24hr A&E why have they gone there?

[Oooblimey]

Just watching 24hr in A&E.
AIBU to be annoyed at the woman who has taken her 6 yr old to A&E, he got a splinter in his foot a week ago which has turned into a puss filled blister. How is this an emergency? And we wonder why A&E departments are on their knees?
Surely this should be a GP appointment. Yes he may be uncomfortable for a couple of days but he's not dying. Is it a sign of today's expectation of instant service or AIBU to think that this situation is unacceptable?

My 12 month old cut her head open, not gushing blood but much deeper than a scratch. The GP had no appointments, the practice nurse would not see me, the health visitor told me to go back to the practice nurse, the walk in centre told me to go to A&E. I ended up buying some butterfly strips and trying to stick the wound back together myself. It took ages to heal and has scarred but it really didn't seem A&E worthy.

My 3 year old caught his skin in a zip. I couldn't release him, he was screaming and wouldn't let me touch it as he was in pain. The doctors surgery was closed, the walk in centre was closed. I called 111 who told me to go to A&E. The dr in A&E fixed it within a second. I felt so guilty for taking up their time but my child was in pain and couldn't wait until the next morning when the GP/walk in centre opened (and I was worried they would send me round in circles like they had when dd cut her head).

Ideally, there would be a 24 hour minor-A & not-so-E service for things like the above.

our walk in centre is useless and would only prescribe antibiotics and the nurses there don't 'do' wounds and would send you off to a&e...

My DH went to A&E with a splinter like that. We'd tried at home and couldn't do it. GP was offering earliest appointments in two weeks and at the walk in Centre, after waiting for over an hour, the nurse said she couldn't do it and we should go to A&E (in fact walk in Centre have sent us to A&E 4 out of 7 visits). So maybe it was a bit like that?

In terms of what they can say, North Middlesex recently asked people to leave A&E unless they were practically dying so that's another method

It shocks me that people go casually
I've been in twice, both times accidents requiring ambulances
One time I was seen after a lady on a spinal board

The other time a guy was bleeding profusely from his head but from their triage they saw me first, he told me not to worry as his injury looked worse than it was apparently!!

But my point is, even with me as priority there were other people there in such a shocking state, I was worried about them! I still remember the groans of the woman on the spinal board .

How anyone could go with a pulled muscle is beyond me. You buy some appropriate pills and wait for it to get better surely! And who wants to sit among the carnage?

You are assuming she wasn't sent there by the out of hours phone line. They seem to send most things to a&e in my experience. I don't use a&e as a GP but in my own experience it is the only place (locally) to get good competent doctors care and treatment. Every time I have used my GP recently they have been useless and I have ended up in a&e and got excellent treatment for genuine conditions like GP says probably just a virus just take paracetamol, in actual fact a&e diagnose after a thorough check plus x-ray - pneumonia. Another example pain in toe unable to walk - Minor injuries said probably arthritis see GP for x-ray (whilst sitting next to bloody x-ray dept), GP said no way arthritis probably damaged toe without knowing, go to minor injuries. Gave up but now have frequent pain in toe. This is why people go to a&e first. For properly training and supervised doctors, access to treatment and proper diagnosis.

Gisla, how did they release skin from the zip?

Chilly, sounds like you might have gout. But you're a GP so you will know

I remember I had to go to A and E last year (for a deep cut that needed stitches) and I heard a girl beside me tell another lady she had a UTI but she couldn't go to the GP the next day as she 'had plans'!

To be fair though our a&e has never seemed too busy so perhaps it is just efficient and well staffed. I have only been a handful of time with a family of 5.

He wasn't in A&E he was in urgent care often co-located with A&E and may have been sent there by 111 or GP surgery. Similarly the lady with the head injury went to Urgent Care and ended up in Resus. It's not always an exact science

My cousin works in A&E and says she gets the regulars to help out. Too scared to ask her what she means.

My local hospital has Minor Injuries and A&E lumped into one. Yes, it is chaos. Over the last 6 weeks I've had to take both my parents to minor injuries. For non-life threatening things (cut lip, hands etc - they BOTH managed to fall over, two weeks apart, and give themselves pretty much the same injuries), and yet we still have to get processed by A&E reception. We don't want to be taking up A&E time, given they were neither life threatening nor major injuries, but when the hospital combines Minor Injuries and A&E you don't have a lot of choice.

Arf at the suggestion that the mother scraped it out with a sterile needle herself!

You can not get a walk in appointment at my GP. You have at least a week wait and if the gate keepers (receptionist) get a sniff they can push it else where they will expertly in their opinion fob you off to A&E.

Gone are the days when a GP or nurse can see you at a whim.

He was a child. Why should he have to wait days? He was probally in pain. The probally waited hours

Maybe all the family went as the mother knew they would be there hours and didn't have any other child care.

Also I bet that kid didn't even show his mother untill it had got to an infected ball of puss - way past the get a needle and magnifying glass stage.

Have a little empathy FFS. Some of you lot go on like you have never used the NHS.

Also paying more NI would not help the situation. The tories plan was to completly sell off the NHS to private sectors (which they are well on there way to doing) which the politicians have intrests in. Corrupt bastards selling lies the NHS is failing so folk will start turning in each other over a child going to A&E over an infected foot.

