Surprised at how I was treated in a&e

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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?

That’s absolutely terrible treatment. It reminds me of when I had my hip replaced and the nurse flat out refused to give me anything stronger than paracetamol even though I was crying all night and begging for stronger pain relief - and the feeling was starting to come back as I was wheeled out of the operating theatre so I didn’t even feel numb from the chest down for hours after like I did with my first one. She finally caved around 4am and put something into the cannula but I’d been in utter agony for 10 hours by that point.

Complain to PALS. There are some ankle breaks that could be displaced and made worse by trying to walk on them. This nurse could have been responsible for worsening your condition. Not acceptable.

The OP shouldn't NEED to ask for help. In a fucking hospital. She is there to be helped. I mean, I could understand an eye roll or two if she'd been steaming drunk and threw up on the nurse's shoes, but for the nurse not to offer help to someone in obvious pain and whose mobility was severely impaired, is absolutely disgraceful. Even if the nurse lacked compassion and couldn't give a shiny shit about the patients, surely there must at least be a robotic response that kicks in based on training and experience. But like anywhere else you go in life, some people are good at their job and others simply aren't - it's the luck of the draw, whether you're asking where the baked beans are in Tesco, or arriving at A&E with a limb hanging off.

My mother is 91. She recently sat on a plastic chair for 15hrs in A&E as they needed to transport her to another hospital. Then she sat for another 3hrs. No water, no offer of a cup of tea, nothing. She is 91 with stage 3 ovarian cancer. They just didn’t bother with her and she would never make a fuss. She just waited. And waited. And waited - on a hard plastic chair that she couldn’t get out of as she was too exhausted.

I had a similar experience. I felt like a complete inconvenience, no compassion at all. At one point I was coughing and sweating and I staggered to the desk area to ask for water, the two nurses behind the screen carried on typing and ignored me, a fellow patient directed me to the water cooler.

The doctors just muttered things I couldn't understand each time they saw me, honestly I think I'd have been better off at a vets.

Your poor mum. This is so sad. Really awful. What has gone so wrong.

You were in pain but it wasn't life threatening. Save A&E for people who really need it. Minor Injuries or Urgent Care can X-ray and put you in plaster so for anything like that you really don't need A&E. My local Minor Injuries you can book an appointment via 111 so you know you won't be waiting for ages either and they'll give you meds whilst you wait.

I'm sorry that happened to you, that must have been terrible.
I have to say that hasn't been my experience although I've had some long waits in a and e.
When I have been seen treatment has been very thorough and kind.
We have had family tragedy in a and e and I can't fault the kindness, professionalism and empathy that we experienced.

That's not always possible I'm afraid. In the area I lived in until recently there were no urgent care or minor injuries units. Anything that couldn't be dealt with by a GP or pharmacist ment a trip to A+E.

Not all areas are the same. Some areas it’s A&E or nothing for an X Ray. They are trying to address this as shown in the link, but for some people there has been nothing between “sprains/cuts” level at the walk in centre and A&E, even if you’re away it may not always be life threatening.

I do think that for bad pain it’s sometimes not easy to make a judgement on where you should go. You could have bad pain with a burst appendix, a DVT, gallstones or kidney stones, a broken bone, an ectopic pregnancy, a heart attack, a severe migraine or a brain tumour. Not all are life threatening but how does the average person now if they’re fainting or feel nauseous from the pain?

https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/our-services/liverpool/walk-in-centres

i took my other half to A&E (instructions from the doctor) nurse who assessed him told us she didn’t believe his blood tests results and said she’d seen people much iller than him! She was very rude.
We went back to the waiting room where he collapsed nearly going through the reception glass front.
He had suffered a brain haemorrhage and is lucky he’s still alive. Complained to pals but I’m sure she’s still working and treating people like garbage. All the other staff were amazing luckily. I heard they did a program about this A&E so I looked it up and she was on there still being rude to people and didn’t seem to have an issue been filmed with her attitude.
hope your ankle heals without any lasting problems x

Well it's no surprise is it.

Last appointment at the Gp I tried to book, the earliest appointment was nearly a month away.

So you call 111 and they either tell you to go to a GP centre or the A & E.

They clearly do not have enough staff. It must be hell working in an A and E department now.

Last A and E visit, we were warned of a nine hour wait.

I've had similar lack of care whilst an inpatient after major surgery, more than once, so now I insist on having a family member with me, around the clock, as soon as I'm out of recovery and on the ward. Basically I provide my own personal "nurse". The NHS is in a totally dire state - it's terrifying, especially for people with chronic conditions who know they have no option but to submit themselves to these circumstances.

I rang 111 and they told me to go to A&E, and said they’d book me in. The wait of several hours I expected, and accepted. The dismissive and disinterested attitude of the nurse who ‘treated’ me wasn’t acceptable. I wish I’d fed back.

Recruitment into nursing seems to miss one vital element. The ability to show kindness. The outcome may be the same, but when one is in severe pain, immobilised, and very worried, the tone of voice and expression can make a huge difference.

OP explained in one of her posts that you can't go straight to Minor Injuries where she is, everything has to be triaged through A&E first.

