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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Walk in Medical Center priority waiting system

59 replies

Roseforarose · 19/05/2015 11:23

Just wondered what your thoughts are on the waiting system at these drop in medical centres are. I went to one recently and was told at the reception the waiting time would be approx 2 hours but that they do prioritise on any that come in after if they are deemed worthy of being seen quicker.
I waited 3 hours and many came in after me that got seen fairly quickly. It did seem to cause a bit of resentment amongst the many who had been waiting for ages. It must be very hard to decide who should be seen quicker just going off a very brief description of your ailment to the receptionist.
AIBU to think the system might be a bit fairer?

OP posts:
CombineBananaFister · 19/05/2015 15:25

Our walk-in in does it in order of need. Our local GP does a system like the supermarket deli-counter in the morning where you rock up and take a ticket and wait your turn. You can book non-urgent for afternoon slots at any time in advance - good all round care really.

MEgirl · 19/05/2015 15:31

Our walk-in also has clinics that run in parallel so some of those who people might think are being given priority actually have appointments. On ocassion one of my DCs has been triaged and then given a GP appointment so we returned a couple of hours later. It really is very difficult to know what is going on just from watching the comings and goings of others in the waiting room.

DoggyFace · 19/05/2015 16:39

My clinic has a fast track for things like urine tests so that the tests can be taken then evaluated in parallel with the queue to see the doctor for the results... Very efficient system.

DoggyFace · 19/05/2015 16:42

I don't mind the wait, as I've been taken in ahead of "my turn" before when I was very unwell, and I much appreciated it. I understand how much that can mean to the very sick and miserable, so don't mind just settling in for a long wait if I'm not in distress. It's more efficient than the 3 week wait to see my GP ;)

amatuermummy · 19/05/2015 16:44

We had to wait nearly 4 hours with DS who was struggling to breathe and had been to a&e the previous day with suspected pneumonia. Many people, adults and children, were seen before him - some with cuts or other visible injuries. We kept asking how long and were told he was 'bright and alert' so was not priority. When he was finally seen he was sent straight to hospital with low oxygen levels and had to stay in all night on inhalers to improve his breathing. He also has a hole in his heart. The consultant said that children of his age often carry on playing and mask symptoms well until they get exhausted from trying to breathe and 'crash'. I don't know if the receptionist was a nurse but she wasn't very good!

ProudAS · 19/05/2015 17:05

Patients with critical life threatening conditions should be in A&E not the walk in.

Patients who do not merit A&E but need to be seen that day should be seen in order of arrival unless this is likely to cause deterioration.

Those whose conditions are not urgent and could wait till normal GP opening hours should be lowest priority.

ProudAS · 19/05/2015 17:08

Our local walk in used to issue appointments (better than sitting around for two hours).

It closed a couple of years ago and suddenly A&E can't cope.

Cornettoninja · 19/05/2015 17:10

Thing is unless you have a good general medical background and are privy to exactly why other people are there you need to trust the system in place.

No where it a litigious society is going to risk getting it wrong, they're just not. If you feel that your condition is worsening then you need to let them know what that new information is.

Realistically it's luck of the draw. You may be there on a day where your problem is the most urgent they have waiting, others people will rightly need to be seen before you.

zoobaby · 19/05/2015 17:10

Took my 10 day old to a walk in because my GP survey refused on account that she wasn't registered and couldn't be registered without first producing a birth certificate (wtf?!?).

So off I trundled to walk in. Told it'd be about 2 hours of waiting. Cue instant regret for not having lunch first but sat down ready for the long haul.

We were called in after 2 patients and when I expressed my surprise, the Dr said they don't like such young children being in the waiting room with all the sick adults.

No need to say I was very grateful!

Sirzy · 19/05/2015 17:14

Unless you know the ins and outs of someone's problem you can judge.

We regularly get judged for "queue jumping" in a and e but we have only been taken quicker because there is a need

FelicitySmoak · 19/05/2015 17:15

A few years ago I broke my foot. I sat in A&E from 9pm on a Monday night until I was sent home at 7am the next morning. I was in agony, there were 6 of us in the waiting room (we became quite chatty) and none of us moved.

Around 4am a Paramedic arrived with his partner who'd twisted her knee jumping out of the Ambulance at the end of her shift. She was taken into cubicles within half an hour. I thought there was going to be a riot tbh.

Several people loudly complained about preferential treatment. We were told they run a skeleton staff at night.
You really couldn't make it up, biggest hospital in the county.

ifgrandmahadawilly · 19/05/2015 17:29

I have no problem with more urgent cases being seen first however, this should not be decided by a receptionist, with no clinical training.