Tee hee. Sorry lore badly worded post on my part. I'm not a GP. I just meant I don't use a&e as my GP surgery but I can see why people do.
Gout was what minor injuries suggested but my GP the next day said no way and tbh I agree with him. I think I was clumsy and damaged it. Pain is random times and dull now and nothing like gout descriptions now. Was just so fed up with being sent back and forth with no help and I couldn't even walk. That kinda treatment encourages people to a&e.

lorelei, he did some jiggery pokery by gently pulling the skin down while pulling the zip back up. Ds had been screaming when I tried it but the strange environment and people in the hospital seemed to scare him into submission and he stayed perfectly still & silent for the Dr.

I think it definitely depends where you are, I've lived in London and trying to get a GP appt was a joke. I did end up in a London A&E once with a UTI so bad I was peeing blood clots - tbf it was a weekend as well so if I'd left it til I could get a GP appt (most likely weeks hence), my kidneys would have been fooked and I'd have been seriously ill. I was also young and stupid. But if you can't get a GP appt and aren't near a walk-in, it does sort of leave you no choice.

That said, YANBU, OP. I have friends who seem to think A&E is some sort of fun trip out, they're down there so often, and it drives me bloody insane. No one seems to have any common sense left! People just plod off to hospital without thinking about it at all. No wonder the service is knackered. Between the stupidity of some people and the Tories, the poor NHS has no hope

I think all options are stretched to the max. I saw GP last week who said I needed to be reffered to hospital that day. Sent to medical assement unit, told I had to stay in and it took 8 hours to get a bed and then they had no pillow or blanket bloody freezing The nurse's and doctors were running around like headless chickens. But i am very thankful to have been looked after, even if it was a bit manic!

And then, of course, there's the EC, who see the NHS as a monopoly that needs breaking up and opening up to (European) competition: but hey, let's just Tory bash, and conveniently ignore the Brown-beloved PFI deals and the increased NHS spend since Labour left office

But that aside, it's not surprising that GP appointments are at a premium: we have an ever-increasing population in the UK, and that inevitably puts pressure on all services and infrastructure, whether that's social housing or doctors. Add to that what is often a slight lack of commonsense in the general public (if it's not an accident or an emergency, you shouldn't really be at A and E...) and the delights of 111, and it's not surprising that there are people there who oughtn't to be.

I had an accident before Christmas, and was captivated (in a really bad way, I confess) by the lady with back pain who arrived by ambulance who ordered a take-away pizza to be delivered within five minutes of her arrival, and then disappeared outside for a smoke whilst she was waiting for it. On the one hand, clearly no harm, as she wasn't going to be seen for a while - but on the other: calling an ambulance for a bad back that is not so bad you a) fancy food and b) can get up and go for a fag? Sadly, that's just one example from our city's main A and E: luckily, it was a Saturday lunchtime - but the stories the doctors and nurses have about Friday and Saturday nights would make your hair curl

It's a combined problem - not enough services to go round, plus too many idiots misusing them.

Four, have you talked to your friends about their fun trips?!

What's the difference beteeen A&E and urgent care? That kind of thing confuses everyone I think.

YANBU. I know some areas are bad but in my local area, we have an excellent out of hours service. People ask advice on a local FB page but then take their child to A&E which is 8 miles away and a long wait, whereas they could have been seen by the OOH GP and not wasted a precious resource.

I work for a local authority who sent a list of reasons why people went to A&E over the Christmas period. It was a horrifying read. People make excuses for why they go but often, it's because they think their needs are the most important and can't use the tiniest bit of initiative.

My dd was sent to A&E for an abscess. I felt ridiculous but the GP and walk in clinic didn't have the tools to drain it I'm sure others would have thought I was a time waster though.

Sometimes people go to A&E because their surgery is shit and there aren't many other options, probably not the case here I'm sure. Try getting an emergency GP appointment at my surgery, rare as hen's teeth.

While we are on the subject of medical shows, what the fuck is up with the Jeremy Kyle one? Why does he say that 'we are now going to do a scan'? No you fucking aren't, you aren't doing anything except asking questions and interrupting the doctors. And who would want to have an internal examination with Jezza standing there?

I work in A and E the amount of shit I have to triage is unbelievable and I am regularly abused (called a cunt, bitch, whore, told to fuck off, I'm shit and not doing my job properly) for sending people away as it is neither and accident nor an emergency and so can go see their GP.
Some from this year:

a) colds
b)hangovers
c) 3 month history of burping
d) low level back pain for past few months
e)tooth ache because they can't see their dentist for a month newsflash their is no dentist in A and E!
f) athletes foot
g)10 mins of abdo pain
h) they don't like their house
i)panic attack that was over a couple of hours ago and now resolved
k)graze to knee
i) small cut to finger that is no longer bleeding

the list is endless and makes me despair of the human race. people can not accept that sometimes they are going to feel poorly, sometimes bits of their body are going to hurt and that they actually need to get a grip take some pain killers and not call an ambulance or come to A and E.

Jesus Tupperware what a ridiculous list..how do you bite your tongue?!

Am I right in understanding in the UK you can't choose what GP or GP practice you use?
I'm in ireland, we pay to see our GP so we can choose who we see and when. There's also a medical card system for those on low income/disability/unemployed. Those who are entitled to a medical card have to use a doctor within 7miles of where they live but overall it sounds a much better system.