To be really sick of various posters advising others not to use A&E?

[QuestionableMouse]

Seen it so much lately. A poster with concerning symptoms will post and there'll be a rush of posters telling them not to use A&E because it's "for emergencies only"

This is when the NHS advises using A&E.

People advising others not to go is going to end up killing someone and I'm genuinely getting sick of seeing it. Part of me wishes MN would ban these threads.

I work in A&E and tend to agree, however, I think the main problem at the moment is access to GP services, people can't get an appointment and are told to ring 111 who often advise to go to hospital as the only option. I had a patient last week with that scenario, they waited 17 hours to be told they had a frozen shoulder and to ask their GP for a prescription for painkillers if needed. They told me that whilst they were waiting many people had got fed up and left as if it was the hospitals fault but actually many of those people were obviously not an accident or an emergency to just decide to go home as the wait so long. If the GP service was better there would be far shorter waiting times for those in genuine need.

I totally agree.
No one should be going on MN and asking whether it is a GP, 111 or 999 issue.

I do think it is ok to ask about things like "has anyone had X procedure", or "has anyone else had X condition". Looking for experiences of others is ok, but asking for advice as the first port of call is dangerous.

Around where I live there are only two options - GP or A&E. You can’t see the GP at short notice so the only option for anything urgent is A&E. In my experience, by the way ringing 111 is a complete waste of time. Recent experience: spent nearly an hour on hold waiting to speak to someone. The person I spoke to just asked me a list of questions, some of which made no sense, and then said someone would ring me back. It was clear that the person who rang me back also had zero medical knowledge and was just using some sort of online checklist. Eventually said I should go to A&E. Which is what I should have done in the first place…

I agree. This year I have used A&E once for myself and twice for adult child (well he did). Son was admitted on both occasions and the first time spent 3 days in (& I KNOW on here he would have been told to stay away - it was for dreadful throat infections - he’s been told if it happens again to go straight to A&E).

Mine was for an adult bite to the hand. And no I wasn’t on death’s door but once there I found out that bites to the hand have to be seen at A&E the sooner the better (as higher risk of complications). I was x rayed, had it cleaned, tetanus, hepatitis vaccination status checked, antibiotics given). Again I am pretty sure I would have been told it wasn’t ‘an accident or an emergency’ on here.

In a world where people can see a GP and where 111 calls back or they aren’t fobbed off with inadequate advice if any, sure.

But I’ve seen recent threads where people with life threatening conditions have been given inadequate, incorrect or no care and have asked here because they are questioning themselves. They get the usual parrots of ‘is it an accident or emergency?’ (which I think is one of the most brainless comments I see on here) amongst people actually encouraging them to get the help they need with the wording they can use to advocate for themselves at A&E and at times it’s turned out to be lifesaving.

Humans will always seek out other humans to ask advice. Access to good medical care is far from ideal right now. It’s often far from the simplistic situation people are coming up with here.

True re 111. The first time my son went to A&E he waited all day for a call back from a doctor via 111 (on a Saturday) only to get a text at 8.30pm saying there was no one available & he should see his GP on Monday. I told him I wasn’t happy with that so he went to A&E, jumped the 8 hour queue was admitted for 3 days & had specialist follow ups.

You can do an assessment using 111online - no need to phone. It uses the same algorithms as the 111 call handlers.

111.nhs.uk

The amount of posters with no qualifications whatsoever who rush to give medical advice on mumsnet is scary.

The lack of alternative provision is part of the problem. Where we live there are minor injuries/urgent care clinics which bridge the gap between GP and A&E. My DC have both broken fingers playing sport and the UCC has sorted them out.

So true. Our minor injuries/urgent treatment centre is brilliant.

They don't seem to have them in bigger towns where there is an A&E though, so people who need treatment and can't get an appointment with a GP go there instead.

Exactly, you asked a Dr who then sent you to hospital. A lot of posts should have seen a doctor about something concerning but they wait until the middle of the night and then post should they go to A & E because they've got a headache. And half the posts say go now because my cousin had a brain tumour that started as a headache.There's just a severe lack of common sense sonetimes.

i think it’s an issue where there’s only GP or a&e option so if you have an urgent medical issue out of hours what do you do?
my GP is good but you have to call at specific times for an urgent appt - then the receptionist grills you etc.
Near me we have a great walk-in centre which I’ve used many a time for sprains, injuries, etc (mostly for DCs) and it’s not usually more than 2 hours in and out. That would be my preferred choice but it shuts at 9pm. If more serious they’ll send you to a&e.