Nobody cares
Nurse was probably at end of long shift. They were probably understaffed and she never got a break all day. May have young kids at home/money worries cos they are overworked and underpaid. Bills, food and mirtgages going up yet wages aren't. I'm not defending her but this is typical of Employers these days. Employers try and squeeze every last drop out of us. It happens in my job. Push me and push me til I reach breaking point then shout at my manager because he demanded to know why I hadn't done something- because I was non stop ALL DAY LONG WITHOUT A MINUTE TO SPARE
I understand why you feel surprised but frankly I'm not. Nobody gives 2 shits

Then it’s time for that nurse to leave her job. I’m an overworked midwife. I know what it’s like to not get breaks, to not have time to do everything you need/want to do on a shift. But I still care. And I would not stand and watch someone struggle like that. It would probably have been quicker for the nurse to have fetched a wheelchair than stand and watch the OP struggle. It doesn’t take time to express a bit of sympathy/empathy.

Sorry about your experience but as a GP who works in A&e, it is too common. I do everything in my power not to go to A&e as a patient, but like in your case, sometimes it's unavoidable. I found myself on the receiving end when I took my mother to A&e while she was clearly having a heart attack. Won't go into details but it was a quite grim reception.

The lack of empathy generally comes from being understaffed, overstretched and burnt out. It's an issue we currently have in A&E, hospitals, ambulances, GP surgeries, etc... It's a symptom of the problem, which is a crumbling NHS. And it will only get worse unless the problem is fixed.

Funnily enough the NMC insist that universities have to undertake “values based recruitment “ so they are supposed to ask questions which make the applicant demonstrate such qualities. I suspect in reality as long as nobody comes across like a psychopath they’re offered a place, numbers of applications for nursing have plummeted like a stone and there’s 50% course vacancies at some universities.

pollymere · Yesterday 23:13

You were in pain but it wasn't life threatening. Save A&E for people who really need it. Minor Injuries or Urgent Care can X-ray and put you in plaster so for anything like that you really don't need A&E. My local Minor Injuries you can book an appointment via 111 so you know you won't be waiting for ages either and they'll give you meds whilst you wait.

Where we live it's the opposite. If you went to minor injuries with a suspected broken bone they"d send you to A and E. I know because they did this with my 5 year old. So we had to wait twice.

The NHS is in a mess, we all know that especially A&E but I think GPs are making it so much worse. During covid they got used to working from home, or turning up at the surgery a couple of days a week to do telephone/video consultations. Since covid they have pretty much kept to that regime.
They blame shortage of GPs but my surgery has exactly the same number of staff as before covid so why the wait to even get a phone call and getting a face to face is nigh impossible. If you look on their attendance at the surgery, one GP only does one day. None of the staff work full time.

That’s why A&E is overwhelmed.

You were in pain but it wasn't life threatening. Save A&E for people who really need it. Minor Injuries or Urgent Care can X-ray and put you in plaster so for anything like that you really don't need A&E.

I do wish that firstly people would read the OPs posts and secondly realise not all hospitals are the same.

my local hospital similar to the OP there is one “a&e” waiting room. You are then triaged and sent either the next stage of a&e, or minor injuries or SDEC. Out of those three options only a&e deal with broken bones. The other two don’t X-ray or plaster.

My local minor injuries unit is shut on certain days. And currently there is no xray machine. So they send you off to a and e anyway.

Not every area is the same. I thought that would be obvious

Sadly it's all just part of the Tory plan.
Run it into the ground, denigrate the staff, 'customers' complaining and unhappy - that way we'll all be glad & cheer when they 'rescue' us with private health care and smiling nurses.

Never mind that we'll all go bankrupt when an accident happens or that it'll cost you £50k to give birth naturally including £100 just to hold your own baby.

if you felt like people were looking at you, it's because they are - they've been there hours and they're bored rigid. They're looking at you and weighing up if your imjury is A, genuine & B, bad enough that you'll push them back in the treatment queue - then they go back to minding their own business.

The triage staff aren't disinterested or bored - they're overworked, overwhelmed and underpaid, undervalued.

They've spent the last 3 years frontline of a pandemic while we all stayed at home and the clapping unfortunately didn't pay their bills or or cure their PTSD from the horrors that they had to witness.

They haven't had any time to recover because the pandemic continued & is into routine backlogs and they are all dealing with the Cost of living crisis too ...

Add to that, the amount of people that go to A&E (a fair few unnecessarily too) and the triage has to be quick and 'cold'. They don't have the time to be 'nice' to you because that 'there there poor thing' time is someone else's triage time.

I've spent more time in A&E than most over the last 15 years. One daughter suffered a Stroke at 13 and another has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and has had to be in a cast doesns of times to stabilise dislocations.

This year I has Perimenopause bleeding so bad that my GP sent me to A&E (my first time for myself and not a child) and it had certainly changed since pre-pandemic.

It was rammed. What was once the children's waiting room with toys & a TV was now full of portable screens to turn it into 4 bays for treatment.

I was there for 5 hours and it was hell but that only made me appreciate the staff more and understand why they all looked how they did. I couldn't do it. I wanted to tell some of those waiting to f* off to the nearest Boots so I know triage staff felt the same but 99% of the time they can't because if they do & 1 person turns out to be worse than initially assessed its litigation & lose your job.