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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Lots of people go to A&E when they shouldn't

306 replies

Liz1tummypain · 04/01/2023 10:18

To be clear- I couldn't think of a way or wording this so I just came up with something that might attract some opinions. It isn't something I can spout about with any authority.

But is it true? My kids are older so I haven't had to go to A&E for ages. Very little experience. On the radio I heard they are trying to re-direct potential patients to pharmacies etc . So what is your view on it?

My mum worked in A&E , a long time ago and she says she thinks people wouldn't have dared to turn up with some minor injuries that she thinks people go in with now. She thinks people just tried home remedies and only went in with broken bones, trauma, sick children. But I think maybe she was just getting a bit worked up after seeing something on TV. She also hasn't been to A&E for a long time.

OP posts:
fajitaaaa · 04/01/2023 10:19

I don't know. If anyone has any statistics froma reliable source on it I'd be interested to know.

U1sce · 04/01/2023 10:20

Ive definitely seen people turn up with issues that could be treated at home or by the gp. The problem is people can't get gp appts and if they do, their issues often get dismissed, so they go somewhere they know they will get treated, even if they have to wait all night to be seen

AWaferThinMint · 04/01/2023 10:21

I don't know if it's true but I do know that several of our minor injuries units have closed so it's A&E or nothing for something that needs to be seen but isn't critical in many places here.

bloodywhitecat · 04/01/2023 10:23

People have always gone to A&E for things that could wait or a pharmacist could help with, the problem now is that more and more people have problems accessing a GP appointment so are rocking up at A&E for things that are not always A&E worthy.

DominoRules · 04/01/2023 10:23

A long time ago there were out of hours GPs, home visits etc which don’t exist now. I think a lot of people end up at A&E as they have no other option

cantcope88 · 04/01/2023 10:24

my DR's surgery refused to issue a repeat prescription for myself before Christmas. The advise "go to A&E to get it issued" needless to say after some persuasion I got it issued.

Charrpower · 04/01/2023 10:24

Lots of People struggle to get appointments at gp, especially with the booking system of many having the on the day phoning up with no booking ahead, crap for working people. I imagine it contributes to people turning up, with something that does not treating just not at a&e

fairgame84 · 04/01/2023 10:24

I worked in A&E 12 years ago. People turned up for things they could treat at home. We used to get people ringing to see how long the wait was before deciding whether to come!
Sunday evenings were the busiest with people turning up to see if their kids were well enough for school the next day.

BringBackCoffeeCreams · 04/01/2023 10:25

I think if someone is prepared to wait in A&E for 10+ hours (40 hours in some), then they must be pretty worried and feel like they have no other choice.

TokyoSushi · 04/01/2023 10:25

I think they do, but I think it's because they've tried and failed to get treatment elsewhere. It's almost impossible to get a GP appointment. When you call 111 sometimes they don't call you back for 12+ hours, if at all. We live in a really large town, we don't have a walk in centre.

The reality is, if you turn up at A&E, it's always open, medical staff are there, and somebody will listen to you eventually. I think a lot of people know that they shouldn't really be there, but the reality is that there aren't that many other 'easy' options, and so A&E becomes overwhelmed.

IveHadEnoughNowFfs · 04/01/2023 10:25

A huge majority of it comes down to GP’s. I was having a scan on Friday and made small talk with the radiographer and she said people come into a and e with excruciating stomach pain that has been escalating for weeks / months, can’t get an appointment, they come into a and e in desperation and leave with a cancer diagnosis. The whole system is broken from the ground up

Ginmonkeyagain · 04/01/2023 10:25

I am not sure but it does seem to default advice these days.

On Monday I tripped on a broken paving slab that was obscured by a pile of wet leaves. Luckily I am young (ish), fairly fit and flexible so broke my fall well but did twist my ankle.

A couple of people ran up and one person immediately said they would call an ambulance. People seemed shocked and protested when I declined either an ambulance or a visit to A&E. I was fine and as soon as I established I would rotate my ankle, wiggle all my toes and put weight on my foot I got up and went home.

It is clearly a sprained Leanne so I have been resting, elevating and icing it for a couple of days and it is doing well. Obviously I am monitoring it for any alarming signs but there would be no need in my book to even bother my GP let alone A&E.

Looloo278 · 04/01/2023 10:26

I have a condition which entitles me to be seen quickly and meds prescribed asap. Unfortunately, trying to get a doctors appointment is nigh on impossible. I’ve often had to call 111 but even then, the wait times mean I often end up in A&E because I’ve deteriorated quickly. Most of the visits could be avoided had I been seen and had meds prescribed the same day

Original poster
Liz1tummypain · 04/01/2023 10:26

cantcope88 · 04/01/2023 10:24

my DR's surgery refused to issue a repeat prescription for myself before Christmas. The advise "go to A&E to get it issued" needless to say after some persuasion I got it issued.