In Wales we're being told not to bother the hospital or the GP but ask our pharmacist. When the pharmacy is closed I can understand people worrying themselves silly

Posters are often posting to tell people not to use a and e when the op has asked about it.

Some posters believe a and e should only be used for life and death. This is wrong and potentially dangerous.

I also think some posters can't understand that bit everywhere has the vast array of alternative services.

Not everywhere has drop in GP and nurse centres.
Not everywhere have minor injuries.
Not everywhere has separate adult and child a and e facilities.
Not everywhere has special eye a and e clinics.
Etc.

Also many posters post whilst waiting for 111 and GP call backs, because they are concerned, are second guessing themselves, don't have someone in real life at hand ti talk to, and such reasons. They are often not just say doing nothing in the meantime.

Agree op. That list is far from exhaustive. Many things are an emergency that aren’t covered there.

If I hadn’t gone to A&E last week I would be dead by now. I had none of the symptoms listed

I've twice taken my children to ED with symptoms that could be very serious (in one instance blue lit by ambulance) and in both cases they recovered while waiting for the doctor. I would have been irresponsible not to take them because I didn't know they didn't need to be there.

Last year I had to strong arm my sister with heart attack symptoms into going to ED because she was worried about wasting NHS time. She wasn't having a heart attack but did have quite a serious heart condition. The messaging from the NHS is confusing. Some people will still come for a verruca and others will now stay at home until they have proof they are dying.

The problem is timing matters. There are so many conditions with a "golden window" for treatment and faffing around not wanting to waste NHS time means people miss it.

I agree 111 is poor at the moment but surely it is better than asking mumsnet?

As pp have said 111 triaging can be done online - you will be told either to go to A&E now, see your GP or be asked to have a further discussion with a nurse or doctor.

Triaging will always err on the side of caution but many people on the internet will not. So why EVER seek their advice?

Just ban people asking for health advice then.
Heck ban people asking for advice about anything.
We can talk about funny movies instead and political numpties.

What's the point of asking for advice if the ONLY ANSWER EVER IS YES GO TO A&E. MN can just put that at the top of the health threads: the ANSWER IS ALWAYS to seek medical advice.

Frizzy hair? Period was 2 days late this month? Funny sudden swelling on your foot? Cough that keeps you awake at night but didn't worry the GP who you saw 3 hours ago? You can't possibly judge or ask other opinions what to do. Off you go to talk to an A&E doctor. Only answer ever.

I’m the same. When fell off my bike and broke my arm, my mother told me to stop crying.
sorry it happened to you too

If 111 was properly funded and worked effectively it would be great. But it’s underfunded and understaffed, and people don’t trust it.

We live 10 mins from hospital. If 111 decide you need an ambulance and you offer to drive the patient in they refuse and tell you to wait, even if the ambulance is going to take hours to get to you. It’s nuts.

People shouldn't be asking for advice on should they go to a&e. It's pretty obvious if you should and if you have to ask, it's most likely not urgent care you need. 111 is what you should be using if you aren't capable of making a decision.

It's a waste of time for the doctors in there and then you end up with a queue of ambulances waiting to admit patients, which then stops the ambulance being used for other people. I know, I've been in a queue of ambulances before waiting to be admitted! In extreme pain with broken bones, and several 'patients' inside weren't even bloody sick.

You might not be getting seen easily by a GP, but that's not then a&e that you go to. Keep complaining to your GP, and complain to your local councillors and MP. Complain, complain, complain. Going to the wrong service is just putting a plaster over the issue, complaining is what we need to do more to get better service as it looks bad.

Yes A&E is for accidents and emergencies only and has often been misused by people for a very very long time. That is not a new issue; I remember well over 20years ago a big campaign to try to educate the general public on what A&E was and wasn’t for.

however, there are now fewer GPs doing fewer hours and people are becoming desperate to access medical advice and care. 2/3 of current GP trainees are not intending to working full time in a recent study-it’s costing £50k a pop to train them. And the numbers of people wanting to be a GP have gone down also. If appropriate funding was in place within the community for GP’s and social care then numbers having to turn to A&E in desperation would go down. This also is not new-and it’s not down to just the Tory’s either; successive governments have screwed the NHS and it began with Tony Blair. Every new government since then has continued on the same path-they are all the same bunch of wankers.

I've seen a number of threads where people with potentially serious symptoms have been told it's not an A&E matter. In one the poster turned out to have septicaemia and would certainly have died if she had followed the advice to wait and get a GP appointment.