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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be mad at people going to a&e

167 replies

Winebomb · 10/09/2017 21:53

So I chopped the end of my finger off, blood pumping every where, so went to A&e...

I was "lucky" enough to be sat next to the triage nurse waiting to be seen. And heard every patient going through, the best was;

I have a bad spot on my bum (not infected, just hurt a bit, husband and wife showed up together)
My eye has started itching
My foot hurts a bit, I dropped the shampoo on it in the shower
I got pissed last night and punched a wall, I have a graze on my knuckles

It just goes on..

I mean really, this is an ACCIDENT OR EMERGENCY service, not a god damn mummy service..

AIBU that people just absolutely feel entitled to waste as much public money they can. why else go to hospital for any of these reasons?

OP posts:
Babyblues14 · 10/09/2017 22:48

Last time I went to a and e it was with a friend who had had a seizure whilst working with my dh. We were sat waiting to hear any news and there was was a guy therepissed out of his skull with handcuffs on and two bloody cops stood over him. As you can guess he was seen while everyone sat waiting for bloody ages. Should of threw him in a bloody cell and left him to it. Ridiculous waste of time. I wouldn't see anyone for drinking if I ran the nhs.

Original poster
Winebomb · 10/09/2017 22:49

Ha glad you love a&e you must have the patience of a saint, but I suppose for every fool that chops their finger tip off making Sunday luch, and every weirdo with a spot in their bum, you really are saving so many lives!

Joking aside, it must take some bloody nerves of steal to do what you, especially in real emergencies! Xx

OP posts:
IrritatedUser1960 · 10/09/2017 22:49

When I worked in a&e we had people coming in with ridiculous ailments all the time - mostly people who were pissed off becasue they couldn't get a GP apointment that day.
Then came the day my boyfriend came in on a stretcher dead, he'd drowned in the river that day. I didn't work there after that.

lougle · 10/09/2017 22:55

IrritatedUserSad I'm so sorry.

BabyBlues drunk people get ill and they get injured, and it's a really dangerous thing to assume that their symptoms are entirely due to alcohol consumption. Too many inebriated patients are left to 'sleep it off' in waiting rooms and then are found to be seriously unwell with head injuries or other illnesses and then, sadly, it is too late to treat them successfully so that they are restored to full function. Getting drunk, being drink or having an alcohol or drug problem doesn't mean you deserve to be disabled or killed by an injury or illness that should be otherwise treatable.

Linzilou1985 · 10/09/2017 22:58

Irritated user, I'm so sorry that is just awful xx

rachrach2 · 10/09/2017 23:01

111 don't send me to a&e! I've had call backs from drs within an hour and an out of hours gp appointment who sent us to hospital (straight to ward, no waiting at a&e and another (similar symptoms) where I also got an out of hours gp appointment within 2 hours and my daughter was given antibiotics and we could come home. If the gp hadn't been available so quickly, that second time we would have gone to a&e as she couldn't wait. I think our area seem particularly good with their out of hours service. Easy gp appointments and urgent care Centres definitely ease the pressure on a&e.

SomedayMyPrinceWillCome · 10/09/2017 23:06

Welcome to my world - another 13 hr shift in A&E coming up tomorrow. I've had enough now, after 15 years I'm leaving at the end of the week

CredulousThickos · 10/09/2017 23:10

A relative of mine was part of setting up 111. In the early days apparently there was a huge scandal because someone high up decided that 111 ambulances should be lower priority than 999 ones.

Several people died, mostly heart problems (people phone 111 for chest pains not realising it's a 999 situation) and heads rolled.

So I wonder if now that's why they are so trigger happy with ambulances. It's a shame there isn't the infrastructure or resources to see everyone in a timely fashion. The NHS is crumbling and it's a fucking tragedy.

namechangefordummies · 10/09/2017 23:22

The one time I have been to a&he was when I had a kidney infection. I went to my GP after 3 days of a fever, vomiting and severe back pain. She gave me antibiotics and told me to call the out of hours doctor if I couldn't keep them down. When I vomited them up at 2am I called the out of hours doctor who told me to get straight to a&e.

When I got there I was shaking, sweating, in severe pain and almost collapsed at reception. The triage nurse, however, was incredibly rude to me and cut me off at the point of my story where I said "the doctor gave me antibiotics this morning" to give me a lecture on how they take time to work and I shouldn't be there. When I could get a word in edgeways I told her (through tears at this point) I couldn't keep them down and had been told to come there, and she suddenly went very red faced and referred me straight for antibiotics for IV. Not even a sorry.

I was there 3 days on morphine and IV antibiotics before they discharged me - I almost lost a kidney.

I believe that time wasters like those in the OPs post are the reason for this sort of reaction from the nurses.

