Or is the NHS just completely fucking broken?

[Saltandpepperpig]

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.

I'm so glad you're ok OP.

Please, please don't leave this though. Go through PALS or make a formal complaint.

The doctor you saw in A&E needs retraining. Just imagine if he did that to someone less assertive who did actually have an ectopic - she could lose her life. If you don't complain it may never get picked up.

So glad all is okay OP, what a relief.

Glad to hear the good news OP

So glad you're OK. I hope you kick up a big fuss about that doctor when you're feeling up to it - at the very least he needs extra training.

So pleased all is ok. When you feel up to it please make a fuss and complain.

So glad to see your happy update. I hope the people you saw last night are registering this as an error and please do make a written complaint - it really was negligent about something that is very basic medicine - it's the equivalent of someone coming in with chest pain and not checking the heart. Hope the pain settles and you can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

Relieved for you Salt! Hope your feeling less pain as well as relieved about the baby.

Pls complain - absolutely unacceptable level of care. I really worry about the shy and the non-pushy people when they get the bum's rush

Glad you're ok Op. having read this thread that sounded like a shocking Doctor. It's scary how bad they treated you.

I know this isn't the point of the thread, but I wanted to praise the NHS. I lived in America and I returned very proud of our health service, the provision I had in the states was poor. You pay for EVERYTHING (obviously), and wait times are worse.
I have experienced first class treatment from the NHS for my son who has been admitted a few times- in fact they did way more than I ever expected them to just to make 100% sure he was ok. When my labour went very wrong I was astounded at how well drilled, professional and confident all staff were. It opened my eyes to the standard of training these people have.

I am sorry

This is very normal for the NHS by the way
4 hours ain't nothing

But horrible for you I hope you get through this xx

The waiting times and the A&E closures aside - Salt was given very poor care by the A&E doctor. That's on him, not the NHS

Hope your feeling better today OP

So so glad it wasn't an ectopic! And that you eventually received an appropriate standard of care. Seriously shocking incompetence on the part of that first doctor.

No, it's not broken. You just had one crappy Dr.

I had a similar situation, went straight to A & E, and after being triaged was sent straight to the EPU, where I had an ultrasound.

What area are you in? In our area we aren't even booked in with a MW until at least 10 weeks. I'm surprised that you have already booked in at 7 weeks.

Yes the NHS is fucked. It does too much and has too many people to look after. It needs surgery itself before the sickness kills it.

That is truly appalling treatment by the first doctor, please complain. With a similar presentation I was admitted to a gynae ward immediately and by the evening was in emergency surgery as I did indeed have an ectopic pregnancy. Having said that, I had been to my gp FOUR times by that point complaining of dark bleeding, shoulder and abdominal pain and been told 'well yes early bleeding is very common you know'. I am flabbergasted that textbook ectopic presentation can be so breezily ignored by apparently fully qualified doctors. I think the problem is partly medical arrogance- they hear symptom no.1 then don't listen to anything further the patient has to say. They should categorically not be practising with that kind of attitude, which has potentially lethal consequences.

The NHS is in deep trouble. Anyone who voted conservative in this election and posted in fury at this thread should pause and think.

You should definitely complain to PALS as the doctor that saw you needs further training. Mistakes are definitely more likely to happen when resources are stretched and under-trained doctors are unsupported.

Zoemaguire - I don't think it's arrogance. I think that if you have more to do than you can cope with then you start triaging - a rough guess at who needs the most urgent treatment. A more than 4 hour wait suggests the A&E doctors were overstretched and in that situation your threshold rises. And your chances of missing an unlikely bit serious cause for the patients symptoms skyrocket.

5% chance of ectopic gets sent home whilst they deal with the 100% stroke or heart attack. It's not right but it's inevitable if the system is under-resourced.

A friend of mine nearly died from an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured. I'm so relieved that you were ok. Anyone presenting with those symptoms should absolutely be checked asap!

That may be an element of it, but not all. Any doctor should know the symptoms of ectopic and that it is actually not rare at all. I find it hard to believe that you could genuinely listen to a pregnant patient saying 'bleeding, abdominal pain, shoulder pain' and not jump to ectopic as a possibility. It's not some rare and esoteric disease, it's the primary killer of women in early pregnancy! If an a&e doctor doesn't know the symptoms, they have no business being an a&e doctor. I think what happens is that they hear 'bleeding' then switch off. In the case of my GP that was absolutely what happened. You can tell when somebody isn't listening to you, and she wasn't listening. I was lucky enough to see a locum gp in the end who did listen, checked my BP to make sure I wasn't bleeding to death there and then, and sent me straight to hospital. I was in surgery that night. You really don't mess around with ectopic.

So glad everything was ok OP. You really do need to make those complaints though- I will say it again- truly shocking treatment you were provided with initially x

YANBU very similar happened to me 10 years ago. 💐Hope all is ok OP

Sounds like a&e Dr made a huge mistake. I was seen by a&e for my ectopic and they scanned me within an hour and I had surgery within 6!