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?

Yep, speak to PALs and get it registered that you were unhappy with this particular nurse.

I've been navigating NHS services with my elderly mother and it's been a pretty horrifying experience not helped by her gp surgery who seem to think that everyone can manage their care with tech and a crystal ball. It's been so bad I am on the verging of writing a letter and copying in her MP.

I've never had issues previously as our GP surgery is brilliant and all of my issues have been one off. Multiple health conditions makes it very hard though.

For everyone, I suggest keeping a diary with who you see and what they say and chasing up stuff promised. Highly likely you will fall into a crevice otherwise.

It's not right but unfortunately it's the norm now. Iv spent quite a lot of time in a&e and you really need to speak up and stand up for yourself to get the right care and treatment. For anyone in this situation in the future when they call you through stay seated and say I can't walk on my foot/leg, they will then have to get you a wheel chair. If you stay quiet and limp across they will just stand there watching.

@Bubbles332 Nobody is minimising anything,
least of all ectopic pregnancy and as explained to the patient, who understandably was upset and kept requesting that she be given an US to see if the pregnancy was still viable, that spotting/bleeding in very early pregnancy (5wks) was very common but they were unable to offer her an US.

However, they advised that she ring her GP or the EPU when they opened later that morning. A&E was was not the place for this patient to be.

I don’t understand why you’re grateful for this “care”? The NHS isn’t free, you’re paying for it through your taxes. It’s time people started calling out useless service instead of grovelling at the alter.

A few years pre Covid DH injured his foot. We went to A&E, were told no wheelchair until after the x-ray. Once the x-ray showed a break he was allowed a wheelchair.

My husband broke his arm severely. He was admitted for 4 nights before they finally operated on it. Whilst realigning it they said they usually provided gas and air but in this instance they didn’t. He was pinned down and screamed like someone was being murdered. He now has PTSD and shouts out in his sleep thinking he’s being pinned down. Since discovered he really should have had ketamine and gas for when they realigned it as he was awake (they then operated 4 days later as it was so swollen they thought his skin might burst open). Honestly the care is frightening.

Being a triage nurse in ED is possibly the worst job in the NHS.
I don’t think there’s a queue of people lining up to do it.
What do you want your complaint to achieve?

my experience at A&E is that you have to speak up for yourself. By struggling along without a wheel chair you are effectively saying you don't need one.

as an advocate you are probably great at speaking up for others. Now you need to learn to speak up for yourself.

Until 3 weeks ago I had never been in hospital for myself but have spent a lot of time there advocating for my elderly mother. An unexpected problem three weeks ago meant I ended up in A&E, had emergency surgery and then a 4 night stay as an inpatient. My experiences with my mum were incredibly useful. I knew to speak up when I needed things rather than suffering in silence. Medical staff can't read our minds and if we struggle on through pain or nausea or discomfort they can't be blamed for not understanding how much we are suffering.

@Cloudysky81

So we shouldn’t complain? Yeah right. No one’s forcing them to work there. Also, no one is saying it isn’t an unpleasant workplace but let’s be straight here. Nurses are employed to be nurses. To care and to do no further harm. Just some basic manners would suffice.

reading all the comments makes my blood boil so much. Honestly, f*ck the NHS. There may be good doctors and nurses few and far between but on the whole - the system is broken.

This. I’m a nurse and sometimes wonder why certain people enter the profession. If you don’t complain nothing will change. You must have felt awful and embarrassed. Please, please contact PALS, this will go back to the department and will be addressed.

Politeness and compassion I imagine, pretty basic stuff.

I get the fraud thing. I was on holiday and did some damage, I had to go to the nearest a and e and frankly I got the impression they thought I was there for some attention. But simply looking in my notes would prove I hadnt seen Inside a and e for more than 20 years.
It was a complete shithole, all new looking hospital, but a and e was around the back in some shitty porta cabins.

Anyway I was, i think, treated with suspicion, xrayed eventually, told nothing wrong, but even I knew something was wrong. But trusted the experts as you assume they know better. Now nearly two years, a whole heap of pain later I need an operation. I needed the operation then, so two years of using the limb has not helped.
I'm going to be off work for months if I ever get this operation, they aren't rushing their arses to do it. I will only get ssp which is shit, and if I'm off too long I wont have a job to go back to. Whereas if it had been done nearer to two years ago I would have had 3 or 4 weeks off.
The utter frustration with the whole thing (and the pain some days) has had me in tears.
I've also struggled so much carrying on with work and life, its been shit.

I'll recount as a child I broke a bone and I remember clearly how awfully I was treated then. So imo it's no better than it was 45 years ago.

Yes it's embarrassing at what low standards people of the UK have.

I can think of people who have had what would be a pretty bog standard medical procedure in any middle income country, yet because the NHS has managed not to kill them, they start writing all this "thank you NHS" rubbish on social media.

