To think this is why our A and E are failing?!

[DaisyLilyFlower]

Currently in A and E with suspected ectopic pregnancy (told to come here from 111) and current wait is around 4 hours, already been here two.

I’ve been sat by triage next to the reception desk, so not deliberately being nosy but in the last hour two patients have come in with

One with an ear infection
And another with a ingrown toenail

Cannot believe it! Reception asked them both if they’d been to see GP or rang 111, tried overnight pharmacy etc and both said no!
I do not doubt that both of those conditions are extremely painful, but I sort of can’t believe that people turn up to A and E without trying other methods first?

I’m probably just being wingy as I’m in pain and the wait is long and ABU, but I guess my question is,

What’s the worst thing you’ve seen at a and e?

Also Name change as don’t want this linked to my other posts but reg poster.

Hope you are okay op.

I agree 100%.
Same with ambulance usage.
Because its "free" people just use what's most convenient for them, it doesn't matter how much its costing. They should be able to turn people away that should be at other services.

DHs adult cousin once went in for a rash, not ill in any way, but had a rash on his arse so went to A&E. Not the GP, or a pharmacy or even try 111. It was eczema, obviously.

I've been twice in two months for cuts- one a saw cut when I missed a shrub branch. Deep, wouldn't stop bleeding, potential nerve damage. Second my dog bit me and it rapidly became very infected. On neither occasion did it occur to me to try and see a GP. What's a GP for any more?

This is a very grumbling post, blaming those who end up at A&E either because they need to for circs you don't know, or because there are no bloody services so it is the only place to get help.

The Tories want you to believe A&E is struggling due to our fellow citizens. That is a lie. A&E is struggling due to the fact there is wholesale underinvestment in health and that is where people end up if they can't get appropriate help elsewhere.

I do accept many people go to A&E with small ailments, but they get sent away again usually.

I once knew someone who took their relative to a&e because she had taken multiple pregnancy tests which had all come up positive and she was convinced they were all faulty 🙄

It's so hard to see a GP. My wife asked for an appointment when she had what we thought was a grumbling appendix. She got fobbed off with an appointment with the practice nurse. We were really worried and so went to A&E early one morning. By 7om that day after tests and a scan she received the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Can you imagine how much faffing and delay there would have been if she had gone to see the practice nurse?

*7pm

@joystir59

It's so hard to see a GP. My wife asked for an appointment when she had what we thought was a grumbling appendix. She got fobbed off with an appointment with the practice nurse. We were really worried and so went to A&E early one morning. By 7om that day after tests and a scan she received the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Can you imagine how much faffing and delay there would have been if she had gone to see the practice nurse?

I think this is the problem - due to shortages there is so much fobbing off now.

Glad you got a diagnosis quickly and I hope it all goes OK

I spent the day at a and e yesterday with my husband who had a fall at work and banged his head and had concussion (he is okay thankfully). They let me stay as he was confused and talking gibberish- otherwise due to COVID things they would have sent me home understandably. Anyway I was sat next to the reception desk and could hear everyone’s issues and so many of them should have been a GP job. So many people with bad backs and muscle pains. And I’m not saying some of those things aren’t serious - I have chronic ill health myself including hidden disabilities so know people can go downhill quickly but I think it’s a sign of 111 and gp services being severely underfunded if people feel it’s quicker and easier to go and wait in a and e for potentially 6-8 hours than try to contact their Gp first.

Husband ended up in a bay next to someone who had a shoulder injury and was discharged with paracetamol and told to contact their GP for physiotherapy.

Yes the time wasters and drinkers don’t help the situation at all but it’s far more complex than that.

Getting people into A and E then deciding what to do if they need an admission is like a giant game of Tetris.

Hope you are ok OP.

So many people with bad backs and muscle pains.

The issue is if these people can't work for some time due to this, they could lose their home. And there is no way to get a strong prescription elsewhere if the GP won't see you. I ring our GP and get told 'there are no appointments, ring back tomorrow'! And then the same the next day. And the next day.

So if I had unbearable back pain that was keeping me off work, I might try A&E because I have a chance of getting the right drugs.

What a mess Britain is in.

I took my dp to a&e a few years ago with a painfull ankle but he could walk on it. I just had a hunch he had broken it and he had. I did try minor injuries first but they don’t x ray at the weekends.
ATM in our area GPs are sending more people than usual to a&e

@picturesandpickles

So many people with bad backs and muscle pains.

The issue is if these people can't work for some time due to this, they could lose their home. And there is no way to get a strong prescription elsewhere if the GP won't see you. I ring our GP and get told 'there are no appointments, ring back tomorrow'! And then the same the next day. And the next day.