I was actually at the walk in centre in Bristol this weekend and the receptionist there was a COW. She seemed to think it was her job to stop people using the service. I heard her try to tell a lady with a vomiting toddler 'yeah, well 111 send everyone here, it doesn't mean that it's clinically appropriate' and that the service 'isn't for people who have been ill and suddenly get worse' (they are supposed to be psychic and arrange a Dr's appt before they know they are going to get ill enough to need one I suppose). She also kept giving people medical advice like 'most of the time these things clear up on their own, it's usually due to this, this or this' then saying 'I don't have any clinical training, mind' Shock

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 19/05/2015 18:11

Lotuslight you are showing how bloody Barmy you are once more. Of course you weren't prioritised due to class or race ffsHmm

Icimoi · 19/05/2015 18:14

I think they may prioritise the elderly automatically - I know that on the couple of occasions I have been with my mother we seem to have got in very quickly. I think that's fair enough, all things considered.

Icimoi · 19/05/2015 18:17

Felicity, I suspect your problem was that you were in A&E, and they will be dealing with all the serious cases ambulances bring in as well as people in the waiting area. Clearly you had no alternative, but did all the people waiting need to be in A&E as opposed to a GP's or a walk in centre?

VivaLeBeaver · 19/05/2015 18:18

Our walk in is first come first served. Anything more urgent is meant to go to a&e. I guess if someone came in struggling to breath they'd see them next.

arethereanyleftatall · 19/05/2015 18:26

Rather than get cross if I were sat in walk-in for ages, I would thank my lucky stars I wasn't ill enough to be prioritised, and also be slightly embarrassed that I was wasting nurses/doctors time if I was sat there till last.
To prioritise is by far the most sensible system, and to even contemplate a normal queue ing system is frankly a bit dense.

FelicitySmoak · 19/05/2015 18:31

Ici we were all broken bones and lacerations. The local minor injury unit closes at 9 so sadly we were kind of stuck. My leg would need to be hanging off before I'd repeat the exercise I'm telling you.

Naty1 · 19/05/2015 18:46

Amateur- i think that frequently happens with breathing issues even with older people.
Dsis was having severe asthma attack we managed to walk her the in to hospital but then were kept waiting a looong time.
As soon as we saw a dr they were amazed we hadnt had an ambulance. Kept in for several days
Same thing with dmum we drove her, waited after nurse assessing who seemed to think her breathing was normal except dr still sent her for xray and gave nebuliser.

chickenfuckingpox · 19/05/2015 18:55

we went into minor injuries sunday after ds had a bad fall we were the first ones there so we were surprised to see a thirty minute waiting time we sat down waited someone else came in ten minutes later and were seen first Hmm then someone else came in and they were seen before us too thirty minutes later we were seen and the reason became clear there were four nurses sat talking and one working!

PureMorning · 19/05/2015 19:03

My toddler has asthma and other health issues that can see him from fine and dandy to on machines in hospital in a short amount
We go to the drop in and he's seen within minutes,often we are met at the door and they stabilize him while an ambulance is called.

We always get tutted at by other people waiting and on man's called me a cheeky fat cunt as I walked out with paramedics into an ambo.

If they jump the queue, it's not for fun. They are in need of serious medical attention.

PureMorning · 19/05/2015 19:03

Argh, ignore all the errors. Blush

BillyBigchin · 19/05/2015 19:23

Ours is fine. You book in with the receptionist, are seen by a triage nurse and then wait for another nurse or doctor.

I've waited a long time before, but on other occasions I've waited less than ten minutes.

Original poster
Roseforarose · 19/05/2015 20:29

and also be slightly embarrassed that I was wasting nurses/doctors time if I was sat there till last.
That's a bit of a ridiculous statement, nobody in their right mind would want to sit in a noisy waiting room for up to 4 or 5 hours just to waste a doctor or a nurses time. To sit for that long I'd say you'd have to be quite desperate to get seen. Apart from that it can't be always 100% accurate the assesment on who is the more serious. Especially when in some cases it's on the say so of the receptionist.

OP posts:
madamginger · 19/05/2015 20:40

Our walk-in centre is triaged via the receptionist. I think the nurse in the back prioritises the calls on what the reception desk input on the computer.
Its a great service and we are very lucky to have it.
A month or so ago I rang up because my asthmatic DH was really struggling and his crisis dose of Ventolin wasn't working. They told me to bring him straight away and were waiting at the door for him with a wheelchair and an O2 tank.
I think the longest i've waited was 2 hours.