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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:
MichaelFabricantWig · 05/02/2023 12:25

YABVU in thinking you know better than the experienced clinicians who decided the appropriate place for the medical care of this patient was in the paeds A and E

TrashyPanda · 05/02/2023 12:27

I'm not sure I'd have been happy with a drunk/loud/aggressive/silly teen in the cubicle next to us

Sadly, there are many, many times when a drunk/loud/aggressive/silly person will be in A&E. And the impact of their actions is not made worse because of the age of any of the parties.

It’s always going to crap

i remember the consultant in A&E going up to a drunk and very abusive man, telling him he would personally throw him out if he didn’t shut up. Then coming over, kneeling down beside my mum, taking her hand and telling her with the utmost compassion that he was very sorry, but her husband was dying and only had hours left to live.

i will never forget him, or how lovely he was. Or what a horrendous job he had to do, literally seconds after standing up to a drunk.

to be honest, after that news, bombs could have been off around us and I wouldn’t have noticed them.

MichaelFabricantWig · 05/02/2023 12:29

Us3r21422 · 05/02/2023 10:53

Errr okay @FormerGossip... I mean I think I overheard intoxicated rather than drunk, but the staff were really quite blasé about it and definitely didn't seem keen to take him. Not sure why you think I'd make it up?

Because you were being told how unreasonable you were being so thought adding this detail in later might help when the post wasn’t going the way you expected on the facts posted?

Bankofrave · 05/02/2023 12:29

Shelefttheweb · 05/02/2023 12:25

If admitted, parents can’t stay on adult wards. So imagine being a fifteen year old girl on an adult ward - which these days are generally mixed sex (though the might not admit it).

Actually adult hospitals have a duty to allow a parent to stay with a teen up to 19 but don’t all know about it or follow this sadly.

MumOf2workOptions · 05/02/2023 12:30

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.

Exactly this

redskydelight · 05/02/2023 12:32

A&E is not a great place for children to be, full stop.

When my DD was 3, she ended up screaming with pain full pelt for a couple of hours (basically until she wore herself out). I overheard other parents talking later and, whilst acknowledging that it was not DD's fault she was in pain, that it had been very distressing for their children to listen to.

And I assume no one is suggesting a 3 year old doesn't belong in paediatrics.

on this same occasion, after DD had cried herself to sleep, I overheard the entirety of the conversation in the next cubicle, which was not at all soundproofed by the curtain between us. I couldn't go somewhere else and leave DD, and I'm not quite sure how I could have avoided hearing in an otherwise fairly quiet space. So I agree with OP that I don't quite see how she was meant to not hear a conversation.

Shelefttheweb · 05/02/2023 12:35

It is not just drunk teens who could be large, loud and disruptive. What about those with mental health difficulties? Tourette’s? Learning disabilities? Head injuries? Other neurological conditions? Having a meltdown due to a phobia about hospitals?

MotherOfHouseplants · 05/02/2023 12:36

Great post from @Flyingflamingoes. I hope your DC is a little better today OP and you have re-evaluated your stance.

waterlego · 05/02/2023 12:39

Newnamenewme23 · 05/02/2023 12:09

Back in the day I had a friend who was t1 diabetic.

he was struggling with the diagnosis and management, particularly at the stage we were all starting to go out drinking.

he would regularly land in a&e due to complications of t1 and alcohol.

to most he would have just appeared like another drunken teen. But absolutely should have been in paeds a&e for his T1 management.

kids have different management pathways.

plus you have the issue where adults can make their own medical decisions. I would think paeds have more training in supporting parents and children to make the decisions as a child may not be capable of consent.

I’m wondering if we knew each other at Sixth form because I had a friend EXACTLY like this. He passed out in nightclubs several times 😩

Pixie2015 · 05/02/2023 12:40

It is none of your business or ours if up to the staff managing the A&E flow that night.
I could say that those infected with d&v or covid should be segregated to prevent more infections but sadly it’s not an ideal world or nhs

LaBellina · 05/02/2023 12:40

YABU, he’s a child who needs medical attention, you solely seem to judge him for the fact that he’s been drinking.

MadeOfSteel · 05/02/2023 12:46

He absolutely should not be there, OP. I agree.

At 14, I was in an adult ward for surgery and recovery. Drunk fifteen year olds do not belong on children's wards.

