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.

No such thing as just a migraine, just a migraine is a headache. It took me a long time to accept I have them because I know that they're bad and I'd never have used that phrase.

BTW, my son is in hospital with a cold. He's in isolation on a cardiac ward. No one knows why. He's been on three different versions of salbutamol simultaneously, now down to nebs every two hours but that's not enough and his heart can't cope with it more often. They're hoping he'll be home for Christmas. They won't let him out unless he's well, not just better. They're putting him through tests whilst they have him. Should we call an ambulance next time he has a cold?

I remember being in OOH with one of my daughters, she was on nebs too, one after the other because she was breathing too fast. The GP checked twice because she was playing andand happy, he told me not to worry because since his son dropped down in cardiac rest in front of him whilst playing on the waiting room playground he's never paid attention to what they're doing,children are more resilient than adults.

This is turning into A&E top trumps.

OPs point is valid. There is no money to fix the problems though. We all need to use some common sense.

I was enraged watching this programme when two teenage twats superglued their hands together for a bet. Seriously?

Lots of "A&E with toothache!" posts here, so here's an alternative side to it: I had to go to A&E with toothache once - twice in one day, but bear with me.

I had a raging infection in my wisdom tooth. I had an appointment at the dental hospital a couple of days later for extraction - it was too complicated to be done at the dentist b/c the root was sitting on a nerve - and I'd seen the emergency dentist the night before who put some kind of paste on it, which did nothing, and gave me no pain relief. Meanwhile, I was in utter agony, because the root was exposed. Painkillers with codeine did nothing, the GP wouldn't help because it was a dental issue, and the dentist wouldn't help because I was already scheduled at Kings. Finally it got so bad that I left work and went to the nearest A&E to see if they could give me something, anything, for pain relief. They gave me Tramadol - it did nothing. Some hours later, still in agony, not just in the tooth but in my entire head up that side, I called the OOH dentist service, who called me back and said that since I'd already seen the emergency dentist, they couldn't do any more, and I was to go and buy Paracetamol. I explained that I'd already had Tramadol, which had made no difference. There then followed an argument about how Paracetamol was stronger than Tramadol (really?!) and I was to take that. By this time I was banging my head against the wall in agony. Literally the only thing I could do was go back to A&E in my local area (a different one) where thankfully in the Urgent Care Centre (it's attached, they're in the same place) they took me seriously and gave me the strong 30mg Codeine and a Diclofenac suppository and oh god the relief, I could have cried, I was so grateful to them.

It might have seemed frivolous but the pain was absolutely unbearable and there was literally no other option available to me.

When the tooth finally came out a couple of days later, the extraction took 45 minutes and the thing was so angry it was almost red. I took a photo of it for posterity :-D

Dsis went to A and E with an ear infection after phoning her GP who wouldn't see her again after she had had an appointment that morning. She'd had the same problem about a year before and had ended up in hospital for a week. She'd been told then that when the ear starts swelling it's important to be seen but her GP said that she had to give the abs a chance to work this time.

That night she was in agony and was almost hysterical with pain, so we took her up. She was triaged straight away and rushed to the ward within half an hour. She was put on iv ab,oromorph and tramadol and was in hospital for over a week.

She then got a standard letter asking why she had attended a and e and not her GP, which may not have been necessary if she had been seen.

She's on an SOS now.

I do think sometimes you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I'm not trying to be Nigel Farage, but I wonder if the fact that we have many more people from other countries living here has had an impact. Not necessarily in numbers but in attitude. Some people might not know any better, and some might simply ignore the protocol of going to a GP first. In many developing countries, for example, there isn't a GP system, you have a medical problem you go straight to the hospital. Perhaps SOME of our A&E overuse is due to "lost in the translation" aspects.

A GP receptionist told me DS was fine and just had a cough and cold when he was a baby. I took him to a and e anyway as I was a "paranoid" mum. DS left 12 days later having nearly died twice and still suffering as a result of damage done 5 years later.

Sirzy why did you not wait for the GP? Or did the reception refuse you?

Receptionist said no emergency appointments. If I had waited for the GP he could easily have died.

