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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is the NHS just completely fucking broken?

99 replies

Saltandpepperpig · 23/06/2017 22:22

Very early in pregnancy - 7 weeks, called my MW due to spotting and sharp unbearable pain down my left side. Reffered to local MLU as she was to busy.
MLU told me I need to get to A&E asap and get an emergency scan, cannot wait till Monday as they believe it's ectopic and I need to get scanned now .
Local A&E has been closed down so have to travel 30 mins to the nearest a&e.
Wait for FOUR hours in A&E after clearly explaining what I was there for, finally seen by a dr who calls the gyne (only one in the whole a&e for a 25 odd mile radius)
Gyne can't see me until Monday. Dr says he doesn't know anything about ectopic but hopefully it's not and come back on Monday.

AIBU to think this is a complete fucking joke? 6 hours in total from contacting my MW, 3 different places, a dr that didn't have a fucking clue, no gyne, no A&E depts.

I'm probably just ranting but I was so terrified being told I cannot wait until Monday, booking childcare etc to be told I must wait with no explanation or reassurance.

The funny thing is the dr said 'if you were here 1 hour ago we could have helped' I FUCKING WAS SAT IN THE WAITING ROOM.

I'm just stressed and hormonal so probably acting completely unreasonable and stupid but I hadn't realised how bad things have got and IMO that is bad.

OP posts:
NormaSmuff · 23/06/2017 22:26

I do hope things are ok fir you

Fitzsimmons · 23/06/2017 22:27

YADNBU. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Definitely contact PALS when you can to complain. Is there another A&E you can get to?

FanaticalFox · 23/06/2017 22:27
Flowers

Hope you're ok OP you poor thing. I am guessing you are in the middle of nowhere somewhere as I have 3 hospitals within 20 miles that have an a&e. Are there any other a&e's you could get to? If you really want to be seen sooner might be an idea? How are you feeling now?

PacificDogwod · 23/06/2017 22:27

Yes, things are bad and likely to get worse SadAngry

Fingers crossed for you Thanks

welshweasel · 23/06/2017 22:28

I don't think the NHS is broken but you've experienced particularly bad care. You should have been scanned before being discharged from hospital to exclude an ectopic, and every hospital I've ever worked in would have made that happen. Are you still in pain? If so, I'd be going to a bigger hospital this evening.

puglife15 · 23/06/2017 22:28

I'm sorry, that is an awful experience for you. I hope the pain has subsided now. I've had excellent service from the NHS in recent years although in the last 6 months or so I've definitely noticed an increase in pressure on services.

The NHS isn't broken but it's being slowly murdered.

The government is planning further, huge cuts so I'd use everything in your power to campaign against them.

zaalitje · 23/06/2017 22:30

Do you have local hospitals with a maternity unit?
Call up, ask for early pregnancy unit and all of you can self refer.
I have before.

mummyDA · 23/06/2017 22:31

The NHS isn't broken - is being dismantled. It's MPs who need to hear about this NOT PALS

Butterymuffin · 23/06/2017 22:32

Can you go to your nearest big city tomorrow and to the A&E there? Sorry this is happening to you. Hope the outcome is as good as it can be.

Original poster
Saltandpepperpig · 23/06/2017 22:32

Thank you; nearest a&e is 1 hour away and I'm home now and have let the babysitter go. I cannot believe it, he just said along the lines of 'well if it happens it happens and it's sad but common' when I mentioned the wait time to hear this he said 'yes that's normal the last few weeks' I will be writing to my MP. I'm not actually in the middle of nowhere but our local hospital (big town) has closed the a&e, children's ward and main maternity ward there - probablY more but those are the ones I've needed to access and been closed.

OP posts:
Stopandlook · 23/06/2017 22:34

This is awful - I'm so sorry. From experience, some doctors are too unaware of ectopic pregnancy. I'd say you need a scan this weekend. Have they done bloods for hcg levels?
Hug.
EPT website is good.

