AIBU to be angry at A&E?

[fashu]

I'm currently in hospital A&E, I've been here for 9 and a half hours. I'm 35 weeks pregnant. AIBU for getting upset or should I just suck it up?

At 8pm last night I had the oncoming of a migraine, funny vision, light-headedness etc.
I went to tell my husband and called the midwife, then started having a chat with DH. Mid conversation I started talking nonsense. Instead of car I was was saying mayonnaise, on top of other things I was just talking crap.
I tried to Google the symptoms and I couldn't type either. I couldn't think of what I wanted to write, although I knew what I was doing and when I did think of the words it looked like this 'hdhcjsk'

I panicked a bit and went back to my husband and then I went completely numb on in my hands and my mouth. I panicked and told him to call an ambulance. Ambulance came just over an hour later and said I needed to go to hospital as it sounds like a mini stroke.
Queue major panic mode!

Paramedics called maternity unit they said its not for them but keep them updated.

So I arrived in an ambulance at A&E just after 12am. Went to majors and the triage said to wait in waiting room and they will tell senior doctors.

Well I'm still waiting. 35 weeks pregnant on a hard metal chair. For 9 and a half hours. Panicking that I've had a mini stroke.

I've told the reception and nurses several times that my belly is now hurting from sitting for so long and being awake for 26 hours. I asked for water and they said I had to use the vending machine for a can of coke.
Receptionist told me I'm not poorly enough for a bed or the arm chairs.

I'm so upset, emotional and scared. DH has dropped kids off at my mums now as they were asleep and didn't want to disturb them in the night.

But, am I right to be upset or is this just how it is? Surely a pregnant woman with suspected mini stroke should be left for this long alone without treatment?

Poor you OP, if are are confirmed to have had a stroke or TIA on MRI then they should consider if you also have a DVT… common in late pregnancy. There is a phenomenon called paroxysmal embolism which is where the clot from leg or pelvic veins passes through a tiny hole in the heart into the arterial circulation.
It’s a well recognised cause of stroke in pregnant women. .

Please flag up if either leg is swollen or painful. Take care OP. X

Which a and e is this?
Wishing you well. Report back!

Yes, the window for the anti-clotting injection is 4 hrs. [Source: DH had a stroke and wasn't given a scan for more than 4 hrs; hence no anti-clotting injection.]

OP should be seen and scanned as a matter of priority.

I'm so sorry @fashu. My hubby had a seizure. He went to hospital. Thry said it could happen to anyone at any time. No treatment just a request for blood tests and we went home, so I think you'd maybe fair better calling your midwife or GP and getting advice. The maternity ward may help but your GP may need to make a referral. Good luck and pls do some mindfulness exercises to minimise the stress xxx

I'm afraid successive Tory governments have finally killed off our beloved Labour created nhs. 😭🤬😭

And the winner of today’s try reading the thread before commenting award goes to…

That was how it worked with me on Christmas Eve at my A&E. I was fairly certain I hadn't had a TIA, but out-of-hours told me to go straight to A&E to check whether there was a serious problem with my retina. (Middle of the night and out-of-hours didn't have a slit lamp.)

All that happened was that the next shift satisfied themselves that I'd not had a stroke and told me to see an optometrist (which had been my intention).

I think you'll find this bunch have taken spin, lies and deceit to an entirely new level.

When my huband had his stroke on a Saturday morning, staff assumed that it was 'only' a TIA, because he was speaking and appeared to be compos mentis. I asked when he was getting a scan: "Oh, they'll fit him in when they have time."

More than 4 hrs later, they discovered the clot but had left it too late to treat him. He was left with life-changing disabilities.

It's shocking they didn't test your blood on admission. I have stick a canula in me as soon I was I was off the ambulance. They should have at least dipped your urine too.

That's shit. Honestly just shit. I hope the mri was clear

Yup. Happened to my husband.

Was left with hemiparesis. Managed to learn to walk again - took him four months in the rehab ward - but left with 'neglect' in left eye, a left hand that didn't work and other problems.

Wales has the ability to raise taxes and divert more money where it likes.

While I don’t condone anyone minimising OP’s situation, she hasn’t been diagnosed with anything.

You are the epitome of what nursing used to be but is no longer. Having spent the last 6 years in and out of hospitals (for relatives, not myself) I have witnessed the same scenarios again and again. Dedicated, caring nurses, like yourself run ragged while other nurses chat at the desk, show their holiday snaps and on one occasion tell a woman who died an hour later to 'give it a rest' when she asked if they'd tracked down her son.
I looked at these nurses and wondered why, if you have no empathy, you would choose nursing as a career.
It's an often mentioned idea that ward matrons should be in place to monitor that the lions share of the work isn't left to the dedicated few.

Exactly. 😅🤣

Where do you live? And how do you know how 'all departments' operate.
Just curious.

I've seen some really stupid comments from you on threads before but this one really surpasses all the stupid comments. You are just making yourself look thick.

In Canada, our hospitals have a patient advocate who figures out how to get you help in situations like this. They are there truly to advocate on behalf of the patient. It's way too long and frightening for a pregnant woman. Check to see if there is someone in the hospital who can help you navigate this.

@fashu A&E will triage you. Those whose lives are more obviously at risk will be prioritised. The NHS is horrifically stretched. A&E’s are overwhelmed. If you feel you are deteriorating you must make the receptionists aware.

@widowtwankywashroom if you are medical/nursing and you are so ground down by state of affairs that you no longer have any empathy or compassion for someone who is frightened/scared; who doesn't have the medical knowledge you have to understand what may or may not be life threatening; to think it's acceptable to be left for 9+ hrs on a hard chair with nothing to eat or drink and not one member of staff showing any compassion then it's no longer the profession for you.
Never mind the 'facts'. What happened to compassion? I've been a nurse for over 20 years, I work in an emergency department. I can't understand your attitude at all.

Yabvu to be angry at "a&e". Be angry at the Tory government that created this. We had the best heathcare in the world before these vultures took over.

I get that the NHS is underfunded, but also some of these problems are stories that repeat and repeat and have been going on for decades. They seem to be more closely related to bad management, poor system design and lack of staff training. Having water available is basic. The Tories haven't made that impossible due to funding cuts. I won't vote Tory but that clearly isn't the whole story.

Whilst things are exceptionally bad now, care has been unacceptably poor in many areas for several decades. Lucky you if you've never had to experience that yet.

OP although I'm not a medical professional, you said you had a migraine. All of the symptoms you described could be migraine related.

I have migraine like this they are more rare but not totally uncommon either. Pregnancy can and does cause changes to migraine symptoms and while they should always be checked out as can mimic a minor stroke it's often absolutely fine. I know it's scary if you haven't had one like this before and they totally should have seen you by now, hopefully that's all it was and nothing to serious.

I would be asking how do you feel now (feeling totally washed out and exhausted after this type of migraine can be normal to). Can they not give you an idea of how long you will be waiting?

You may have experience of a Trust in which competent triage takes place and patient care is prioritised according to need. That is not a given in the hospital that I use, which is itself less negligent than the alternative.
During a wait of almost two whole days in a chair, I attempted to alert a nurse to a fellow patient - also in a chair - who had a nasal feeding tube and while drifting in and out of consciousness had begun to vomit.
The nurse gave the curt response "No!".
Nothing was done until the patient's mother arrived, who had some medical training. Whatever she said worked, because a doctor and nurses came running and she was admitted very soon afterwards.

Please complain about this. Via PALs and to your MP.

People need to log complaints and not accept this kind of treatment or nothing will change.