I've never been into A&E as an adult, but have taken the children to our local children's hospital A&E on a number occasions. The issues turned out to be viral meningitis, broken arm, head injury from falling out of a tree and once I slammed the door on DS's fingers (by accident!) and I had broken something, but luckily it turned out ok.

I think it's different when children are involved, but I do think that a lot of adults misuse the service. They should know well enough what is an emergency and what isn't. When it's a child there's a lot more guess work involved and IME the medical team are very happy to see children because of that.

What kind of issue did he have to almost die twice? Were you insistent with reception ? Maybe they were genuinely busy that day and A&E was the suitable alternative.

He had bronchiolitis. But my point was to the poster who commented on a receptionist deciding a baby had "just a cough" . Receptionists aren't medically trained and can't make such judgements.

My doctors will see you on the day if it needs dealing with quickly. Do most doctors not do that? Every doctors I've ever been to has done. Also we have two walk in centres. Is it not easier to use those? You wait less time than a&e!

Just a reminder of when A & E is necessary:
DS was at university 150 miles away) and one Wednesday had bad bruising and swelling on his leg (thought he got it from a tackle in a football match). He was finding it difficult to walk. I told him to go to the GP but he didn't. By Sunday he could scarcely move. I checked the NHS website, and with his symptoms, it said he should go to A & E, which surprised me.
DS & friend went to A & E where a blood test showed he had leukaemia.

I am so greatful our local hospital has a children's a and e. Given DS has a habit for being ill on a Friday or Saturday at around 2am I wouldn't like the idea of having to take him to a general a and e. Even in peads a and e the receptionists take some stick must be even worse for those working in adult departments.

It's a nurse/receptionist. They assess you and assign you a colour.

There's no privacy, which is great if you're nosey like me

He was training up another nurse and used the family with a baby as an example of how he knew the baby was fine. Couple weren't carrying it and were relaxed, and then admitted they were only there as the grandmother had told them to go.

There were ten of us in this queue, and it was disheartening to see the woman in agony who kept pissing blood, the lad with half his lip hanging off from rugby, and others, having to wait while people who could have gone to a gp were cluttering up a&e. It was midweek, too, not the weekend.

Dr's train for years to be able to diagnose and treat people and even then they can't know just by looking, they have to do the right scans/blood tests - how on earth is the lay person supposed to know that their symptoms are nothing to worry about/life threatening. Especially with children.

I've heard far to many stories of people not seeing a Dr when they should have for fear of wasting time. Including a good friend of mine who's child slipped into a coma with meningitus (mum just thought she was sleeping and didn't want to disturb her) so so luckily her aunt was a Dr and called round and they managed to get her to hospital to save her life.

I always apologise to the paramedics too well, it comes out more like the elephant man saying it when I'm mid migraine 'Mmm thowwwy isssthhh a thing'

I've always felt guilty when I'm in an ambulance but the paramedics have always been lovely and like pp have said it's nice to go to a genuine call out.

I didn't realise care homes have to call an ambulance whenever a resident falls they're not allowed to pick them up even with equipment to help

I have a recurring and potentially serious problem with one of my ears.

If I can be seen quickly (on the same day that it starts) then it can usually be treated effectively with antibiotics and other medication at home.

If I have to wait for an appointment and can't get antibiotics immediately then the wait means the problem escalates and I end up having a week long stay in hospital on intravenous antibiotics, orally taken antibiotics and various super strength painkillers, with a tube inserted in my ear to stop it swelling closed. All of this has the potential to cause hearing loss, nerve damage to my face and possibly even septicaemia.

Sometimes it's been impossible to see my GP quickly enough to stop the problem before it's really taken hold, and it's left me with no option but to turn up to A&E.

I do feel bad about that, because in the early stages it really isn't serious enough to warrant an A&E visit, but it's often the only way I can get the antibiotics quickly enough.

Waiting two or three more days for the GP isn't possible because by that point even A&E would be to late, I'd need admitting to a ward.

It's a bit of a Catch 22 for me. The GP can't see me, I know at the start of the problem that it's not yet serious enough to warrant going to A&E for a prescription for antibiotics, but waiting for the GP is not an option because the problem escalates very quickly and so waiting for the GP is out of the question. I'd end up being admitted to hospital before the appointment was due. So A&E is often the only option.