Should she have got priority treatment over other non-urgent patients?

[Rabbitradar]

DD is an SHO (dr) in A&E in city X. She was off duty yesterday and so came home and stayed here last night in city Y which is 30 miles from city X. She was due on shift at 10am this morning. Unfortunately one of her contact lenses tore in her eye and despite several attempts a piece of contact lens remained in her eye causing blurred vision and mild pain.
She could not drive due to blurred vision so I drove her to eye casualty in city Y.
Waiting room packed (9am) and average wait time 4 hours.
DD didn’t ask for priority treatment - and wouldn’t dream of expecting to be seen before anybody requiring urgent treatment. She did ask what the waiting time was and explained she was due on shift in A&E at hospital X.

However, to me it seems nuts that she is spending the morning sat in a waiting room with lots of other non-urgent casualties (and doubtless some urgent ones too) whilst 30 miles down the road at hospital X the waiting room in A&E will be backing up further as they are 1 Dr down.

AIBU to think that in some circumstances -like these - it would be sensible for NHS staff to get priority treatment?

Please note I am not suggesting that any other patient’s treatment is compromised just that other non-urgent patients have to wait a bit longer ....

In an eye casualty clinic, no. Because they knew what was wrong with her and that it wouldn't cause long term sight loss or blindness.

My Sister had temporary blindness and my Grandfather went blind, both avoidable, had they have had proper care.

My DD got a lump on her cheek. We sat in a walk in and then her vision started to go funny. They rushed her to our local eye clinic, it was a strange worded eye infection that looks like a lump on the face. If she gets it again we know to go to the eye clinic. If a layperson looked at her, they tell her it was nothing.

I've had vision issues because of medication.

You can't mess around with an undiagnosed eye complaint.

Nope. She waits her turn just like ever other patient.

I second @Peaseblossom22, optician can easily do this, my DD has one split last year.

You get whiners and 'SNOTFAAAAAAIIIIRRRR' responses in A&E all the time, because stupid people don't understand triage - or that the person who is sitting there quietly and looking a bit pale might actually be much more dangerously ill than the one howling and clutching a limb.

So YABabitU to expect priority on the grounds of her job, too.

There was a case recently were a consultant got his child seen quicker in his A&E because if they weren’t seen he was going to have to leave to take care of his other children (childcare issue - wife was with sick child). He was one of the A&E consultants on shift so basically a disaster for the department and waiting times if he had to leave. Another member of staff reported him and he got severely reprimanded (it made it into the papers).

Everyone in that room has commitments and it's unreasonable to prioritize

I completely understand where you're coming from and why it would have made sense... Equally though their triage system just wouldn't work if they asked everyone if they have any compelling reasons (not related to their injury/illness) to be prioritised.

I don't think triage should be based on how important you think ones job is. It wouldn't fare well for the elderly and children. Would an emergency appointment at the optition be a quicker option?

I understand the logic in what you are saying, but in reality it’s not practical. You can’t triage according to patients ongoing needs personally, only medically, and unfortunately in this instance that means another hospital is short a staff member for a period of time.

I would've taken her to her workplace. Someone might've been able to quickly treat her and she would've been straight into work.
I do see your point op but no they have to prioritise urgency otherwise where do they draw the line. Your DD's hospital's staffing isn't this hospital's concern.

YABU is they started doing this it would then start including their children and partners and other family(eg grandma does childcare for a nurse so needs to be seen quickly so nurse can go to work).

yabu

Going against the grain here, if i was on duty and a medical colleague came in id see them straight away. Urgent cases are always prioritised so she would be seen first amongst non urgent cases. Its the least we can do for each other. I hope she gets sorted soon

Any decent optician would have seen her and removed the torn bit of lense in minutes. No waiting whatsoever. I've had this happen twice to me, and both times opticians resolved it.
But, no. I don't think she should have got priorty

When I was an A&E SHO, I would have been bloody glad of a legitimate reason to turn up to work a bit late

On a more serious note, I understand what you are saying, OP- the NHS could actually help more patients over all, if it prioritised getting injured/ill staff back to work, so over all patients would benefit even if they had to wait a bit longer, to let NHS staff jump the queue.

Two problems with this - one the practical: how do you fit this into triage catergories without compromising safety? The other is that what you are suggesting would probably be detrimental to the NHS and to its staff. The NHS has a massive problem with presenteeism - staff coming to work even when they are not well enough - and doctors are the worst offenders. This is bad for the staff concerned - cutting corners, even with the best of intentions, often leads to poor treatment. It is even worse for patients who end up being treated by staff who are rushed back to the frontline when they should be recuperating.

Why on earth did she go to a and e? I have done this before and just got it removed by the optician with no wait time. A GP can also do it.

One of those situations where you think on your feet i.e. Emergency opticians appointment or drive her to her place of work then pick her up to take her back to her car when she finished work.
Or wait.
I do see your point though but I imagine that would only happen in her own place of work.
Hope she is ok now.🌷

I think it would make sense, not because of a sense of entitlement because of her job, but because as you say, she was due on shift and patients in the hospital where she works will all be left waiting for longer. In reality though that would require a level of flexibility which doesn't seem to exist.

No, she should not get priority treatment.

Her waiting 4 hours and being unable to get to her work is no more or less in value than the businessperson sitting there unable to do their work which pays the taxes which fund your daughter's employer and pays her wages.

So a business person being late for work has the same impact as a doctor in A&E? Sure....meanwhile, back in the real world. Also, in the hospital she works she will be helping people get back to work more quickly.

I agree with you, OP - she needed to be in an eye casualty unit, not her own, and it would have benefitted the queue at her own unit to have her seen and back at work more quickly. It’s not about pulling rank or looking after their own just for the sake of it. Bigger picture, people.

If you start triaging on things other than medical where does it stop?

What about the single parent with no one to look after the children after school?
The nanny for an A&E doctor who needs to get in as soon as they're back?
Someone who's left their puppy all day?

And if you start triaging on other matters it won't be long before it gets twigged and people will try it on.

Reminds me of when my dbro moved house. Dm was convinced if he told BT that he was a doctor then they'd bump him up the list to connect the landline because it was essential for him to have one. Yes he did have a mobile anyway.

... then how to triage among "NHS staff" in the OP's original post.

Who goes first, the GP or the A&E SOH?
Who goes first, the SOH or the surgeon?
Who goes first, the eye surgeon or the brain surgeon?

And so on...

@XXcstatic you’re right! I told dd to make a virtue of a necessity and enjoy the sit down but she was too anxious about letting down colleagues and patients at hospital x.

When DD checked in she asked nurse about optician instead but nurse said she should be seen by dr to check for corneal abrasion.
She has now been seen - drops, dye and fragment removed. It took 5-10 mins. She has a small abrasion so has antibiotic drops and instructions not to wear lenses for a few days.
She is now on way to work.