to think that no wonder the NHS A&E depts waiting time is bad, there are so many timewasters.

[CalicoBlue]

I just spent the afternoon (3 hours) in Urgent Care/A&E with DS. I have not been to A&E in over 12 years and was really surprised at all the reasons people were there for. Granted if it had not been the weekend I would have gone to my GP, but my son's condition meant he needed to be seen today.

We were sat very close to the welcome window, so I heard every new person come in. There were so many people there who should not have been. The nurse kept asking people if they had seen their GP, so many said no.

One girl said that she had been there last week had been given antibiotics for a water infection and it had not gone so she wanted to see the doctor again, the nurse said that she should have made an appointment for her doctor and that urgent care was not to come to instead of the GP. There were at least two that had lost prescriptions given by their GP so wanted UC to replace them and would not take no for an answer. It went on an on, another person came in with his father who had an ongoing leg problem, the nurse tried to explain that he needed to see his GP, but he did not have one as he was on holiday and wanted to get his leg sorted before he went home again, they did tell him that they would not see him and he would not get the operation he said he wanted on the NHS.

I estimated that at least one third of the people coming there could have been seen by their GP. There were lots who did need to be seen, and lots of sick kids, but they had to wait so long. I felt quite guilty for being and taking up the doctors time.

We had to wait 8 hours to be seen by a doc when I took my one year old. Completely disgusted. And we were sent by the GP!

I broke my toe so walked in (limping slightly) looked quite healthy but I wanted it checked out.

My daughter had hurt her arm and we went to the local children's hospital A&E. My sister works there. She pulled me over to book her in and the parents next to me had a small baby and there reason for being there was that she hadn't eaten her and tea! They got huffy when the child with burns was rushed through first.

My sister says the Eastern Europeans refuse to register with a GP and think they can just turn up at A&E.

My cousin is always at A&E with her ds - every cough, tummy bug and temperature means a trip there for them. Often accompanied by an 'omg I think ds has meningitis. On way to A&E' Facebook message.

Her and her mates always advise it on fb too id one if their friends says their child is ill. Recent one played out over fb

Friend: argh - my daughter's bad again. Coughing loads and spewed twice.
Cousin: take her to A&E. I would
Friend: can't. No money for the bus or a taxi
Cousin: just get an ambulance. They have to take you if you've got no money. Your princess is too precious not to
Friend: ok
Me: please don't ring an ambulance - it costs the nhs a fortune. see if she can keep calpol and cough medicine down.
Cousin: erm I didn't ask you. Nobody should take chances with kids.

Big argument about the nhs being stretched
Cousin: fuck off.

I bet they then complain about having to wait don't they mayfriday?

Some people do seem to struggle to understand why is appropriate use of a and e

Those seriously ill are taken straight through. When I was taken by ambulance recently, I was taken straight into the unit that could treat me. You wouldn't have seen me at all.
Also hospitals have a pink card system which means certain patients are routinely taken onto the ward they need to be on by an ambulance. They don't go through A&E. These are some of the most ill patients.

Threads like this make me realise how lucky I am with the services available in my local area. I'm registered at a huge GP surgery where I've never had any trouble getting a same-day appointment if I call at the right time, there's a walk-in centre in town, OOH open all night and at weekends who picked up on my pre-cancerous tumour, A&E, paediatric A&E that saw DS straightaway the one time I've taken him and the hospital has a GP clinic on-site that you can be triaged to or access directly as needed.

Our local A&E is always bedlam, but they do have a separate reception for children so they get seen quicker which is great.

I did get a few cat's bum looks when I went in with DS, 15, and over 6 foot tall. Poor kid had a swollen testicle - no way he was going to let on how much pain he was in, and 111 said get him in quick in case it was a torsion. He got seen before all the poor wheezing and vomiting toddlers.

Lots of people in A&E don't need to be there l. But the problem starts with a gp appointments. I had a neck injury and could lift my head properly or even stand up on my own. Dh called my doctors who gave an appointment in a week. I was crying in pain and couldn't move but a week is what they had. So had to go to A&E, was examined and sent home with painkillers. A gp could have done it. But I could not wait a week.

One thing I've been really impressed with is the system for urgent care here in sweden - there's your normal doc. You go online and you tell them what's up and when you're free. They text you back with an appt.

That usually takes several days, so there are also walk in GP clinics for the things that can't wait - strep throats and what have you.

Then there are minor injuries units, for, let's say, a slip on the ice and a maybe broken wrist.

Then there's A and E.

It works SO much better than the UK system. There's 24 hour walk in care at several urgency levels and it's great. You also have to pay though. It's about twenty quid a go but once you're up to about 120 quid in any one year you get a free card and no more paying.

The pressure on a and e in the UK is immense, and not helped by the lack if out of hours minor injury care. As several pps have said, A and E takes the brunt of this. The staff are amazing - I was once there with a friend who had a serious accident and the grace and professionalism of staff was incredible. It was a Friday night and wall to wall drunks - we need drunk tanks as well (once they've had a quick triage to make sure they're ok to sleep it off,of course!)

And then the Facebook posts about how the NHS is so shit cause they had to wait 5 hours to see someone about their cough/sore toe/sickness bug. YADNBU.

There used to be an A&E unit in London just for mental health. It was a great idea and should have been extended to other places.

I was not trying to listen, I was sitting in front of the nurses station, three rows back, but it was quiet and I did hear. They did not ask for names and addresses etc.

I was not judging people on their appearance or ability to walk, just on what I heard. Another I just remembered was one woman who came in saying that she had blood in her mouth when she brushed her teeth, she was told to go away and see her dentist.