Original poster
Winebomb · 10/09/2017 23:23

Tonight I have learnt that the people who work in a&e deserve so much more credit than I thought.

And that the general public are twats.

I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses, plus general staff who hat work a&e xx

OP posts:
Blackcatonthesofa · 10/09/2017 23:29

Hm depends. I had to go to a&e once for an ear infection. I have diabetes and it was rapidly getting out of hand and my blood sugars were all over the place. I felt silly about it but I had called first and they said I needed to go. I waited for a long time before I was seen and I totally agree with that.

I also came in with chest pains once and labored breathing. My butt didn't touch the chair in the waiting room, I was ushered right through ahead of everyone else.

I guess they triage well. I'll never complain about the waiting.

Worriedrose · 10/09/2017 23:34

@IrritatedUser1960
Holy shitballs
That's horrific, FlowersGinWine
Sorry

Crumbs1 · 10/09/2017 23:37

People have lost common sense and the ability to recognise and deal with minor ailments. Few people will wait for things to get better by themselves any more.
One of my two is doing A&E nights at moment. They've had a man who set his alarm for 3am when he thought it would be quiet and turned up with bleeding gums, a woman whose 4 year old seemed to have a low temperature when they checked it (no child wasn't ill, had no symptoms, was playing happily) she wanted child admitted for observation, a woman who had diarrhoea three days ag and she wanted to check she was over it now, a person with an itch in the crease of their elbow, a girl aged 24 with a period.
They had to manage this in between the really sick and unwell.

Nectarines · 10/09/2017 23:38

I was sent to a&he with vomiting.

To anyone hearing me booking in, I was there simply because I had been sick a lot over the last two days.

But I'm type 1 diabetic and was very ill with DKA.

I hope people didn't judge me.

KingJoffreysRestingCuntface · 10/09/2017 23:44

I did a First Aid course on Friday (do them yearly for my job) and the trainer blokey (who was totally weird anyway) told us that if a splinter is longer than 1mm you cannot extract it yourself and MUST go to A&E.

Hmm

I was at A&E earlier. I was bitten by a spider and it got infected. Might seem a silly thing to go with but I was in pain and miserable.

Batfurger · 10/09/2017 23:55

These threads always turn into MN ailment top trumps.

Not quite got a full house as although we've had bluelighted (denoting a Very Serious Incident), not sure we've had took one look at it (denoting a Very Serious Incident but not quite as serious as being bluelighted )

Anyway OP, mind your own business. The only time you should look into someone else's bowl is to check they have sufficient. Not to judge them for something you know nothing about.

honeyroar · 10/09/2017 23:58

I ended up spending most of last night in A&E last night with my mum in the resuss section. I too am in awe of the staff that work there. Later on they got a wave of drugged and drunk people who were kicking, spitting and biting the staff while they tried to deal with their injuries. I'd have left them in a bloody heap on the floor. They were so patient. Those guys deserve a lot more money.

Linzilou1985 · 11/09/2017 00:00

@honeyroar hope that your mums okay xx

SunnySkiesSleepsintheMorning · 11/09/2017 00:03

Batfurger I'm just waiting for the person who tells us they had 3 limbs torn off by a bear but they still waited patiently for a GP appt the next day.

LuckySH · 11/09/2017 00:05

I'm was once of them people Confused

Cut my finger on a piece of metal & my finger swelled up.. with a ring on it. Tried everything under the sun to get it off with no luck so didn't really know what else to do. The triage nurse probably could of cut it off there & then (if she was allowed?) but had to wait. After 2 hours we decided to leave & DM (district nurse) took me to the ward where her DB works & he cut it off in less than a minute! I felt I shouldn't of actually been there but didn't really have another option until my uncle was at work.

honeyroar · 11/09/2017 00:06

Thank you Linzilou, she's looking a lot better today, and in a ward.

honeyroar · 11/09/2017 00:09

I think that having a walk in centre next to A&E would be good, as someone said earlier.

brasty · 11/09/2017 00:18

Some you overheard may have been minor things. But my DP is so stoical. He would say something like his foot hurts a bit, and would take his sock off to reveal a major injury that means he can't actually walk.

MamaDeeGee · 11/09/2017 00:25

Other day i was in a car accident (middle car in a crush) and the paramedics were telling me about a man who rang about chest pains... they rushed there and when they got there he was all better and told them he didnt want to go to hospital but could they drop him off in the town centre!!

unfrickingbelievable i know!

MamaDeeGee · 11/09/2017 00:27

Also when in a&e same day lost of people were coming in stating they needed admitting for a number of reasons and when refused one man even rang police on himself/staff stating he was going to kill himself as he had nowhere to go... i now understand why most a&e waiting areas each chair has arms on it to stop it been used as a bed