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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:56

Those of you who think the op was right. Really? You would go to A&E for a sore ear that is not so sore that your main issue is that the staff are racist and folk are disapproving of your toddler?

You would turn up at hospital for that?

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 22:57

Nicknacky, what does it matter whether she spoke to an A&E doctor? The point is that she was advised to go there. Is she supposed to ignore that? Where else was she supposed to get urgent medical assistance for a potentially serious condition?

Titsalinabumsquash · 22/04/2014 22:57

I'm sorry to hear that invisible, I'm only 27 and have spent the majority of my life dislocating my hips and shoulders, I have HMS so I do my ow your pain I don't personally go to A&E for that pain, my rheumatologist if far easier to contact than my gyne dr!

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 22:57

Nenny I don't think that was the issue as such, it was more the fact she went there if I read it correctly.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 23:00

Nicknacky, how do you know that the toddler and the potential racism are the OP's main issues? How do you know she wasn't trying to take her mind off the pain and her worry about what might be wrong?

I'm still bemused at all the people who think you never, ever go to A&E unless you are quite, quite sure that you have a major illness or injury.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:00

Oh come on nenny, chances are she has an ear infection. Hardly life threatening. And I say that after being admitted for three days with a quinsy infection last month. I doubt she was told to go to A&E with a possible ear infection in the middle of the afternoon.

StillStayingClassySanDiego · 22/04/2014 23:00

Her main point in the OP was her implication that the nurse was racist towards her.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:01

Sorry, we are crossing posts.....err because that was her main complaint?! Her title is about hating the NhS. Not how ill she was.

WaitMonkey · 22/04/2014 23:03

Ignoring the "racist" nurse and being treated in an accident and emergency unit for earache, I do hope the op is ok. I had it last year, first time since I was a child and I'd forgotten how painful it is.

NurseyWursey · 22/04/2014 23:03

People who go to a&e for things like this are the reason why waiting times are so long. Think about that next time you're in for something serious.

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 23:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:05

That's the point, you can't. But it doesn't make it right. That's why the rest of us should make rational decisions and not go to A&E when there is alternatives.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 23:06

Nenny I don't think that was the issue as such, it was more the fact she went there if I read it correctly.

Sorry, you've lost me.

Oh come on nenny, chances are she has an ear infection.

Loving the way you can diagnose over the internet. Is she not entitled to check in case it's something more serious? Can I refer you back to the case of the person who died of a brain abscess after a doctor dismissed her problems as a mild ear infection?

ACatCalledColin · 22/04/2014 23:07

I wonder if the OP was seen in the end.

charleybarley · 22/04/2014 23:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 23:07

That's why the rest of us should make rational decisions and not go to A&E when there is alternatives.

So what alternatives did OP have?

Nennypops · 22/04/2014 23:08

who really wants to spend hours in a waiting room unless they think there is something serious wrong?

Precisely. So perhaps OP is genuinely worried?

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 22/04/2014 23:08

Bloody hell nenny someone dies from an extreme condition and you think somehow who herself thought her condition only warranted the gp until she found she couldn't get in is at all comparable? Clutching at straws, much?

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:10

Sorry my point was that she went to A&E in the first place and not sought alternative treatment. No one was criticising her taking her child with her, most of us know that sometimes there is no option.

Nope I can't diagnose over the internet. Neither can the people who think the op has a life threatening condition. That's why I stated she should get treated but not at A&E. I refer you to my situation.

And a doctor misdiagnosed? Unfortunately that could happen at A&E, Gp, doctor on call etc......not a reason to go to A&E as your first port of call.

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:13

Charley you are proving my point. A&E is full to busting of people who are not sober or not mentally stable, they don't need the rest of us adding to if if necessary.

Nennypops, are you being deliberately obtuse? Of course she had other options. Gp again, nhs direct etc.

DustyCropHopper · 22/04/2014 23:13

Sometimes I wonder if threads like these are helpful, with people piling in saying this is not a reason to be at a and e or that isn't. I know such threads have made me wary, of even afraid of going to a and e incase I am deemed as wasting their time. In fact, in January my 8 year old got some food lodged in his oesophagus (a fairly common occurrence with him, but he normally manages to bring it back up within 30-40 mins). This time he couldn't bring it back up and after 3 hours we visited minor injuries and was told he would need to go to a and e. I argued that he was neither an accident or emergency, as he was walking, talking and breathing, he just couldn't swallow anything. The nurse pointed out he had not swallowed any fluids in 3 hrs and if that continued he would dehydrate, making him an emergency. I went to a and e, apologising for the inconvenience, making it clear we were sent by minor injuries. The outcome was being admitted to a ward for a 2 night stay, camera down and a big piece of meat being removed from the oesophagus.
I am not saying wether the op was right or not, but people seem to say almost everything apart from a heart attack or a missing limb is not worthy of a and e and could result in some one not wanting to waste a and e time when actually that is where they should be.

TillyTellTale · 22/04/2014 23:15

The title for me is 'to hate a and e'! Are you sure I'm not in a parallel dimension?

Does anyone out there like going to A&E? My mother went there with a head injury once, and took Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with her on the assumption she'd be miserable and bored in the waiting room. She got blood all over it.

And she was criticised for taking her child with her...

NurseyWursey · 22/04/2014 23:16

Can I refer you nenny to who I used to see come into A&E with ingrown toenails, ear ache, conjuctivitis, 'itchy nose', a cough.. Now I'm sure each person felt justified because of pain/annoyance etc but unfortunately it does mean it is justified. Why do you think we've had all the campaigns lately? To prevent exactly this.

And I have no qualms about treating someone who is seriously is pain but what does my bloody head in is how they'll allow it to get worse and worse, not bother to see a GP but then suddenly decide it's worth an A&E visit.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 22/04/2014 23:16

I worked with a registrar who misdiagnosed a child with a viral infection who then went home from a&e and died from pneumonia.
A&E isn't a golden ticket for correct diagnosis

Nicknacky · 22/04/2014 23:17

Dusty, I don't think anyone is saying that. But when resources are stretched and there is alternative services available they should be used first.

I'm reluctant to use A&E unless I need to and I agree with Charley that most people know when to use it and feel almost apologetic when they do but also there is people who really should have considered their options. We live in a day and age with many great services available to use, let's utilise them.

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