With how I was treated in a and e

[Arcade]

I’ve got endometriosis it gets so bad I pass out throw up etc. I’m currently on morphine codine and other meds for the pain. Yesterday it became so bad I was almost hysterical with pain and nothing was working the bleeding was also more extreme than normal. My partner ended up driving me to a and e as I couldnt spend any more time in this amount of pain. When I arrived I was seen fairly quickly and the nurse was lovely she suggested right away I have more morphine codine and some other meds. She said she could only give me the codine as they where tight on space and I really needed to be watched while taking morphine and codine at the same time but I would be seen soon for the morphine. So I took my codine and went back to the waiting room and politely asked the receptionist roughly how long the wait was tonight so I could tell my partner to go home instead of waiting in the car they said it wasn’t long. I then wasn’t seen for 1.5 hours and ended up just silently crying in the waiting room. I went back to the receptionist and said would I be aloud any more pain relief as I’m in agony. She spoke to the nurse who then did after 25 minutes bring me out some morphine . I was in so much pain I did consider going home as I was so uncomfortable but I knew going home wouldn’t fix it and I was throwing up badly. By which point I hadn’t been seen again for 3 hours but was then eventually taken for a blood test and told to have a sleep on a bed as the wait time in a and e was six hours before a doctor could see me. I said in the end while crying through the pains that I would go home to sleep as I live 2 minutes away and was exhausted by this point as it was now 2 in the morning. I then did get home and manage to sleep through sheer exhaustion. But I’ve woken up being sick again from the pain my partner thinks I should go back to a and e but I cant manage sitting in a waiting room for 6 hours again. Atleast at home I can lay down with my hot water bottle and take some of my own morphine. How can and a and e leave someone throwing up and crying in pain with no real pain relief until they beg I get they where busy but I’m at my last end I’ve tried every cure going numerous surgery’s physio therapy private doctors hormones just to have pain like this constantly.

You were conscious and breathing so pretty far down the list if they were dealing with RTC victims, heart attacks etc. Going on a Friday night is never going to be a quick visit. Sounds awful though and I hope you get the relief you need.

That does sound horrific. I'm sorry you're in so much pain.

That said, it was Friday night in A&E in an underfunded NHS hospital. I'm not sure you can really blame those on the ground.

I’m sorry that sounds very difficult to live with.

YABU as who knows what life threatening emergencies they were dealing with that meant you had to wait or any number of other at issues hospitals.

You were triaged quickly, and given medication.
You probably need your GP to refer you for a specialist gynae appointment.

I'm sorry that you are in so much pain, but as others have said your condition was not life threatening

Current wait times in A&E are horrendous, I know of various stories from friends who have been there over 10 hours

So sorry but YABU - you were seen, they gave you what they could until a bed was available. It was also a Friday night which is likely to be very busy

This sounds horrible OP, I'm sorry.

However I think this is the reality in the NHS now. I had the misfortune to spend a night in A&E recently. Fortunately I wasn't in pain, but it was still awful to spend the whole night sitting in a plastic chair. To do so in pain would have been horrific.

But I don't think it's about them not caring about your pain - rather I think they're just dealing with so many patients that they have to find a way to prioritise. They may well have been dealing with some life-threatening situations, with people with MH issues who need watching, and with other, more complex cases that just meant they couldn't get to you in the timeframe they would have liked.

Obviously I don't know any of the ins and outs, and if you feel that you were personally dismissed and treated worse than other patients, or you have reason to think that they could have dealt with you more quickly, you could speak to PALS.

I really hope you feel better soon and can get the help you need to manage your condition.

As awful as that was for you, the others a right. You were a low priority in terms of urgency. Be thankful it wasn't a 11 hour wait like it is here 😔

I'm not really sure what more you could expect. You say you had to beg for morphine but if you had some of your own at home it would have been a good idea to take it with you so you could try to manage your pain while waiting.
Friday night in A&E is never plain sailing.

You can help you flared up on Friday night. I have multiple back problems and very quickly towards Friday night my back started spasming just but turning a tap on. At I'm 7 months pregnant I couldn't take standard painkillers. So had to be in a&e with access to maternity to deal with it. Even with no pregnancy your GP wouldn't be able to just up your painkillers and you have no choice to access emergency care.

I totally get why they don't turn the waiting room into a living as they don't want to attract people just for the comfy chairs. But my a&e had hard wooden chairs with hardly any back and not back support. Even the beds they put you so hard and no pillow. I get they don't want your there for a sleep but I need strong lumbar support and lying me on a flat bed for 7 hours why they figured out what was wrong with me was hard on my back.

