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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

266 replies

ghostspirit · 11/12/2014 21:43

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.

OP posts:
Original poster
ghostspirit · 13/12/2014 12:17

i wonder if it changes being a first time mum to having more children. when i had my first 2 children i panicked more. very first time my daughter had a convulsion we were in a shop so an amubulance was called. went to hospital she was watched over night. then sent home. she had another one at home some time later so i called 999. and was the same thing again. the next time i never called for 999. i just called my gp to let her know what had happend and she said as long as i feel i can manage it and the fit only last a min or 2 and it dont keep happening i can manage it at home. mind you i do still think its a good idea to take a child whos fitting to hospital. it was only because i had been there done that... and thought calling gp at least informs them and they can give their advice.

then my son cut his chin open when he fell onto the laminate flooring. i called 999 because thats what i thought was right thing. but since then i have not called 999 i get cabs. having said that i might still have called one if it was pissing with blood. as long as i have it covered and pressure on it it was not really bleeding.

my 3 year old had an open fracture on her toe i got a cab for that. and bus back

OP posts:
Nancy66 · 13/12/2014 12:24

People way too quick to call for an ambulance too.

A friend is a paramedic in east London and she says that two thirds of the calls they respond to are non emergency

MrsDeVere · 13/12/2014 12:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nancy66 · 13/12/2014 12:42

A lot of them can wait though - or they could just ask a pharmacist for advice.

I saw the episode of 24 hours in A&E where the mum took her son with hayfever. All she had to do was go to Boots....

treaclesoda · 13/12/2014 12:48

There is no minor injuries centre, and no walk in centre where I live, and no 24 hour pharmacy either. There is an out of hours doctor but if you attend there at eg 8pm and urgently need antibiotics, or very strong pain relief, you will end up in A&E anyway because you can't get the prescription for the drugs until 9am the next morning. I can see why people go to A&E with conditions that are perhaps not life threatening but are extremely painful, or where an infection has the potential to get worse within the space of a few hours.

3littlefrogs · 13/12/2014 12:48

AliceLidlDonkey

Your GP can give you a Script for standby antibiotics.
You keep it in your house to be used if required.
If you have to use it, you inform your GP and order another one.

Lots of people with chronic conditions have this system in place.

DishwasherDogs · 13/12/2014 12:50

I called an ambulance for Dh last year, it was three months after he had a stroke and he had symptoms of another.
It turned out to be Bell's palsy but we didn't know until he'd been in A&E for 10 hours and had a ct scan and stayed overnight on the stroke ward.
So as it happened it wasn't an emergency and Dh was in no danger, but at the time we didn't know.

I also called an ambulance for ds when he passed out and didn't come round. The first response car came and gave him oxygen. By the time the ambulance got here he was much better, but they still took us through to A&E and he was admitted.

FayKorgasm · 13/12/2014 12:51

My parents are in Ireland and as they are pensioners they get free gp appointments and prescriptions. My dad was at the gp during the week and got chatting to someone he knew who came in for a check up at least once a month because it was free for him now that he too was a pensioner,previously it would have cost â?¬50.
If people are charged for time wasting I think it would free up gp appointments and therefore ease the A and E congestion.

treaclesoda · 13/12/2014 12:56

I suppose the problem is, how do you decide if someone is timewasting though?

Yes, if you have a broken finger nail, that seems fairly clear cut.

But what if you go to A&E with a severe headache and it turns out to be, well, a severe headache. But the person next to you in the waiting room also has a severe headache, they feel exactly the same. But it turns out that they have something life threatening. Even the doctors don't know which is which until they do a scan. Is the first person fined for attending A&E with a non serious condition?

treaclesoda · 13/12/2014 12:58

Sorry, posted too soon.

Or if you have someone who has serious anxiety problems, and they genuinely think that some small symptom is imminently life threatening? They are not deliberately time wasting, they are properly ill. The problem is that the 'proper' illness isn't the physical symptom they are worried about, the actual illness is the anxiety. But they are ill, so they don't know that it is the anxiety.

It would all be a bit of a nightmare.

MrsDeVere · 13/12/2014 12:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Nancy66 · 13/12/2014 13:09

he was an adorable kid though....so cute what he was saying about his mum !

Purplepixiedust · 13/12/2014 13:09

A&e is for accidents and emergencies not just life threatening emergencies.

They prioritise quite rightly the more urgent cases. Same with an ambulance. If you ring 999 they ask questions. If ugent they are very quick in my experience. If not life threatening you can wait hours. They also assess you and don't take you to hospital if not needed (and sometimes a paramedic in a car is sent to assess prior to the ambulance).

I went to a&e with a twisted knee last year (bloody snow) after phoning gp and being advised to do so. I also went once with chest pain and palpetations and tingling down my arm. Classic heart attack symptoms which turned out to be pluerisy and anxiety. Oh and twice with tummy pain which turned out to be my appendix. We have taken DS on two occassions once when he felt his throat was closing up (he was fine) and once when he was little with a dislocated shoulder. He is 8 so thats not bad going. They have always been lovely. On these occassions we have gone under our own steam.