PacificDogwod · 23/06/2017 22:34

Yes, please do write to your MP.
I actually agree with PP that the NHS is being murdered and we will miss it when it is totally gone.

Groupie123 · 23/06/2017 22:34

As an ectopic is a classed as an emergency, if A&E need a gaene to treat you they have to find you one now. You can't wait until Monday. Remind him.

Original poster
Saltandpepperpig · 23/06/2017 22:34

Still in pain, local maternity ward is literally just a birthing centre with pools. No scans until Monday also. I feel completely ignored and pushed to the side like me and my unborn baby don't matter in this stretched system

OP posts:
Stopandlook · 23/06/2017 22:36

An ectopic pregnancy can be a medical emergency. Too often put on a par with a miscarriage. I hope in your case it's just cyst pain or something but do look at the EPT website for symptoms Flowers

Original poster
Saltandpepperpig · 23/06/2017 22:36

No bloods taken, also explained about my negative blood type and bleeding, no anti D shot given. Literally just took a urine sample to test for pregnancy despite the fact I told him I was 7 weeks. Thank you for kind words, I hope everything works out ok

OP posts:
Groupie123 · 23/06/2017 22:36

What's your nearest big city? Is it easily commutable from home? You need that scan. Ectopics can be fatal.

Stopandlook · 23/06/2017 22:37

You need to be admitted if they think it is ectopic.

Original poster
Saltandpepperpig · 23/06/2017 22:44

They've made me go so I'm home now. OTher hospital I can get to tomorrow but don't want to wait for hours to be told the same thing. Dr seems to think it will be the same at all hospitals?

OP posts:
MadameJosephine · 23/06/2017 22:44

well if it happens it happens and it's sad but common

I'm flabbergasted at this, a ruptured ectopic is not 'sad' it's a potential catastrophe! I'm sorry you've had such shitty experience OP, please do seek out further advice it your symptoms do not improve. Perhaps you could 111 for advice or call the nearest large hospital and ask to speak to the gynae on call for advice? Do you have somebody with you if you feel unwell?

PyongyangKipperbang · 23/06/2017 22:44

Just to put your mind at rest a little, I had the same symptoms and it turned out to be a burst ovarian cyst, normal apparently but some are more painful than others.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Flowers

PossibiliTea · 23/06/2017 22:48

This sort of thing makes me angry it's just not acceptable. It's the emotional stress aswell as the physical aspect. Sorry you have to go through this. I've been having an awful time with NHS since miscarrying in March.

HeyRoly · 23/06/2017 22:52

I know someone who nearly died from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy last year. I can't believe you were sent home until Monday.

SlB09 · 23/06/2017 23:00

(ill probably be shot down here) but the mlu will have said a+e as they cant do anything else really and theres no way they could diagnose ectopic over the phone, its just that this is a possibility along with a long list of other much less serious things (or nothing to be worried about at all) so you'll have been referred to rule out serious things.
If you waited four hours it will be because you were not the most serious and life threatening case in the department, its annoying to wait but id rather be the person waiting than needing immediate lifesaving treatment.
I would hope they examined your abdomen and obviously checked your urine for pregnancy and will have checked for urinary infection at the same time to rule this out. If they had real concerns you wouldnt be waiting until monday. It sounds like they maybe could have been abit more sensitive to your emotional needs however.

trixiebelden77 · 23/06/2017 23:03

There is a really important distinction between a miscarriage (which is terrible news emotionally but for which there is no medical need to scan urgently as no intervention is available) and an ectopic pregnancy (which is a potentially life threatening emergency). Distinguishing an ectopic from an intrauterine pregnancy in early pregnancy bleeding is a bread and butter presentation for emergency departments. If you have not had an ultrasound to confirm an intrauterine pregnancy so far in this pregnancy you need to present to a different hospital. A ruptured ectopic is potentially fatal to the mother.