A&E time wasters.

[ConfusedMumma99]

I don’t know if I’m just thinking like this because I’ve not been in a situation. But are people genuinely being ridiculous for the reasons of going to A&E

a friend took her son (20 months) to a&e because he got a temperature of 38.8. By the time the nurse took it at a&e it was normal and she said it was because she’d given him Calpol??????? She then said he was running round the waiting room eating snacks.

am i a cow???? Or why would use a&e for this? I appreciate lots in the news about strep A. But surely you would wait and see if temp came down with Calpol/nurofen? That’s what I’d do with my child.

however I am a first time mum so im worried I should take illness more seriously? Do you really need a hospital visit just for a temperature?

our local A&E had wait times of 14 hours the other day??? Is this a combo of lack of
staff or people going unnecessarily.

I know GP’s are notoriously bad for appointments?

how are people seen in A&E? By time spent or by severity?? It seems scary that if you actually needed a&e that you might not get seen.

Well locally they shut them down as they couldn’t staff them.

There's definitely a strong element of some people wanting to be Facebook famous for fifteen minutes. My friend who works in A&E regularly checks over children while their parents are busy on their phones. I only took our DC to Accident & Emergency once and they were admitted for 4 days. But I was so scared and focused on DC that it never once occured to me to be on my phone.

We’ve presented twice at a&e in the last 18 months - once for a broken bone, once for a possible stroke. On both occasions we were seen immediately- the broken bone had a short wait after painkillers given as there was an RTA come in. The stroke wasn’t a stroke thank god - although very serious anyway.

@memorial my experience has been very different to yours, I've found antibiotics usually more towards the magic fairy dust side of things with DC being much better with a couple of hours of the first dose. Their temperatures stop running so high so calpol / nurofen are enough to keep it under control, and it seems to calm the inflammation for both tonsillitis and ear infections enough that with the painkillers they drink / stop screaming with pain from the ear infection. Even with a UTI it thankfully didn't take 48 hours for dd'sto clear!

Same. DS had Strep A when he was 6 months old and then again at 8 mths and both times we saw major improvements after the first dose. I think people for whom antibiotics don’t work quickly are either not using the right ones or have a viral infection.

My experience is based on 25 years as a practicing experienced GP. Frankly what you are describing is pure anecdote and placebo effect. Makes no scientific sense at all and perfectly demonstrates the abiotic demand hysteria and why antibiotic resistance is such a huge issue.

😁 I’ve been waiting for you “mic drop” moment memorial

Now I’m hearing 100 Vicky Pollards in my head “yeh but no but yeh but”. 😂

My DC had recurrent ear infections as babies until they were grommetted. I used to find they picked up after the 4th dose. Fortunately at that time, more than 25 years ago, our GP offered me a "just in case" prescription to have to hand. It was invaluable. She also thought I could and should have had the ABs to keep in the fridge and make up when necessary (the pharmacist vetoed that). Remember the days when pharmacies closed at 6pm and there was a duty chemist open in a five mile radius.

Similarly DS at about 9/10 months was not admitted to hospital on a couole of occasions when he was very wheezy because the Dr said he was well looked after, the parents were sensible, we had a nebuliser at home and he had no issue giving us ventolin liquid for the neb, with the instruction to return if DS got worse.

I rather wonder if some of this is not just about parents being over anxious but also about Dr's no longer using their judgement due to the fear of litigation.

It's not just litigation. It's downright aggression and abuse. The amount of demand and aggression and shouting has become ridiculous.

I didn't train 10years and practice for 29 to be screamed at by someone who "knows better than me". I really cannot be bothered anymore to try and explain (or argue). You know better crack on. You want shits and puke (1 in 7) vs benefit (1 in 25) crack right on. You want antibiotic resistance so that those that need tx can't have it crack right on.
It not worth the abuse anymore. And for those of you who say it doesn't happen I can absolutely assure you it does. Several times a day.

We had an abusive parent the other week who didn’t want us to treat her child and pump her full of drugs. Why the fuck she bought her in then I don’t know. We can’t win.

