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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:

Gurnie · 22/04/2014 22:26

Yes, I guess it probably differs depending on where you live.

Titsalinabumsquash · 22/04/2014 22:26

Is there an official Mumsnet allowed list so we know where in the body our severe pain needs to be before we can use A&E?

Chest pain - A&E
Abdominal pain -A&E
Thunderclap headache - A&E

Ear pain - ghastly, nhs time waiting, heathen...

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:27

Charley, are you suggesting everyone with a possible infection goes to A&E on the off chance it becomes serious? Or do the sensible thing and seek appropriate care?

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:29

I don't know the stats but I would suggest more people have died from chest pain than they have earache.......

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 22:31

Well, some people seem to think the OP just turned up at A&E. And Sirzy said no-one has denied that earaches can be serious, whereas it seems to me half the thread was people just going, "use OTC painkillers, what do you expect them to do about it?" Prescribe antibiotics and prescription painkillers, for a start!

I haven't had the misfortune to visit an A&E since 2006, but I'm sure there were children queuing with the rest of the drunks. Might have changed though. It's hardly up-to-date knowledge I've got!

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 22:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:33

People go to A&,E with earache ? How fucking selfish. A&E is full of very ill people, it isn't the place for toddler's.

Dear me, fucking selfish to go to A&E when you you are advised to do so, when you are in severe pain, and when you have symptoms which can be diagnostic of extremely serious illnesses?

Have you been to A&E recently? Have you watched "24 hours in A&E"? If you seriously think that A&E is exclusively filled with very ill people, you are living a fantasy life.

Do tell us what a mother with sole charge of a toddler and no-one to palm him off onto is supposed to do with him when she needs to see a doctor urgently.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:35

Nobody has denied that ear infections can be serious but the vast majority of them aren't

Do tell us how, if you are suffering from major earache, you are supposed to be able to tell (a) that it's an ear infection rather than, say, a brain abscess or tumour; and (b) that it's one of the non-serious variety?

Titsalinabumsquash · 22/04/2014 22:36

Ok, so they only let you in if you're going to die?...

Seriously though, if the body is in a severe amount of pain and there isn't adequate medical advice/assistance being given then A&E is the right place for you.

Pain is the bodies way of telling you something is wrong and no body should have to suffer in a lot of pain, regardless of where it is on the body.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:36

Drunks are a separate issue though, isn't it? If you read my earlier posts you will see I had a serious infection myself. But there is more appropriate places to be treated, and I was admitted to a ward at midnight!

And to be honest, you may be seen quicker than sitting in A&E for what is a relatively minor matter.

And the crux of the op's post was to complain about the nhs and racist staff. BI couldn't have posted on mumnet if my life depended on it when I was ill enough for hospital admission.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:39

Nennypops, childcare issues are hardly a reason to attend A&E though, is it?

And any appropriately qualified doctor will diagnose the condition, doesn't need to be a A&E doctor.

No one is disputing the need for medical attention, but saying that the op maybe should have tried to seek alternative assistance. Like most of us do.

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 22:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IamInvisible · 22/04/2014 22:42

^Seriously though, if the body is in a severe amount of pain and there isn't adequate medical advice/assistance being given then A&E is the right place for you.

Pain is the bodies way of telling you something is wrong and no body should have to suffer in a lot of pain, regardless of where it is on the body.^

I'm just off down to A&E. I've been in absolute agony all over the weekend. I can't put any weight on my left leg, my pelvis is really unstable and all my drugs, including Tramadol, aren't touching it!

Meanwhile, in the real world, I'll wait until I see my consultant again on May 30th!

candycoatedwaterdrops · 22/04/2014 22:42

Do many people think; "Ear ache, I wonder if it's an infection or a brain tumour?" You cannot seriously expect people to go to A&E in case it's serious unless the signs are really prominent.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:44

Charley, a lot of people aren't good at judging that. But thats why there every so often there is publicity campaigns about people calling ambulances for cut fingers etc.

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 22:46

Human health is a spectrum. The OP maybe wasn't ill enough for hospital admission. But maybe she would have been with another day. It's speculation, but it's possible.

Medical professionals far more qualified than I will ever be have said a flat rate charge for GP visits would cost more overall than it would save, because people would postpone asking for medical treatment until they were certain it wouldn't clear up on its own and end up needing more expensive treatment.

This might be an example of it. She'd been waiting since Friday for the GP to re-open, as it was. I was told to be at OoH by 2pm, when I called at lunchtime on a Saturday. I explicitly asked if there were any later appointments, because I was going to have to get the bus to the OoH clinic at the hospital!

Titsalinabumsquash · 22/04/2014 22:47

But I'm assuming you know your condition?

I have no problem saying that when my abdominal pain got to the point where tramadol wasn't touching it and the OOH dr said she couldn't prescribe anything stronger, I got my friend to wheel me next door to A&E so I could be given morphine, just for some relief from the agony and so I could sleep without the pain that left me immobile and incapacitated, I had a consultant specialist due to see me 2 weeks after that but at that moment in time I was desperate not to have the pain and I would have done anything for those few hours of relief.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:48

Nennypops, childcare issues are hardly a reason to attend A&E though, is it?

Precisely when did I say they were? I made it perfectly clear that severe pain and a symptom which can in some circumstances be indicative of something life-threatening are perfectly good reasons for attending A&E. The point is that in that situation you don't go without medical treatment just because you can't arrange child care.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:50

No one is disputing the need for medical attention, but saying that the op maybe should have tried to seek alternative assistance. Like most of us do.

RTFT? She's explained more than once that she tried to find alternative assistance and was ultimately advised to go to A&E. Was she supposed to go to a witch doctor?

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 22:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:52

Apologies if I picked your post up wrong but you asked where single mothers were supposed to go if they couldn't "palm" off their children?

If there is no other option child goes where mother does.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:53

In fact even when I had an ulcer in my eye, I think that was less painful. It was also treated at A&E and then the ophthalmology clinic as without prompt treatment it can cause blindness. I was lucky to only damage my eye by -1.0 and for the scar to be off centre. But perhaps I should have gone to my GP first......

Lucky for you that you didn't post anything on MN. I can just see the 180 judgy messages excoriating you for taking up time in A&E when you only had a sore eye.

IamInvisible · 22/04/2014 22:53

Yes I know my condition and I am completely incapacitated by pain. I would not go to A&E for it if I needed more pain relief, I'd use my GP or OOHs.

I've been in this state for 17+ years! I've been to A&E once and that was because my pelvis visibly dropped by an inch on one side when I got out of the shower.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:54

Nenny I have read that fucking thread. I still doubt she spoke to a doctor at A&E. Don't be so rude.

Charley, they very probably do have other issues but it still doesn't stop people turning up at A&E or calling ambulances when it isn't necessary.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:54

If there is no other option child goes where mother does.

Which was precisely my point. I was responding to posts telling OP off for daring to take her toddler with her when she has to visit A&E.

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