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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think drunk teen shouldn't be in paeds A&E?

397 replies

Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:35

NC for this in case picked up by the likes the of Daily Fail etc.

Took DD to paeds A&E last night due to concerns about dehydration after 5 days of gastro bug and decreasing tolerance for fluids and no wet nappy for 12 hours. Luckily she is OK and we were allowed home after some anti sickness meant she could tolerate water, but the place was full of really sick babies and toddlers. Dr said 4 cases of D&V/dehydration, plus a query sepsis child, croup etc.

I heard someone approach the nurses station and say they were bringing a drunk 15 year old and his parents round from adult A&E, no particular reason given, so assume this was purely based on his age. He did say dad was struggling to manage said drunk teen.

At this point I knew we were going home, so no real skin in the game, but I thought to myself that if the teen was that drunk, was paeds A&E really the place to bring him when he would have received presumably the same medical care in adult A&E?

As I say, no big deal to me as we were leaving, but I'm not sure I'd have been happy with a drunk/loud/aggressive/silly teen in the cubicle next to us. More so for the other parents and children who were really very very poorly and had clearly been there a long time, were very tired, waiting for a bed on the ward etc.

So - aibu to think drunk teen probably should have stayed in adult A&E and that it's not really desirable for a 15 year old who's had a few too many to be in the same (very small) department as lots of really unwell younger children?

OP posts:
Squamata · 05/02/2023 10:37

I think that's a call for the doctors.

Grenoside · 05/02/2023 10:38

A fifteen year old is still a child.

Worriere · 05/02/2023 10:39

Presumably they had good reason, but I'd have been annoyed if I'd been in there with a sick baby.

Crispyturtle · 05/02/2023 10:39

They probably needed the adult bed for an adult.

NightsThatStartWithWhiskey · 05/02/2023 10:40

He’s a child at 15 so if he needed medical care, he should be in the kids section.

EthicalNonMahogany · 05/02/2023 10:40

you have no idea what the drunk teen was experiencing medically or in terms of mental health and a 15 year old body still needs the care of specialist young people doctors.

MirabelMax · 05/02/2023 10:40

Absolutely impossible to judge from the information you've given.

What do you even mean by difficult to manage? Could be difficult to keep upright and conscious rather than him being loud and obnoxious.

Also you don't know what was medically wrong with him. He was drunk but had he fallen and hurt himself?

Ultimately I think the medical staff are best placed to decide where a patient should be.

I know 15 year olds basically seem like adults when you have a baby but that doesn't mean they are.

lottie2888 · 05/02/2023 10:40

A 15 year old is still a child. The mum and dad are going to be as worried about them as you are about your little one. If the doctor thinks it’s the best call for them to be there then it is.

Clymene · 05/02/2023 10:41

He is still a child. Paeds A&E is for all children, even the ones who are older than your PFB.

Get a bloody grip. One day that could be your precious kid.

Original poster
Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:41

Well yes obviously @Squamata but none of the Dr's or nurses in paeds were very happy about it and said it sounded more like a job for adults 😬

OP posts:
PurBal · 05/02/2023 10:42

A vulnerable child should be cared for by the children’s team.

Oysterbabe · 05/02/2023 10:42

A child in children's A&E? What exactly is the problem?
A teen drunk enough to need A&E, and with their parents, is unlikely to cause a problem. They'll probably just be slumped in the corner puking into a cardboard bowl.

Sirzy · 05/02/2023 10:43

They are still a child.

when Ds was younger on one of his admissions a young girl was admitted drunk overnight. She was a child still so had as much right to be on a children’s ward.

to be fair I think the next morning waking up to the noise on a children’s ward of crying babies and restless toddlers probably put her off ever drinking again!

Swimswam · 05/02/2023 10:43

In Europe it’s usual for children’s regular doctor to be a pediatrician. But not in the Uk - every age goes to the GP.
Children remain at the pediatrician until they 16. Then they move to a GP.
That maybe the reason as a 15 year old is considered a child.

Sapphire387 · 05/02/2023 10:43

Bet his parents were embarrassed. I would be.

I think so long as he wasn't disruptive / scaring the smaller children, it's fine.

Palmtree9 · 05/02/2023 10:44

Turn it around the other way...'drunk 15 year old on adult ward/in adult dept'. Then you'd be saying that they're a child and should be in the children's bit.
If he was in for a gastro bug you wouldn't even be thinking about which dept he should be in

BungleandGeorge · 05/02/2023 10:44

They’re a child, they go to paeds a&e. the reason they’re there is irrelevant. A&e are very used to coping with distressed and agitated patients. Similar behaviour from head injuries/ diabetes/ mental health conditions etc. should none of those be there either or is it a judgement about the drinking? I wouldn’t personally be over the moon about being in close quarters with young children with gastroenteritis but they obviously need treating so I’d just have to be tolerant and put up with the risk of waking up vomiting the next day!

MirabelMax · 05/02/2023 10:45

Well that was quite the drip feed!

FormerGossip · 05/02/2023 10:46

I think you are being extremely judgemental and quite ridiculous. What exactly do you imagine said teen will do? Because a heavily intoxicated young person may well have trouble breathing, may be unconscious and generally, well, very sick.

Grenoside · 05/02/2023 10:46

Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:41

Well yes obviously @Squamata but none of the Dr's or nurses in paeds were very happy about it and said it sounded more like a job for adults 😬

Because they were busy and it'd be one less thing to deal with, it's common to grumble a bit like that about placements but doesn't change the fundamental situation of a child on the children's ward. Tbh you are starting to sound a bit judgmental.

StrawHatOnTheParcelShelf · 05/02/2023 10:46

Clymene · 05/02/2023 10:41

He is still a child. Paeds A&E is for all children, even the ones who are older than your PFB.

Get a bloody grip. One day that could be your precious kid.

Yes!

OP when your DD is 15 you'll still see her as your baby and would hate for her to be mixed in with adults while vulnerable.

Baldieheid · 05/02/2023 10:46

If he's 15, he's not out of place in paediatrics.

Original poster
Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:46

Ooh yes @Sirzy I bet that hurt in the morning! Not a good place to experience a first hangover!

OP posts:
Butchyrestingface · 05/02/2023 10:46

A 15 year old is well under 18.

As I say, no big deal to me as we were leaving, but I'm not sure I'd have been happy with a drunk/loud/aggressive/silly teen in the cubicle next to us. More so for the other parents and children who were really very very poorly and had clearly been there a long time, were very tired, waiting for a bed on the ward etc.

Not sure any of the adult patients who may be equally unwell would be too thrilled to have a drunk child in the next cubicle to them either. At least the paediatric patients will have had a parent with them, the adults could well be there alone and having to endure the antics of drunken kids with no family members to take their minds off it.

FormerGossip · 05/02/2023 10:47

Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:41

Well yes obviously @Squamata but none of the Dr's or nurses in paeds were very happy about it and said it sounded more like a job for adults 😬

I don't believe you. And I don't believe they described the young person as "drunk".