldn't cope with the pain but I do now. My Gp advised that should my condition worsen I was to go to the ED for my particular illness but when I did I couldn't bring myself to do it and contacted NHS 24. That was a far better option than sitting for hours in a waiting room feeling like crap. And I still got admitted to hospital that night.

Let's not kid ourselves that all ear infections require hospital attention, most don't. We should be sensible enough to access the most appropriate service, not the one that simply suits us.

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 21:32

The woman made about three posts, seeking sympathy. She probably was being unreasonable about the nurse (although I wasn't there so can't be sure), but she's probably been in pain and may have been unable to sleep since Friday.

It's not as if she was gleefully posting about doing something that took lots of concentration while ignoring a screaming child. She had earache- prob just as desperate to get her child to shush as anyone else!

Musicaltheatremum · 22/04/2014 21:36

arkina it is not a walk in centre! you have to be referred by NHS 24 you can't just turn up. They have places in England were you can just walk into and be seen. I'm a GP so sure about this.

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