To be honest as it was busy they came and went as I wasn't having a heart attack.
I could of snoozed at least for 20 mins but not ton that bed . No way would I stay in hospital just because I could, so fussy about food etc.

If people are giving the line a&e is just for emergencies and heart attacks that mean they are happy with the chronicly ill having no emergency access to higher authority care in the UK. Which is just terrible.

YANBU to think our A&e is in a shocking state and failing patients,

the whole NHS is in a shocking state. I hate being too poor to afford private as I know I can’t rely on the NHS anymore.

You were in pain but you aren't in any danger. You aren't a priority. You actually got seen really quickly. It's likely there were people with more serious issues at the time.

@JessieLongLeg nobody is saying that A&E, is just for heart attacks and RTC but they have to be triaged first. Being in pain with periods or anything else is awful but not likely to be life threatening and I'm sure we've all experienced or had close family members experience that awful long wait but you'll be seen eventually.

OP can you get a referral to a gynae specialist? My mum and her sisters all had hysterectomies by 35 for gynae problems after they had finished having children, I hope they have a less severe treatment nowadays

a Friend was recently blue lighted to A&E having a terrifying allergic reaction to her chemo. It took 6 hours for her to be assessed.

So, given that I expect that the people they were seeing were in even more imminent risk of death.

Whilst I'm sorry for you it is not their fault, if the Govt with their austerity policiesand political underfunding of the NHS to bring in a two tier service (but even by stealth any more, it's obvious).

Not being goady but other than pain relief (which it sounds like you have a pretty good handle on anyway) what else did you expect from them? Long gone are the days you would then be referred into the system from A&E, they basically make sure you're not dying and then expect your GP to refer you onto specialists if you can get a GP appointment

So so sorry that happened to you. I actually think you were seen incredibly quickly considering it wasn't life threatening (although obviously still awful). My sister waited 11 hours for her 3 month old baby to be seen on Sunday, who ended up then in for 2 days on iv antibiotics and fluids. The NHS is in a terrifying state

I think the majority are unaware of A&E waiting times now, family member was triaged but waited 11 hours to see a Dr on a mid week night 2 weeks ago.

I mean, I think a reasonable rule of thumb is that if you feel that you can go home, and do, then there were probably more pressing cases to be seen in A&E.
It sucks being in pain. It sucks not to be seen quicker. But the nurses and doctors there are working as hard and as quickly as they can. If they are able to see you quicker, they will. They aren't making anyone wait unnecessarily while they hide in the back and do nothing.
The NHS is shit because it's horrendously underfunded. Vote a better government in! Until then, I'm not sure what you expect them to have been able to do differently.

Compared to the cases A&E get, you weren’t an emergency. I appreciate you were in pain but you were conscious, breathing and not loosing a life threatening amount of blood.
They gave you pain relief on arrival and more when you requested it. I’m not sure what more they could’ve done?

As others have said it was not an accident not an emergency. Whilst I am sure you were in horrid pain and it sounds awful, you would have been fairly low down on a Friday night.

My great aunt (98) recently waited 7 hours on the floor for an ambulance, she had broken her hip. She waited a further 6 hours in a and e in the corridor. So I think you were actually see relatively quick given the circumstances.

Wishing you all the best.

Get cross with the catastrophic underfunding of the NHS, not with the workers trying their best.

YABU. Considering all A&Es are incredibly busy at the moment you were actually seen quickly and given initial pain relief. A 6 hour wait is long but you were given morphine during that time so what more could they have done?

I'm sorry Op, I have Endo too and it's such a horrible debilitating disease.
Unfortunately from a medical perspective it's generally not life threatening so I can see why it's low on the priority list. I've been twice to A&E for overwhelming pain because of it, and both times I was nicely given a bit of a row and told to go through my GPs surgery.

Can you afford to pay for an initial consultants appointment? You need to get onto the list for a laparoscopy.

Before the pandemic I waited 3 hours on a bed on A&e. I was triaged quickly and put on a bed. I then became unconscious and if it hadn’t been for my DH being there and constantly asking staff I dread to think what would have happened. Once a Dr saw me I was taken straight through to majors. I had meningitis.

we told staff it’s was meningitis (I’ve had it before). This was mid morning on a Sunday in June.

I had to take my mother to A&E with chest pains last month. She wasn’t even triaged for two hours. Then there was a ten hour wait.

I hope you’re doing ok.

Sounds horrible OP but I’m afraid YABU. A&E will be treating according to level of threat to life, not level of pain - your condition is not life threatening therefore it would have been very low priority. It really sounds like you need to go back to GP

I’ve had two laparoscopy’s I’ve seen a million gynaecologist I’ve seen an endo consultant on the nhs and private. My go has told me to go to a and e in the past as want me to bee seen and checked over when I’m like that