So if I had unbearable back pain that was keeping me off work, I might try A&E because I have a chance of getting the right drugs.

What a mess Britain is in.

Yes I can understand this.

I work in hospital labs. Boxing day is my most frustrating day of the year for a&e work. So many 'query heart attacks' and abdominal pains. I want to stand at the doors to a&e with some tums and prune juice telling them to come back in half an hour if they still feel ill.

I suspect its because they can't actually help you with a suspected ectopic pregnancy.
They have to wait for the gynae department to open in the morning to scan you.
So you could wait on a bed, meaning they couldn't treat someone else. Or you could wait in the waiting room where they can keep half an eye on you in case you collapse.
Doesn't make it right. But I was blue lighted in at midnight once. Given a bed in a and e but they didn't do anything, just transfered me tk gynae in the morning.
Hope you're OK

It’s possible for all these things to be true at once:

Some people absolutely take the piss and go to A&E for unnecessary things.
Some things that might sound minor in some people are serious for a minority of others.
Some people haven’t been able to get seen elsewhere eg GP and this is their last resort.

Hope you feel better soon OP.

This has always been the case, people heading to A&E fell during covid (not always good of course as that included real emergencies who needed to be seen), but not it feels safer people are starting to be ridiculous again.

I think people should be taught basic first aid at school, to give them some idea of what needs to be seen at hospital and what doesn't.

I was waiting to be seen at A&E (broken wrist) once, and a woman came in with a child who had a splinter in their finger, ffs.

OP I hope you are okay and managed to get seen in the end.

Re the ear infection though: just prior to COVID, I struggled along with an ear infection for a day. The pain was like nothing I had experienced. Thankfully my Mum lived nearby and was able to help look after my 3 DC, as my husband was away. I eventually called 111 and was given an out of hours appointment at A and E, to be assessed by a doctor and given medication and pain relief for a suspected perforated ear drum. I was given a time to attend but still had to wait in A and E for a bit. I would hate to think someone was sitting there passing judgement. As it happens, I had actually perforated both my ear drums (had blood coming out my ears) and it took months for my hearing to recover. I still have tinnitus. I wish I’d gone sooner. I think it’s shame if someone feels they are in enough pain to endure hours of waiting to be seen at A and E, for whatever reason, that anyone should judge them.

I wish there were more resources for minor injuries like suspected fractures that were separate to A&E so you're not triaged against real emergency cases. Especially for kids where is so often a sprain / possible fracture but you don't know. It takes v little time to actually do the x Ray and for broken fingers, strap them, but hours and hours waiting if triaged against emergencies.

I think pain levels can dictate whether people go to A&E or not. I had a urine infection once that I tried to treat with a herbal remedy but ended up crawling to a taxi to get to A&E in the middle of the night because the pain became unbearable. I should have gone to the GP earlier before it got to that point. Hope you are okay also however.

If there were enough GPs then this would be so much less of an issue. As it is, I don't know anyone who is able to get a decent GP service. Too many people, not enough doctors. It comes up again and again.

I’ve been to A&E three times for myself.

Once was 8 years ago when I was having a strange reaction to my new antidepressants at the weekend, which turned out to Serotonin Syndrome and I was sent straight to Major Trauma and I was there all night as they tried to stabilise my heart rate, and if I hadn’t gone in when I did, I could have died.

The second time was last summer, when all of a sudden at 8pm at night I had excruciating pain in my left side, I couldn’t move from a bent over position, my HR was really high. I called 111 who sent paramedics out, who decided I needed to go to A&E after running some tests. I was embarrassed as fuck, it turned out to be a UTI that had spread and I was on strong antibiotics for a fortnight. I’d had zero symptoms of one till that night.

The third time was a few weeks ago after a more than minor but far less than serious car crash, with a sprained wrist and a concussion.

I have a friend who's an A&E nurse and she could talk about this for days. For the biggest part she said that GP surgeries are the problem because they are still not seeing people face to face and this forces them to seek help in A&E. I also believe that minor injuries clinics are not used by people as they should be because a lot of people don't know about them. Another factor is not everyone is registered with a GP leaving the hospital the only place for medical treatment. It's definitely abused by some people though, I have a few people on my Facebook who seem to be at A&E constantly for trivial things that minor injuries could have taken care of.

Pre-covid, I was in with all the skin sloughing off my foot/hands (see Sporner’s corner, the skin on the bottom of my foot was hanging off like a hammock, they admitted me as an emergency, overnight, hooked me up to an antibiotic IV) The wait time was 5 hours.

There was a woman in there lying over several seats who was treated at the same time as me in the next cubicle. The treating doctor/nurse told her she had scabies. I appreciate it’s apparently very itchy, but I was a bit amazed at that one.