in thinking that some/alot of people go to A and E without a good reason

[ghostspirit]

im just wathing 24 hours in a&e and a mum took her child to hospital because he has hayfever. also i see loads of posters at bus stops it says things like have a back ache, see your GP do not do to a&e. seen a few other similar things. is this because there are a lot of people going to hospital when they don't need to or is it just a general thing to make people more aware.

this thread is like a rollercaster :/ dont think anyone is saying dont go to a and e if you have broken bones or deep cuts that need stitching. or to go gp first if have serious symptoms. i (think) the deaths door comment was a figure of speech.

but i would not have thought people need to go a and e over a split nail or a hurting back. or a something that they have had for 3 years thats bugging them that night.

its not about the people that need to be at a and e

ghost and now green, no one had answered me about taking a child with a cold in because your mummy senses are tingling. Yes there's a real issue but it's still a cold.

green, how would it work if you couldn't afford it? I'm doing shifts with my parents and feel sick most days trying to work out how I'm going to get there. He has a birthday and Christmas coming up and I am not ready, nor am I likely to be. that £10 would have killed him.

MostHigh that is happening in many places. we have a separate clinic as part of A&E that you could be triaged to so the minor injuries are seen quickly and got out and the real A&E patients are not left long.

Thank you Dishwasher, I don't mean to keep mentioning him on here but he's but he's a perfect example of why sometimes we take our babies in with a cold. he's doing really well now, charging around his room, he's desperate to leave the room now but they won't let him. they're hoping it'll be sooner now but they won't let him go until he's clear or he'll be back in.

confuddled. i have said several times. that its not aimed at the people who have a reason for going... i have already said i dont have the answers its a general discussion. not the ghost has the answer thread :/

But a cold is not a good reason to go is it?

Yes it's a discussion thread, discussions go two ways.

It's funny, the NHS is free to people and consequently they feel entitled to use it anyway they like. No money for a taxi because they don't fancy paying for one, no issues, claim they haven't got a penny on them and call 999. That is fine too!

Bring the whole family, if that meant we had to sit on the floor even better, and when I spoke to the Charge Nurse she claimed she couldn't say a thing because it's a culture thing in Asian communities to bring the extended family.

I work in a paediatric ward and you'll be amazed how the number of admissions drop right before Christmas, not just in A&E but also on the ward. We do get cases that do need to be admitted (and doctors tend to err on the side of caution with children) but most people (who celebrate Christmas) will bring their child into A&E only if they're worried about them or really feel they need it right before Christmas.

I'm working Boxing Day night so that should be fun when people bring their children in for everything they didn't worry too much about when it was Christmas Day the day before.

I'm never going to say to a parent that they shouldn't have brought their child in (I'm more likely to side eye the doctor who didn't consider the obvious answer to some presentations) but I think A&E is a crowded place and while the staff try to isolate the infectious children there, some infections might not be readily apparent. So you might bring your child in for hayfever and they could end up picking up a rather nasty cold or a vomiting bug. So until the NHS sorts out alternatives to A&E (they really need to do something about them), people need to think if they (or their child) really needs to go to A&E. If they do, then fine. That's what it's there for. If it could wait, then please wait.

yanbu, but on the hayfever one yabu, as hayfever that extreme can cause breathing difficulties, ds is allergic to pollen, which he needs a epi pen for (that and his many other allergies)

I was speechless today, was in hospital with kidney infection which needed a CT scan and the amount of people who came in with sore throats, D&V, head colds etc... there was 12 people in the waiting room, and I was the only one who needed to be seen in A&E, the rest were sent to the attached walk in centre.

It's a shame that so many minor injuries clinics have closed down, they were useful.

I completely agree that far too many people see GPs unnecessarily, taking up appointments that could be better used by someone else. I know someone who saw a GP because they were worried about a bogey in their baby's nostril. Plus a whole load of other similarly non important things.

In response to a PP who mentioned the need to get kids checked out in A&E to avoid being seen as negligent, the reverse can be just as problematic. A friend took her baby to A&E twice within a six month period and was flagged up to social services for an investigation as a result of two visits in a short period of time. They were a professional, sensible couple so it could happen to anyone.

Took DS2 (6ys) to GP. I had phoned that day and they fitted him in after surgery as he is a child.

We had been on holiday for a month where he basically never wore shoes. First day back at term he got a blister on the rear of his foot. I put this down to the no shoes to new shoes thing and let him go back to school next day in old shoes. Blister healed. Friday night he was crying with 'knee pain' so phoned 111. They said to take him to A&E. Doc got him top hop on sore knee perfectly and sent us home with some kalpol. I felt like a fraud. Monday the pain had returned (gone through all scenarios - fallen off slide ? etc). Went to GP at end of surgery. He wiggled his hip about, felt his nuts etc and told me to take him immediately to kids A&E as he suspected an infected hip joint, worse case was operation to have it drained under general.. Spent 2 nights on a ward investigating hip and possible tropical diseases from holiday.
Apparently an infection can travel to your joints as well as glands and that's what they thought happened to DS. Whouda known that?

My BIL works in a GPs. He often sees kids who have turned up with vomiting being fed Harribo in the waiting room. If they are that sick, don't feed them bloody Harribo (often chucked up whole if they are genuinely ill). Also people who demand to be seen because they have a cough that developed last night.

10 years ago I broke my big toe -open fracture. Went to A&E (by car) at 10pm on a Monday night. It was packed. I was triaged and didnt get any further attention until 1am. Clearly needed to be there, but it was obvious what was wrong with me and although I was pretty uncomfortable, it was unlikely that my condition was going to deteriorate. All the drunks with vague headachey/ abdominal/ vomiting type things were seen before me as all manner of potentially life-threatening possibilities had to be ruled out.

Having got wise to this, when I broke my wrist three years ago I went to minor injuries unit. This was teatime, weekday. Reception was full of mums with kids who had fallen over at school and were there just "to be sure". When I was eventually seen, I was xrayed and told to go to A&E...

DH fainted in the street recently after strenuous exercise, had a minor fit and vomited. We debated for an hour whether to see a doctor (it was a Saturday and we dont have OOH facility). Eventually went to A&E - consultant was horrified and said we should have called an ambulance. Mixed messages indeed.

I have only ever called an ambulance once. When DW collapsed on the floor after chemotherapy and I just couldn't lift her and carry her down three flights of stars to a taxi. She needed rehydration but I told the control centre to send it after serious emergencies like car crashes and heart attacks. It came in 10 minutes in central London.

On the other hand I have been to A&E at weekend one time with DS who was having breathing difficulties. I had a GP letter. The A&E nurses were really off with me. I had a sick baby and they had sat talking over a cup of tea for an hour in their office. They eventually rigged up an oxygen bottle. I administered the drug myself. I finished and had to go and tell them an oxygen bottle freely discharging into a small room was an explosion risk. They were still chatting drinking tea.

Really. A&E staff are not angels. Some are lazy, inefficient, intoxicated with power and bad at their job just like anyone else in any other job.