That's unbelievable! I don't see why they'd be like that, your GPs

OP posts:
Ginmonkeyagain · 04/01/2023 10:27

Sprained Leanne? Sprained ankle obviously!

illiterato · 04/01/2023 10:27

People are less likely to take a “wait and see” approach I think. My dc play rugby so pick up quite a few injuries and one in particular is a massive drama llama so whatever has happened he thinks he’s dying. Sometimes I have questioned if I should go to A&E- mainly as I think other people might think I’m neglectful tbh- but the wait times put me off and so far nothing that couldn’t be fixed with strapping or a splint, or things that just have to fix themselves like broken ribs.

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 04/01/2023 10:28

I was so so close to going to a&e last year for something that was neither an accident or emergency because I could not for love/money/sobbing down the phone to the vile cow on reception, get a GPs appointment.

I always used to be really perplexed as to why people would go to a&e for no reason, I have a bit of sympathy with it these days…

Remaker · 04/01/2023 10:28

I took my DD to A&E with a broken wrist. There was a teen boy there about her age who had a lump in his chest. When the dr questioned his mum about why she’d brought him in she basically said she was too busy at work to take him to a GP appointment so brought him to hospital because it was more convenient. My guess from her manner and dress is that she was a MC professional of some kind. Definitely not a struggling front line worker with no sick leave. It made me very cross that my daughter and a toddler with TWO broken ankles had to share medical attention with a kid who didn’t need to be there.

Glitterandcard · 04/01/2023 10:29

Yes, but mostly because either they can’t get access to their GP for something that while not A&E worthy still needs urgent attention, or because they’re sent there by 111. That’s not the patient’s fault, it’s the system’s, and it’s a rational response by the individual patient.

There’s a popular myth that if only idiots would stop showing up with broken finger nails or a mosquito bite that A&E would have room for the proper cases - if that was ever true it’s not now. Anything inappropriate just gets filtered out by triage at the door at our local A&E. The issues with A&E are far more about an aging and chronically ill population, poor social care and the current spike in flu and covid.

RudolphTheGreat · 04/01/2023 10:29

I think it's always happened but is worse now due to the fact people can't see their GP or struggle to access 111 when they're unsure, so err on the safe side and trek to A&E

SilverHydrangea · 04/01/2023 10:29

I was recently at A&E due to a nasty fall and fracture. In front of me in the queue at the triage desk was a man who reported a red/?infected hangnail and another who said he had hurt his knee at football a few weeks previously and it was still playing up - he had a couple of days off so thought he'd pop in. IMO neither of those should have been at A&E.

Nimbostratus100 · 04/01/2023 10:29

I think the issue is it has to be A and E or nothing. I know someone go with dandruff. Before you poor scorn on them, they suspected a scalp infection, and spent many months trying to get any sort of diagnosis or treatment while living at home with a husband who was being treated for skin cancer, and who had multiple open wounds, and was severely immunocompromised. The wife was unable to care for the husband due to fear of spreading a suspected skin infection, so the two of them remained in separate rooms, and used separate bathrooms. As a result, the husband was readmitted to hospital repeatedly as he couldn't care for himself at home. Meanwhile the wife tried everything the pharmacists suggested, except seeing a GP, and getting antibiotics, as for over 6 months there were no GP appointments available. Guess what, she eventually turned up in A and E in sheer desperation, and was prescribed antibiotics and cured.

Ginmonkeyagain · 04/01/2023 10:29

@Liz1tummypain That's really bad advice, NHS 111 can issue limited emergency repeat prescriptions. I used it once when the dozy new receptionist at my GP forgot to sent my contraception prescription on to the chemist and then they were closed for the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Feetupteashot · 04/01/2023 10:29

@DominoRules this is untrue. There are still ooh GPs via 111 and home visits are available 24h.

luxxlisbon · 04/01/2023 10:30

Three times in the past 12 months my GP tried to direct me to A&E for mastitis (which in the end I had to go in for as GP wouldn’t see me and I was massively unwell with a 3 week old to look after) a chest infection for DD, and an ear infection for DD. The two last times I had to push incredibly hard got to to be seen and made it clear A&E was not the appropriate route for a child with an ear infection!

So yes some people go to A&E when they don’t need to, either because they don’t know how to access the right care, they aren’t sure how serious the situation is and they are worried or they cannot access care through other means.

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