Surprised at how I was treated in a&e

[broken86]

This has been playing on my mind for the last week and I just wondered if it was me being sensitive or not.

Last week I had an accident and it was obvious right away that I'd done something to my ankle, I threw up and almost passed out from the pain (which isn't like me, I'd say I've a very high pain threshold and not a drama Queen) I'd never felt pain like it even not giving birth.

Dh ran me to a&e and helped me to a seat and checked me in at the desk. I then told him to leave as there were signs all over saying no one could wait with you.

I felt pretty self conscious and exposed in the waiting room sat with only one shoe on and one bare foot. My leg had really swollen and I was obviously in a lot of pain and while it could just be paranoia I felt a lot of people were just staring at me.

The worst part was when I got called into triage, I couldn't put weight on my sore foot so had to pull myself up using the chair in front then somehow hobble all the way across the room to the triage area. The nurse waiting for me stood leaning on the door frame looking bored out her head at having to wait longer for me and everyone in the waiting room just stared at me struggling

At one point I felt there's no way I can do this but it was such an unfriendly atmosphere I didn't even feel I could ask for help. Once I made it into the triage room and sat down the tears were pouring down my face due to the pain, The nurse didn't even look in my direction just asked me questions and typed into the computer before telling me to go to minor injuries and pointing to an area at the end of the corridor.

Once again I had to struggle down by myself, part of me wanted to ask for a wheelchair but awkwardly thought the nurse must think I'm being a wimp or else she would have offered. I had to support my weight on the handrail all the way down with everyone in the waiting room just starting at me again.

Once I was in minor injuries it was a totally different experience, they couldn't have been nicer getting me pain killers etc Turns out my ankle is broken and I've damaged the ligaments and am now off work and not able to drive etc for the next few weeks which is a total pain but can't be helped.

The total lack of any kind of human kindness in a&e still plays on my mind though, obviously a room full of people at a&e aren't going to be in the best form but a lot of people had ignored the "no family waiting" signs and were sat happily chatting away to each other. I couldn't imagine myself being there keeping someone company and not offering to help someone who was obviously in a lot of pain to cross a room, likewise I couldn't imagine a nurse in a&e not acknowledging when someone is in pain or even just giving them a friendly smile etc.

Obviously I'm grateful for the care I've received so far and that I will need going forward but was just wondering (while Sat with my foot up) if this is what people would expect in a&e?

There was no wheelchair to be seen. He did tell reception I had hurt my foot. At my hospital you have to wait in a&e before being triaged you can't just go right to minor injuries and bypass them.

At the point of arriving in a&e and dh helping me hobble in I don't think it had even crossed my mind about how I was going to make it back out the seat. After sitting for over an hour with the swelling getting worse it was more difficult to stand up again.

Yes I probably should have made a fuss and got more help but at the time I wasn't thinking straight and suppose I didn't want to be seen as awkward.

Contact PALS. Start with “ many people would be considering legal action but I’d just like to know the situation will change” Surprising how quick they jump.
I had similar experience to you except I was sent home with a broken bone, told it was a sprain.

Not normal and shouldn’t have happened. I get they’re busy, I get they get compassion fatigue but it’s no excuse (and I’m front line nhs and I treat everyone how I’d want to be treated). I’ve been in a&e with Dd and the triage nurse rolled her eyes at Dd and was sarcastic to her about how much pain she was in, turns out she had massive blood clots in her lungs…..I do hope dds triage nurse saw dds eventual diagnosis! I hope yours did too! Agree, email in to PALS.

You can't expect the red carpet in a&e, there will be some in there that have been working 11 hours.
Big whoop. Ever worked in hospitality? Most chefs and waiters etc I have known are no strangers to 12 hour shifts, and not just 3 days a week... Film crew do 16hour shifts sometimes all through the night. Delivery drivers often end up doing 10/11 hour shifts driving in all conditions the length of the country for minimum wage.
I have never experienced anyone working in any of those jobs treat me or my relatives with the hostility and contempt I have experienced from nurses and midwives. I have never met with such bald incompetence from any other profession either. I would say 70% of all nurses and midwives I have come in contact with have either made serious errors, been neglectful, unhygienic, incapable of proper communication, lazy, dismissive, high handed or all of the above.
I used to be one of those people who championed the NHS. That was before I really experienced it. Now I am actually terrified of ever having to go to hospital. They seem to actively attract idiots and psychopaths.

I would have let DP stay with me, until someone asked him to leave. You also needed him for support to walk so not sure why you asked him to leave without asking if he could stay.

This - and if you think they are needed say why you think they need to be there if asked to leave - family have had to do it for very confused members and staff usually are okay once they realise it's easier to have someone there.

Completely agree with this.

Its a strange experience walking into these places and being treated awfully when you're at your most vulnerable.

They honestly have zero excuse to behave in this way.

You can't expect the red carpet in a&e, there will be some in there that have been working 11 hours

She didn't need the red carpet treatment. She needed to be treated like a human being. Even basic manners would be a start.