RichardHeed · 05/02/2023 12:48

Butterflyfluff · 05/02/2023 11:03

I’m more surprised you took your child to A&E as it’s sounds neither an accident or an emergency - surely there were other options?

Is this really how people use A&E?

You don’t think a baby who hasn’t passed urine in 12 hours, isn’t an emergency? Well just thank fuck you’re not a doctor then, and i
hope to god you’re not a parent too.

I do also think it’s telling you’re absolutely foaming about op wasting a&e resources, but a pissed up teenager isn’t doing that? Ridiculous.

MoreSleepPleasee · 05/02/2023 12:50

They are still in the children's part until 17 and move to adults side at 18 yabu. My 16 year old can't bare sitting with the crying kids but what can you do.

Patineur · 05/02/2023 12:50

The likelihood is that the 15 year old just needed to be put on a drip, given a vomit bowl, and have medical care easily available in case of deterioration. He is no more likely to get loud or difficult than, say, a child with mental health problems or one having a meltdown.

XelaM · 05/02/2023 12:55

Don't judge. Pretty soon, your own kid will be 15 and you could be in the same position. You will also realise that at 15 they are still children. A drunk 15-year-old could have alcohol poisoning!

Beseen22 · 05/02/2023 12:56

Yes I'd keep them peds until they are 18. I looked after a few 16 year olds with appendicitis in gen surg and I didn't feel we could provide the care they needed very well. Tried to move to a single room but as soon as someone needed it for end of life care or infection risk that takes priority. Eventually had mum stay but that wasn't ideal because there wasn't really washing facilities for her in a male bay and it was already a bit of a squeeze. There is a lot of challenging situations in hospital and 16 year olds should be spared from that if possible. Also nurse to patient ratios are aimed at 1:4 if child is over 2 whereas I've been given 1:30 on an adult ward.

Blessedtobeamum · 05/02/2023 12:58

He's a child who needed medical attention.
That's all there is to say really.

NicolaSturgeonsSOGIbottom · 05/02/2023 12:59

Of course a 15 year old should be in paediatrics, regardless of what’s caused the admission.

Not unreasonable to be annoyed but YABU to expect a 15 year old with acute alcohol poisoning to be on an adult ward.

DJSteves · 05/02/2023 12:59

My DS sprained his ligaments 3 weeks before he turned 18. He was still treated in paediatric A&E. That's were the line stops. Adult treatment 18+

Scirocco · 05/02/2023 13:01

YABU. Child needing A+E assessment and care = paediatric A+E most appropriate place.

Reasons for this include: need for parental support; specialist equipment available in the correct sizes; specialist knowledge of medication and dosing protocols for their age and size; more regular experience of how to signpost to and involve other appropriate specialities, social services, etc.

Intoxicated and unsettled people don't make A+E a fun place for other patients or staff, but remember that the vast majority of people don't actually want to spend their time in A+E getting judged and feeling ill. Whoever this child is, if they're in that situation, they aren't having a happy time and we shouldn't condemn them for what's a pretty miserable situation for them too.

I hope your little one is feeling better today.

JessicaFletcherscrewnecksweater · 05/02/2023 13:02

An intoxicated child needs to be in an appropriate place, and that is paeds A&E. They’re at risk of aspirating vomit among other things.

I daresay the medics don’t care if parents of more ‘worthy’ children find that distasteful.

Wishfulthankin · 05/02/2023 13:07

An adult nurse is not qualified to care for anyone under the age of 16. It's a completely different branch of nursing now.
He's a child. Belongs to paediatric a and e.

Princesspollyyy · 05/02/2023 13:08

A fifteen year old is still a child and will be treated in paeds.

A loud / silly / drunk teenager is no more annoying than crying babies and toddlers are.

Ridiculous post.

Blackandcreamticking77 · 05/02/2023 13:09

ittakes2 · 05/02/2023 11:49

when your child is 15 - reread this thread and think about whether you would want them to be in an adult or child A&E.
To be honest its a bit stupid of you to even suggest this - peds doctors are trained in children and the adult a&e doctors are not.
Its also none of your business - drunk teens are common (unfort) and I am guessing there is a good reason his parent though he needed to be in A&E. He could have also been suicidal but this was not something they would share with a random in the waiting room.

^^ ittakes2 has absolutely nailed it!