The ones I have commented on were the ones where the nurse was trying to get them to go away and they would not.

My DS looked very healthy and had a very minor finger infection, but he has an underlying medical condition that means if the infection gets into his blood he could be very poorly and have a month or so in hospital. So we did not want to risk waiting 48 hours.

I do know that it can be difficult getting doctors appointments. Mine will do lunch time and 6pm and Saturday morning emergency appointments.

What's weing with going with toothache? I had to call nhs24 at new year as dentists weren't open and I was in severe agony. I had a serious infection that would have spread into my facial tissue if I hadn't got treatment at the emergency dentist.

A&E depts don't have dentists.

My oh was taken in by ambulance 15 months ago. He was in resus and we (his sister and I) were asked to leave for 10 minutes items while they were working on him. I walked back through the waiting room to head outside and could hear the tuts and moans about how long they'd been waiting when my phone rang, my mum looking for an update....So I'm stood there describing his broken bones, torn artery, massive internal bleeding and how many people are in there trying to save him and that they were going to blue light him with a police escort to another hospital for emergency surgery asap...and I saw the faces around me looking a bit shamefaced at their whining.

I will never use a&e unless it is a major thing that we can't deal with or can't wait to see a gp. I've seen first hand how amazing they are in there and how they really do save lives.

our a&e dept does have an emergency dentist its certain times tho but its a good 3 or 4 hours each night and then more at the weekends. you have to pay for it though if u arent exempt from paying for your normal dentist treatment

The ones that get me are those who see it as a family day out. I feel half the people in the waiting room don't need to be there, moreso the siblings of sick kids who just hare round screaming and tripping everyone up whilst mum and dad are busy updating facebook about little timmy's snotty nose

I walked into a+e once with a pretty bad bacterial infection. Got sent by the GP. Lots of people in the waiting area looked annoyed when I got seen to straight away.

The system is completely inefficient and there's a real lethargy in these places. There's no way it has to be like this and you can't blame it all on lack of money.

"Don't always go by what people tell the receptionists, I wouldn't tell them the full story and I'm sure others don't either. They aren't medically qualified and it's not always any of their business.Don't always go by what people tell the receptionists, I wouldn't tell them the full story and I'm sure others don't either. They aren't medically qualified and it's not always any of their business."

I'm a A&E Receptionist. I HAVE to ask for a brief description of what's wrong. Because although I'm not medically trained, when there is a 45 minute wait for the triage nurse, we can run the symptoms by a HCP or the triage nurse to see if they need to jump the queue. Chest Pain, Diabetics and people with Cancer will always jump the queue, and people rarely kick off about it.

Believe me, in my A&E most of the receptionists don't actually care about what's wrong with you. Myself included. Our job is to get you the best help quickly. And given that it's A&E things do go wrong. But many a time I've grabbed a nurse or doctor to have a look at someone that's just walked in as the triage nurse is with someone, and they've been whisked to Resus skipping triage. Again, I'm not medically trained, but I'm human, and if someone was to collapse and die in the waiting room (it's happened before) although it wouldn't be my fault, it would still feel like my fault.

Please please don't put us in the same boat as GP receptionists. I've done both jobs, and A&E can be heartbreaking and you see things that you would never ever see in a GP surgery. You are subject to awful abuse when there is a long wait.

I LOVE my job. It's different every day. But please don't think the receptionists are being nosey! A&Es around the country are under so much pressure. but I have so much respect for all the nurses and doctors in my department. They do an amazing job in stressful conditions yet still act professionally with every patient and reletive they see.

On that note. I'm needed in A&E for a nightshift. Passionate rant over

I've taken my DD to a&e twice in 3 weeks last month. Both times I doubted myself, unsure whether to take her or not. The first time she had fallen and hurt her arm. By the time we got to hospital she was smiling and laughing and I felt everyone would be wondering what we were there for. She had a broken arm. The second time she walked in again in good form. She had shoved tissue right up her nose and it was stuck. She ended up having it suctioned out, nearly needing an anaesthetic. Both times I thought people would judge us for being there without a good reason but both times she had genuine accidents which needed treated. I clearly was being judged by the sound of this thread.

I can't see the point in NOT telling the receptionist the full story, surely they are the first port of call in order to start off your assessment and to get you seen as quickly as possible!
They see hundreds of people each day/week so I'm sure nothing is that surprising!

Our a&e has a dental emergency department. After calling nhs24 they sent me to a&e to see emergency dentist. You check in at a&e reception. They go stress it
Is emergency care only, my mother was sent on a Sunday with severe pain from an access. They told her if she wanted to save the tooth wait 24 hours and see her dentist but if she wanted out of pain they'd remove tooth, she took removal as she was climbing the walls from pain.

No one on this thread will admit they went for a spurious reason

except me ....

1999 pfb surrogate Dd and paranoid dh ... She'd had a vaccination and I'd given her, as per advice given by Dr, 2.5 ml of calpol ...
Up pops the news and they're talking about chemist provided calpol. . As in not branded as such and served up into a little bottle from a GIANT dispensing bottle by the chemist.
there'd been a death or 2 and over doses as the GIANT bottles hadn't been shaken and therefore medication had separated/settled and they'd over dosed ... key bit was
seek immediate urgent medical assistance if your child ...

So we did ... and they were so sweet, had no idea wtf we were on about and even rang the poisons bit ... even if teeny Dd had had 2.5 MLS of pure parecetamol it wouldn't have harmed her.
hysterical fuckwit parents still exist

but yes op, when I've been since, there's been lots of seemingly needless attendees and I agree with whoever said that they should actually be turned away