In urgent care and feel like I've been pegged as a time waster

[QuestionableMouse]

Not sure if I should stay or go to be honest. Was at work when I started to get pain in my left chest/shoulder. First aider at work sent me to urgent care but I've been sat ages and everyone is going in before me so I feel like I've been pegged as a time waster. Chest still hurts but I'm starting to feel bad for being here.

The pain of shingles can appear days before the rash. I would trust the doctor's advice rather than a poster on mumsnet.

Yep, but that was for my mum who is currently back in hospital. Not for me.

That kind of pain in me is usually stress or anxiety related. I'm thinking if your mum had some kind of defibrillator incident, it could very well be why you had a pain in the chest. Or course, it could also be shingles, but always worth considering how stress is affecting you.

Thanks, yet if you read the NHS website it says under my circumstances go to a&e as it can be a sign of emergency spine damage. And I went after talking to 111. I agree that a&e is not for general diagnostics but what I'm have is sposed to be treated in 6 weeks if not getting better. GP refused to treat me for 18 months (pre Corona). If you woke up and over a few days couldn't walk/wash/cook/hold food down and was not able to hold your bowels would you just accept it. Imagine if I was caring for someone by myself I would of had to call social services/lost wages. The accident & emergency I was going through was NHS neglect. Met a few in there getting dressings redone after district nurses messed it up in a rush. Urgent care/a&e are taking the brunt for a lot of NHS fallings and social services are cracking under the strain. When I got a private scan done my GP rang me very concerned to rush me through to a spinal surgen. This is going to cost the NHS more long term than if they sorted it out in the beginning and would have avoided me going to a&e. Each dept of the NHS I saw said another dept should deal with it but noone did or follow it up so was stuck in a medical no man's land.
This is a shame for many reasons but yes a&e should not be a replacement for a GP care. Plus urgent care and all emergency GPs I saw just told me I had a strained muscle and to take pain killers. One emergency GP even told me to come back after my period was finished and they would do scan like it was the 1920s. When I got into private care for the first time they was amazed I even walked into the appointment and yes to have a twisted pelvis with a 4cm difference in leg length you are expected to need a wheelchair. No wonder my period was stoping me from moving I wasn't hysterical. Thats just the one of the 6 diagnosis that are linked. All my GP had to do was start with a x-ray and wouldn't of needed to go to urgent care/a&e four times to be treated like I was making it up and friends telling me to do exercise!......I've been doing my exersises for 6 weeks again, tummy/bowels are under control. It makes such a difference when you get treated and can take responsibility for your health. Can actually go and have a meal with my dad another few more months and I might not of been able to turn the symptoms around.

Get this my neighbors is a ambulance man and had a accident and they refused to check he was ok on x-ray and told him to to go home and take painkillers and he has the judgement to know they should of at least make sure he was ok. I've been refused crutches after leg emergencies to go home and not eat more than snacks or wash for 6 days before a&e would give them to myself. This system is not working even for obvious emergencies.

@JessieLongleg I am surprised. I have sometimes had a long wait in A and E, but have always been treated thoroughly as have all my family and friends. I had to take a friend to A and E two nights ago. I couldn't go in with her so told her to ring me to let me know what was happening. Forty minutes later she rang me having had a scan and saying she can go home, but will have further tests, but its not the emergency she feared. I was surprised it was so quick. She said it would have been quicker but she was called and then asked to wait longer as an emergency case had come in.
When I went with a suspected heart attack, I had an ECG done straight away, and blood pressure and blood tests. No signs of a heart attack but they kept me in and did another blood test after I think 8 hours to double-check.
My dad was taken into A and E during the height of covid for heart issues. Lots of tests couldn't find anything wrong, but kept him in overnight for monitoring and then consultant came and tweaked his medication.
My DP was sent to A and E by GP just before pandemic started. Waited in waiting room for admissions sent by GP. Someone brought around free sandwiches and drinks. People were called and admitted. We waited just over an hour before being called. The consultant examined my DP and then got a porter to take my DP up to the ward where he was for five days. He was in a side room with one other person.
All of these admissions are at different hospitals and all over the last two years. Yes when i went to A and E with a friend who had a tampax stuck up and the GP refused to deal with it, we waited ages. We expected to. It was obviously low priority and the GP should have done it.