My husband had to call 999 when I fell down stairs (blue lights for that one) and someone else did when we had a motorbike accident. I have had to do it for my muma few times for a stroke, fractures and falls. I have nothing but good things to say about the NHS and the timewasters are annoying but I have noticed the hospital is usually good at identifying them quickly (and making them wait or kicking them out). Those of you who have never needed to go/call are very lucky. I to cannot believe people go with a broken nail it's Madness! Even if it seems important in their world it's surely not a 5 hour wait in a&e worth of urgent!

HappyAgainOneDay · 13/12/2014 13:11

Instead of asking for a GP appointment, isn't it possible to see a practice nurse or ask for one to telephone back for advice? I know they have other things to do just like those that I see for regular injections or a blood sample to be taken.

tobysmum77 · 13/12/2014 13:12

I think that as others have said I'm not a doctor so I cannot assess particularly well what is a medical emergency and what isn't. For myself I underassess when I did my coccynx in the gp was Confused about the fact that I hadn't bothered but with my children I am more cautious.

So I once took dd2 with a tummy bug but she was lifeless, limp and I couldn't rouse her.

I guess I was a time waster. If it had been meningitis I wouldn't have been though Hmm .

Purplepixiedust · 13/12/2014 13:20

I have used the 111 service too. One time was a weekend and I had severe headache and neckache which wouldn't shift and had kept me awake. They went through a serie of questions and were able to offer self care advice until I could see GP whereas according to DR Google it could have been any number of scary things. Didn't rush off to a&e but I guess some would.

Also when my son was a baby with very high temp I rang them and they said to alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen and even wake him up to give it which I did and it worked. I know a number of parents who have dashed off to a&e with a hight temp but some may be genuine as if the advice hadn't worked then next step would be GP or a&e as sometimes antibiotics are needed or the temp indicates a more serious problem.

The trouble is you don't always know what is urgent and what isn't and the internet can be enough to scare you to death!

DisneyDivaWoo · 13/12/2014 13:28

We don't have doctors making house calls and our GP hardly ever have emergency appointments. The 111 service is crap! They have to stick to a script that can end up with an ambulance being called out when you don't need one. Out of hours docs are useless here and the walk in Centre shuts at 8pm.

What really grates on me is when piss heads are being violent and the police have to be called in. It must be frustrating when you are trying to help someone and they are being a shit!

3littlefrogs · 13/12/2014 13:37

In USA, where you have to pay before you even get picked up off the road, first aid and CPR training is compulsory in all schools and work places.

I learned first aid at school, and subsequently taught "save a life" courses in local government. I think everyone should learn some first aid, particularly before becoming a parent. It would be a useful addition to the curriculum.

Sallystyle · 13/12/2014 13:49

Yeah, with my health anxiety I can be seen as a time waster to go in for a mole that is perfectly normal. At the time I believe it is cancerous.

Charging time wasters would get messy. Not many people go to the gp/A&E for the fun of it, they believe they need to be there. Well the majority do.

I know a lot of time that my anxiety is making me worse but I still believe it needs checking out or deal with weeks of severe panic attacks. Like I said in the gp thread, if they had better mental health care it would go a long way in getting people like me to half their visits. CBT for four weeks isn't enough for me. But I haven't been able to get fuck all else.

I have never called 999 for me but did for dh twice when he had pancreatitis twice and I couldn't drive then or even get him in a taxi and we thought he was having a heart attack first.

I had to take dd 5 to A&E for an abscess on her finger because the gp wouldn't touch it and the walk in clinic couldn't do it. I probably looked like a time waster sitting there, but she needed it drained and antibiotics and we had no other choice.

weebarra · 13/12/2014 14:12

I've never been to A&E myself but DS2 has been three times. First when he was ten days old and he arrested on the way into the hospital (undiagnosed heart condition which needed immediate surgery), second was a broken foot and most recently was an eye infection when he was in for three days having IV antibiotics.
The last one we were directed to A&E by the nurse at the surgery as she wasn't happy it was just conjunctivitis.

hotbutteredcrumpet · 13/12/2014 14:18

Yes, YANBU.

A lot of people attend A&E unnecessarily for all sorts of reasons.

Original poster
ghostspirit · 13/12/2014 14:40

when people on this thread have shared their reasons for going a and e they seem like good reasons.

im on about the people that do go for no good reason. not the people that have a good reason for going.

OP posts:
dobby2001 · 13/12/2014 15:12

Have read through all 9 pages and am surprised more poeple are not suggesting use of the 111/NHS24 service .

It is much better than the previous NHS direct and they are able to advise on the best service/treatment options according to your symptoms.

What is available will vary according to your region of course, but it is better than guessing best options surely.

TeenKitten · 13/12/2014 15:46

A couple of years ago, I went to the GP with a bruised/mildly sprained wrist and he told me I should have gone to A&E...

So when I woke up last month with knee pain (no swelling but excruciating pain and knee collapsed when I tried to put weight through it) I went to A&E who prescribed some painkillers and told me I should have gone to my GP...

It's kind of mixed messages.

Labtest7 · 13/12/2014 16:45

3 and a half years ago my then 4 year old daughter was sent to our local A@E department by our GP. She had a sore hip and slight temperature that had started that day. Out of all the children at A@E that evening she probably looked the most well, running around, playing with toys etc. It was only because she had a slight temp and bone pain that blood was taken. These blood tests showed that she had leukaemia and she started chemo 2 days later.
Obviously paper cuts and the like are a ridiculous reason to attend A@E but its not always possible to tell genuine cases just by appearances.