Sometimes mums panic and think AE is the best place to go.
A lot of people don't use Thier common sense.
I can never understand why folks must visit AE if they have the flu. If you have those symptoms take painkillers and Ibuprofen four hourly and drink plenty of fluids.

I think it's a shame if that happens @memorial but in all honesty I have never seen it. I have however seen GP receptionists shout at people and also, far too often, nurses doing so. I wonder if it's circle of rudeness all round.

I'm also none too impressed by some of the NHS Dr's I've dealt with, particularly in the last 5 to 10 years. The young ones are especially patronising and abrupt and I don't think my family deserve that. Mostly we use private health services and it's very different.

We must be about the same age and I don't know at what point it went so badly wrong. I suspect a lot of NHS professionals have lost their grip on basic courtesy and the public have lost patience with being messed around. Sadly the two together, particularly when people don't have the skills to articulate themselves clearly or to analyse potential risk is a recipe for disaster.

I am now wondering if memorial is my friend who is an A&E GP, because their opinions and observations are so similar. It's worrying how many of the public don't understand the basics of how anti biotics actually work. My friend has been screamed at many times for not prescribing anti biotics for viral infections. And these people don't want it explained to them, they don't want to understand. They just want some pills to take.

so parents who are on their phones are the problem? Sorry your child was ill but your point is, well, pointless. You’d have seen me in A&E a few days ago and I was on my phone plenty. I still needed to be their with my DC 👍

Looks like I hit a nerve.

@memorial would you be able to share your evidence that antibiotics don't lead to any improvement for 48 hours please?

I've had a look, and I can't find any research papers tracking symptoms on a short term basis at all. I can only find find research showing peak blood plasma levels of penicillin etc occur very rapidly at 1-2 hours post dose, and commentary suggesting symptoms may not improve for 24 to 48 hours which would suggest sometimes they do.

For a young child with tonsillitis on liquid antibiotics, there is of course also some degree of topical application. I'm not saying all symptoms magically resolve within a few hours (DS is still struggling with eating due to enlarged tonsils 2 weeks after our latest A&E trip), but that my admittedly anecdotal (although repeated more times than I'd like) experience of a very poorly child is that they can stop deteriorating and improve to the point they can be managed at home very rapidly after you start antibiotics.

“They take 48 hrs to take effect and can well wait to the next GP appt.”

If antibiotics take 48 hrs to take affect then why delay any longer to get them? That is another 48 hours of high fevers and risk of the infection spreading? What if we wait out the weekend and the GP still doesn’t have appts to see us for another few days?

You’d be wrong ☺️ But thinking parents on their phone is in anyway a sign that their child shouldn’t be their is dense. Many arrangements and such may need to be made when you take a child into hospital. If you have nothing else in your life going on or no other responsibilities then that is good for you. Many people have jobs and other children they need to sort out an organise when taking a child into A&E. Some people need to visit frequently if their child has a chronic condition that requires hospital treatment at times, so can take 5 mins to entertain themselves while waiting and their child is is sleepy on their knee. Judging parents for being on their phones in an A&E waiting room is short sighted at best

I can't see @memorial's post but this legal case would suggest they are talking bollocks.

Posted too soon.

Oh dear god alive. A child with a temp is not actually the same as a bacterial meningitis. Giving every single child with a temp abiotics is not going to prevent this. The NNT vs NNH will be huge.
Without knowing the details of the case impossible to comment but its a bit of stretch to use this on this thread. Very odd

Which is why you should caveat your massive sweeping statements.

Sounds like being a doctor was not your vocation in life @memorial as you don't seem to have had much love, compassion or empathy for the job or your patients.
In my experience doctors have only given antibiotics for my toddler if necessary for an example after a positive test result for strep or signs of a chest/ear infection that's not shifted after a week. They don't hand them out for high temperatures alone.
No parent should be discouraged from taking their child to be seen if they think they might need antibiotics. Your dismissive attitude is dangerous. Untreated ear infections/utis in kids can lead to sepsis - it's happened to one of my close friends kids. Personally i wouldn't take the risk and I would always take my child to be seen if needed.
This is not the problem. The problem is parents can't get access to a GP so often have to visit A&E as it's the only option.