I’m so sorry for your experience @broken86. I had a similar experience in A&E - my DDad went in with a suspected stroke - turned out it was a brain tumour. We were in A&E for 12 hours in total, 10 of those hours spent in a wheelchair in the main area as he couldn’t walk. After we were told that it wasn’t a stroke, but a brain tumour, we were ushered back out into the main waiting area for a further two hours, until I begged for a private room / waiting area as we were so stunned by the diagnosis. Then, after I left to go home for a brief rest, they lost my dad for 2 hours as the nurse forgot to tell the other staff where she had put my dad. It was an awful, awful experience. I wrote to PALS about it.

The thing is, I work in a hospital and am fully aware of pressures etc, but there was a total lack of human kindness in such a horrible moment. It’s a basic human right to be shown empathy and compassion, and that night my poor dad had none of it.

I hope you feel better soon x

I broke my arm during lockdown and got an uber to a&e as nobody was able to be with me. Like OP I was nearly throwing up with the pain and in tears, and I am no wuss believe me. The hospital had loads of staff and only 1 other patient there, a young teenager who had fallen off his bike and also broke his arm. Nurse after nurse walked past us, while we were waiting, avoiding looking at us. Nobody offered pain relief or even a reassuring word. It was like we were there annoying them deliberately. Horrible experience.

The lesson for me here is to ignore the signs about not having anyone staying with you. And then if someone comes over to ask your carer to leave at that point you can ask them about wheelchairs or crutches or whatever you need to move unassisted.

I had something similar on the postnatal ward, I lost a lot of blood and was very anaemic. The nurse (may have been an HCA/midwife, not sure), said I had to walk across to get lunch and just stood there watching me as I staggered over. And then I fainted!

In answer to your question in the title I'm not surprised at all, ditto that no one ( non staff) helped. Ditto people staring. Ditto a & e can be like a family day out for some..
I am sorry that was your experience though and hope you're feeling better.

Weren't nurses saying they welcomed not wearing masks in healthcare settings, so patients could see their smiles?

Doesn't sound as though there's many smiling ...

I had almost the exact same experience when I hurt my foot! I could have written this post.

I've had some wonderful experiences in the NHS, even recently, but what I've seen over the past few years is everything is so overstretched that you really have to ask for/demand/insist to get what you need. It's crap for people who are too polite/ill/unaware of what they need/British/etc who don't like to make a fuss or aren't able to.

I learnt this when I sustained an injury a few years ago and was fobbed off to a doctor's appointment 3 weeks hence - when I went to the appointment I was roundly told off for not seeing someone sooner!!!! Hey presto it cost the NHS more money as I then needed specialist treatment.

It's crap but I guess this is where the cracks show - or one of the places - they have to prioritise who needs what and the most obvious way is to give people who make the most fuss the most help. If you'd sat in A&E and cried and yelled that you couldn't make it to the door they'd have damn well found you a wheelchair and someone to push it.

I had a rubbish experience at a&e a few years ago too - not as bad as yours though. Similar injury - but was given a wheelchair fortunately. Can't remember the triage bit, but I remember going to this room and being told to get on the bed by this unsmiling woman. I was really struggling to get from the chair to the bed but she just stood there looking at me. It was horrible. I felt she was testing me in some way. I think I have a high pain threshold and wasn't making any massive noises of pain. I told her what had happened and that I thought it was worse than a sprain and she said, reluctantly, that I needed an x-ray - again she didn't help me back into the chair from the bed, which was quite high. After the x-ray and back in the room, she saw that I had broken my ankle and in a flash, she became a completely different person. I think she actually exclaimed her surprise out loud. This plays on my mind a lot. If I had been screaming my head off, would she have treated me differently? I didn't want to make a fuss despite the horrendous pain so she treated me as some kind of fraud to begin with - it really upset me at the time and still does. I would definitely complain if I were you.

Sorry. Wrong thread. Asked for it to be removed.

Yes nonman23 I had the exact same thing. I was treated like I was just being a drama queen until she saw the line on the X-ray. I think she actually felt bad at that point. But jeez, it’s not like I go to a&e every week. I knew I had really hurt myself

I've sprained my ankle a few times and when I've been asked to hobble to X-ray sometimes I've been asked if I want a wheelchair other times not. You sound like it was very obvious you couldn't walk and in a lot of pain so I'm sorry you were treated like that

I totally get why this upset you so much - we all feel vulnerable when hurt or unwell.

I had a nurse dismiss and fail properly examine a massive swelling in my groin and made me feel like a hypochondriac and total pervert because I had to basically beg her examine my 'ho-ha'! She just glanced at the small 'head' of the swelling and said sarcastically "would you say its quite small?". Turned out it was a bartholins abcess for which I was sent for emergency surgery for drainage and to avoid sepsis. Last thing she said as I was wheeled off "hope you feel better soon" which I took as an apology.

Same. I had to walk to get the cast put on after they said it was broken. “It’s only down the corridor we’re not getting you a wheelchair”.

That's terrible treatment, OP.
Definitely tell PALS.

I had similar a couple of years ago. During my first MS attack I was taken into A&E by ambulance and left in a wheelchair. Finally called through by a nurse, who just stood there staring even when I asked for help. Dislocated my shoulder trying to hobble myself. Complained but not sure it will make any difference.