People are paying for the NHS, so you should not have to grovel for any level of bad service.

What do you think keeping quiet will achieve?

It could well be you one day being starved, injured, ignored, refused medication, laughed at, traumatised, or even possibly allowed to die through negligence. Will you be glad people kept quiet about being treated like cunts then?

But that isn’t what happened.
The triage nurse was a bit off, as they always are and likely always will be.
Then by the posters own admission the rest of the treatment was great.

There are literally people on this thread saying that the same treatment has caused them significant harm. I'm assuming you're a medical professional from your lack of ability to value kindness, but surely you understand people shouldn't walk on broken legs?

And the complete lack of compassion, empathy, and caring is totally cool with you? You don't think it's at all concerning that A&E departments are staffed by near psychopaths? You don't think that kind of attitude is incredibly bloody dangerous when peoples' lives and health is at stake?

All of the things I've listed are happening right now in hospitals. Some have happened to me personally. But it's fine to treat people like dogshit for daring to need medical attention?

Christ on a bike.

Exactly the same treatment as I got when I broke my ankle a few years ago, so must be the standard! Apart from I did ask for a wheelchair and was told I'd have to find one if I wanted one. I asked where they were and they said they shrugged and gestured inside the hospital... So went without instead of hopping the wards in search of one!

And that attitude could put people off seeking help or speaking up.

After the events of the last few weeks we ought to be challenging poor practice. Before anyone gets daft, I’m not suggesting that the triage nurse is killing patients, I’m suggesting that if we don’t challenge this poor practice we accept that health professionals are beyond reproach.

Unfortunately @broken86, that was my experience about 18 months ago when DC2 (adult) had appendicitis. The doctor they saw just dipped the urine and found a trace of blood. No other tests, and we were sent away with a diagnosis of UTI. As we were driving home from the hospital, DC, was writhing around and crying in pain, but refusing to let me take them back as 'they won't do anything'.
The only plus was that (because we were both so insistent that this was the same as an incident before where an ambulance crew felt it was a grumbling appendix), DC was given a slot at a clinic with direct access to surgery if needed the next day.
Of course, we were there first thing in the morning, but even so, delays meant that DC didn't get an ultrasound until late afternoon, when it was decided they needed surgery urgently. DC still didn't get surgery until the next day (first on the list because of urgency), because once they had been put on the list, two other people came in with an immediate need and their surgeries were very long (no gripes about them of course), so DC's surgery was delayed.
Meanwhile, I've gone round in a massive circle for two years, needing surgery for a prolapse, which hugely affects my life and my mental health.
I have a bone spur pressing on a nerve to my arm and I'm still waiting 18 months down the line to even be seen.
I had a breast cancer scare four months ago, but due to the wait for an appointment, I ended up going private (luckily, I could afford it, even though it ate into my rainy day money significantly).
I could go on, but will say just one more thing:
As part of the investigations of my prolapse, just over a year ago, I had to have a flexi-sig (similar to a colonoscopy). The pain was off the scale and I was very traumatised by the whole thing - I couldn't sleep on my left side for weeks as it brought back the memories.
I've never done it before, but I wrote a letter of complaint, saying how brutal it was and that I felt the pain was a 10. The reply I got from the consultant said that in his and a nurse's opinion my pain score was a 2. At that point I gave up.
The system is horribly broken. But, IME, there is also a collusion within the NHS that minimises women's pain. Unless you're screaming and shouting in pain, they assume it's not that bad. It's so wrong.
Sorry for the rant, but I wanted to tell you and other PPs that they are not alone.
Try putting in a complaint. It might not help you, but could help someone else.

More money for more nurses so people can be triaged quicker and the nurses aren't overworked, perhaps?

I’m more concerned ED departments are barely staffed to be honest.
I care far more about staffing levels and correct treatment then how people speak to me.

The post says the treatment was fine, the minors injuries staff were fine. Only the triage nurse was a bit off. I’d count that as a win with the NHS how it is.

You had obvious mobility problems and then didn’t help you to move about. I’d say to make a complaint.

Sign of the times I’m afraid, I fell over in the town centre a couple of weeks ago, full on face plant damaged both my knees and hands, stayed sitting on my knees for a good minute because I was shaking and shocked and not one person asked me if I was ok or offered to help me up.
people are just less friendly now but nurses should be caring.
Even in doctors surgeries they don’t do the basics of care and dignity, the last smear test I went for the nurse didn’t even give me paper to cover myself with and did not care when it hurt.

It is weird how many nurses, only in hospital not Dr's or minor injuries, can blank you even when talking to you. Shocking communication. I don't see why they can't work 8 or 9 hour shifts it can't be safe doing 12 or 16.