I had a bad pain in my side for a couple of days. Not one to make a fuss I got on with it but then it suddenly became excruciating and I had a really weird shaky feeling come over me and told my DP to call an ambulance before fainting. Came to and the pain had more or less completely vanished but the ambulance arrived so I had to go along with things feeling utterly mortified. I felt absolutely ridiculous when they asked for my pain on a scale of 1 to 10 and there was no real pain anymore, they obviously thought I was a drama llama as did the hospital staff who left me languishing in a hallway all night and into the following day. Anywho my appendix had ruptured and it ended up pretty serious resulting in a week long stay in hospital. Never worry about being a time waster you never know so it's always better to get checked out.

It's shit isn't it. How are you feeling now op? My dp went to a and e on Monday with chest and arm pain. He sat for a few hours waiting as others were seen before him. Long story short he had a heart attack and ended up in critical condition and having 2 ops. He's still not home. Because he is almost 30 no one took him seriously.

I'm glad some are getting the care they need but we have a lot of health inequalities in the UK. Some are based on postcode due to facilities and funding. Such as the two of two NHS hospital that investigate one of my problems is in neighbouring area such more easy for me to access in many ways. I know people travelled for hours drive to get here outside of London.

Also I'm a gypsy by law(pay council tax and income tax). Also have life long mental health problems so have other sterotypes put on myself. People are generally shocked I have a toilet and parents are not on benefits. But would like to point out never been the type to seek medical care for attention and classed as low risk mental health patient. As in my keyworker comes to my home by herself
Till recently didn't have physical problems just general ones that we all get.

Have also been on 4 year waiting lists for mental health care which was in the papers as they were hidden to improve figures. Makes me a bit sad that people don't pick these things up yet pick up more views that put people down. Just view the NHS though their own experience.

Bias is woven into the teaching of medicine so effects the outcome of treatment, was stunned when that Dr said he wouldn't scan me because of my period as that was a big misunderstanding of women that I thought was in the past in professional settings.

Periods can effect hormone levels and blood urine tests but thats it. My female GP was shocked but didn't push for futher testing for myself. But was part of one of these super GPs. Which mean more hours open but rarely see the same GP.

Got a new GP to visit next week and really am stepping in with a positive attitude.

@JessieLongleg yes mental health treatment is poor. I care for a relative with szichophrenia. I am lucky that he has a brilliant GP who really does advocate for him. So one time crisis team refused to accept referral, GP phoned up and kicked up an almighty fuss. Crisis team came once and then it was escalated to twice daily visits with daily reports back to the psychiatrist. I think sometimes because I am there to support him, they try and pass the buck. But I helped him to find a brilliant GP. All through the pandemic he has always been offered face to face appointments by the GP.

I'm so glad you have a good GP mental illness support is so bad right now. Unless the past szichophrenia is treatable with long term help and this is what the UK is lacking. It's shouldn't be left to crisis point to access the system as well with the heavier mental illnesses.

That time in urgent care I got the crisis team as was so stressed was just being chucked out. And they said I need a recent assesment. But my side of the areas building has been slowly dismantled for 2 years pre Corona. The psychiatrist rang me two days later and told me not social/duty workers in house anymore. And all he could offer me was meds and I should self refer to social services. I tried out some meds and had the worst withdrawal symptoms that overlapped with my spine problems. The psychiatrist told me it wasn't his problem they just prescribe, to go to GP or a&e. Old GP said not their problem call the psych team and I didn't bother going to a&e. Turns out the weird tingling in my legs wasn't the withdrawal but symptoms of my spine. I was just going around in cycles. The only person who listened to me was my chriopractor who had been treating me for siactica. And of the back of his treatment got a referral for a private hip examination. The speclist spend 30 mins getting lifting my legs and arms when describing pain and the referred to a spine surgeon. Any longer and I don't know if I couldn't recover without being in a wheelchair.

