Paediatric hospital appointments

[Whatthefunk]

Hi all. My son has has an infected, ingrown toenail, for the best part of a year. He's had 4 courses of antibiotics, and numerous trips to the doctors. We've been referred to the podiatrist, but have been waiting for an appointment for 12 weeks. Is this normal ?

So saying go private etc is wrong but saying go to a&e is right??
Honestly I despair. No wonder the NHS is on its knees. OP for the record don't go to a&e for a fucking toe nail.

I would have thought S&E would just give more antibiotics and put on the same waiting list

Why do these threads always end up with "go private / sell something / take in laundry". What utter nonsense. Some people are just not able to!!

Because maybe the OP hasn't thought of it? We're not talking thousands here, it's a potentially attainable amount of money. I personally would absolutely lend it to a friend or family member under these circumstances, the OP may indeed know someone who could lend it.

I just know how painful it was for my son, and how much relief it was when he got it fixed. Now I'm in the US, and I have health insurance; the whole process for my son from the time I called the podiatrist (my insurance doesn't require a referral) to the time he had the surgery was a little over a week, and I didn't have any out of pocket cost. But in the OP's case, I would want to do whatever I could to move the process along.

Telling someone who says they can't afford £250 that there are other ways of making £250 smacks of patronisation.

And telling someone who can't afford to go private to go to a&e smacks of someone who hasn't got a clue how stretched the NHS is.

All of my immediate family work for the NHS - all of them. So yeah, I'm aware. How many mums on here have taken their kid to A&E for a sprained wrist / ankle / superficial cut / temperature?

Telling someone who says they can't afford £250 that there are other ways of making £250 smacks of patronisation.

I don't agree. 🤷

whats funny is that if that were true all your family would be telling you YABU for telling someone to go to a&e with a toenail issue.

It depends on how infected the toenail is. As I mentioned earlier I had been away from family for 3 weeks (age 11) and was afraid to say anything to the family I was staying with however when I returned home and my mum looked at them she took me straight to a&e. Both my toes were like busted sausages and double their normal size. Both badly infected to the point that the anaesthetic (needles in toes) didn't work. Was terrible getting the nails ripped off With no pain relief! Was told that a few more days and I could have gone septic and would have been very dangerous. Sometimes it's not 'just' an ingrowing toenail and it's up to people to make their own decisions.

UhUhUhDennis,
Ingrown toenail can be extremely painful, my dc had it and could barely put pressure on it. Had it partially removed under local anesthetic (the injection is also very painful in itself), with a month long recovery period, but very happy to have done so and sorted the problem. Antibiotics helped, but the ingroen bit had to be removed. I hope op manages to deal with it, the longer the wait, the more painful and debilitating it becomes (we went privately at the end).

And yes, sepsis becomes a real concern if the infection continues.

I have had a complex ingrown toenail which has required two surgeries and 18 months of dressings to resolve. I have had three other major surgeries (one heart and two abdominal) and numerous medical explorations / minor surgeries and let me tell you, the pain from that toe, and the recovery from the surgery was way worse than any other issue I have had. So please ignore the poster saying just tell him to get on with it!

I thank you for all your comments. I just wanted to know, if a long wait is common, and it would appear that it is. I promise you, that if I could afford to go private, I would. I think we will have to ask Grandma...