Family feel so helpless and already support people though NHS experiences the government are suggesting even less NHS support now!

@Archersandlemonade

Pain in your chest should be triaged as urgent

I trust that the doctor or nurse who triaged her and is fully familiar with her current symptoms has triaged her correctly.

@JessieLongleg Yes too many times people with serious psychiatric issues have physical symptoms dismissed. I am glad you were finally diagnosed.
My relative is on ling term medics, but there are still crisis every so often. He refuses to consider talking therapies ever, so meds are the only thing anyone can do.

@JockTamsonsBairns

Glad you've been seen, Op, and hope you're ok. Just as an aside, are people really going in with sprains and bee stings? How is that considered urgent care?

An allergic reaction to a bee sting can be fatal, and what appears to be a sprain might actually be a fracture, so of course they need to be seen.

I had terrible pain for about 36 hours before the shingle rash appeared so Doctor might be right. If it does turn out to be shingles make sure you ask for antivirals as they seemed to help a great deal.

All I can say is NO ONE should be waiting ages! Didn’t we all go into lockdown make sacrifices to protect the NHS ?? So why is it sooooo bad?

@JockTamsonsBairns

Glad you've been seen, Op, and hope you're ok. Just as an aside, are people really going in with sprains and bee stings? How is that considered urgent care?

Sprains could be breaks, people can be allergic go bee stings. I fully agree with people not misusing health care. But it’s totally the right place for an injury that could be a break. Soft tissue damage can be more painful than a break, I’ve broken my ankle twice. But the pain from a sprain with soft tissue damage was worse and took longer to heal.

@ MrsCardone sometimes people will go in before you because they are being seen by A&E doctors, others might be waiting for speciality doctors who aren't A&E based and are bleeped to see patients. A&E will usually order any tests the teams want until they arrive. We get a lot of people complain because they think they have been forgotten or left but sometimes they are waiting for the Gynae team or medics or cardio. So it's not always obvious nor straightforward.

@Bignanny30
Because of chronic underfunding.

It’s got fuck all to do with covid.

Also I know from experience that you can go to your GP and be booked in for an appointment at A and E for tests. So GP at 4 pm, told test will be 6 pm. As long as there is not an emergency you will walk straight in even though you may not appear particularly ill.

Please stay - firstly, they may be waiting on your medical records to see and secondly (from experience) please don’t ignore the tiredness as a symptom.

@SynchroSwimmer she has been seen and it is suspected shingles

Stay and if its gets anymore painful make sure you speak up.

I went to hospital with chest pain, i was dripping with sweat. They took a blood test and then left me for 2 hours, as they were really busy. I kept saying I was in a lot of pain, wasnt offered pain relief. I burst in to tears and made my husband get help, they checked d my blood tests and realised I was in fact having a massive heart attack.
I was then rushed in to be operated on but by then I had a lot of damage to my heart and now have heart failure.

I hope you get seen and its nothing too serious

@Blueskip

You're in the right place and were told to be there by a first aider. Chest pains should always be checked out, especially as women's heart problems present differently to men's.

Yes I read that. I wonder how they differ.

If you have early shingles and can get appointment with GP or practice nurse, you may be able to get a course of anti-virals. I had them and they stop the shingles getting too sore. Hope you feel better soon.

@Bignanny30

All I can say is NO ONE should be waiting ages! Didn’t we all go into lockdown make sacrifices to protect the NHS ?? So why is it sooooo bad?

Chronic understaffing, staff leaving in droves due to terrible working conditions, brexit means we’ve lost a ton of foreign workers. This was an issue before covid. Covid hasn’t helped but this is far more than just that,

You’re there now. Just get checked out