Stop telling people to go to A&E!

[Miriad]

I see it on here a lot. Someone is getting fobbed off by their GP and not getting diagnosed. So they get told to go to A&E, where they have the ability to do blood tests and urine tests and scans to figure out what’s going on.

I’ve been sobbing in agony for three weeks and my GP isn’t helping me, and I can’t get another GP appointment for a fortnight, so posters advised me to go to A&E.

I waited six hours only to get yelled at by an angry doctor, saying my condition is neither an accident nor an emergency. According to him I don’t need urgent treatment even if I’m crying with pain - because pain isn’t urgent. If I’m stable and not at risk then I need to go home and see my GP.

A&E can not be used to bypass a useless GP and access tests and scans. They will not diagnose you or refer you. Their job is to give you the minimum care to make you stable so you’re not at risk, then send you home.

So stop telling people to go there. Maybe in the olden days you could go there for help if your GP was rubbish, but not any more.

When you phone your GP do you tell the receptionist exactly what is wrong ? You need to give them the whole picture, that is their job. And I always find that not specifying you only want to see one particular person helps. Also, if you see a nurse practitioner, in my experience, if they are not sure, they will always go and speak to one of the GP's and in most cases the GP will pop in to see you, even if it means waiting a little longer.
Things that are 'routine' will always have a waiting list.' Urgent' cases will always be fitted in as far as it is possible.

(When I was a hospital out-patients Appointments Officer, we had lists from each consultant on what constituted urgent. Quite often, these are the appointments that get overbooked onto clinics. )

If your symptoms are urgent, within the guidelines, you will be seen. This is why you need to be absolutely honest and succinct about them to the receptionist.

I can only suggest trying your surgery every morning and afternoon to see if there is a possibility of a sooner appointment.
Or at the very worst, have you another A&E nearby that you could try?
Where I am its either 16 miles in one direction or 35 miles in another, and generally very long waits....

OP - please NEVER tell people not to go to a&e. My mum made me go to a&e when I was actually feeling better than I had. I refused because of your issues (im not ill enough). I then felt faint whenever I stood up so accepted her taking me (but felt like I was wasting time. Less than 6 hours later I was drowning because I had septic pneumonia and my lungs had filled up with fluid. I ended up in a coma for a month and on ecmo.

Less than a week ago I’d been at my gp who said it was just a virus.

I came from a family where we didn’t go to the doctor unless really really ill. This is what I ended up with.
If you need the gp then do that. If you can get there or need more then go to a&e.

Noone should be telling anyone to NOT go to A&E

This can cost someone their life !!!

the thing is, 111 will tell you to go to a&e even if you just have a splinter.

OP I'm sorry you have such a shit surgery. I email/econsult mine before 9am and get a call from the duty GP later that day.

I'd be putting the cost of a private GP on my credit card OP. Or borrowing the money if I was in so much pain.

Of course, this.

At our A and E they have a very good triage system and you get to see a GP if the initial triage suggests it could be dealt with on the spot by one, so for things like pain, antibiotics, that are beyond a nurse prescriber but don't require a bed in A and E.

Of course you shouldn't wait 3 weeks if you are crying in pain, at the very least they could give proper pain relief. If you phone 111 and you meet the criteria, they will find you a same day appointment with the GP, the GP service keeps back appointments for this precise reason.

The A and E doctor was wrong to shout at someone in pain and wrong to suggest there's no other pathway than wait 3 weeks for a GP. Ring your GP tomorrow am or 111 and explain the problem and ask for an urgent appointment, you have been misinformed.

Really???

Did they?

Because obs can be normal even if you are dying , if you are having a heart attack or in organ failure

So if this is true, You need to complain

Leg pain can be incredibly serious. If you have a blood clot in the artery , the tissues begin to die and you have 6 hours before the changes may be irreversible.
Your post is dangerous and could stop someone seeking help for a limb threatening problem . All severe pain is a sign that something is very wrong.

OP is it bartholian cyst? (Sorry haven’t had time to read whole thread). You’d have a swelling towards back of vulva. They are excruciating. About 1 in 100 women get them

A&E should have picked it up but equally might not show as more than ‘just’ infection.

good luck getting treatment.

if it is that you should get emergency treatment from gp or walk in centre

Hi@Miriad,

I'm really sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time.

Might it be a good idea to contact the practice manager at your GP surgery and explain the problem. He/She might be able to triage your situation as more urgent and get you an appointment sooner.

You can just ring reception and ask to the practice manager, and they will talk to you. They are there to handle concerns and complaints.

@olympicsrock
True.
My severe leg pain was sepsis.
All the other symptoms came almost a day after the onset of pain.

I doubt very much if you were crying in agony that a Dr shouted at you and sent you out the door

I got admitted with pain just being my main problem , urine and bloods clear
Was then given scans as an in-patent

Not at our surgery. Once the phone appointment times are full they ‘signpost’ you to other options. Unless you’re house bound they won’t do a home visit.

My husband went to his gp with urinary urgency. He was also being a bit vague. Gp said no infection after a dip test. He came back with some pills to reduce the urgency.

10 days later in Spain he thought he had twisted a testicle it was so painful. I said hospital - now. He then started peeing blood.

The hospital was in Oveida in Spain. I cannot tell you enough what an amazing, top knotch service that was. In and out in 2.5 hours. Within 10 minutes of arrival he was examined, they put in an iv. After half an hour the doctor had a look. Using Google translate he said my husband had an infection that had started as a urine infection and untreated went to his testicle. So they gave him iv antibiotics. A printout of everything they'd done, painkillers and prescription for ongoing antibiotics. All in 2.5 hours.

They were absolutely amazing, not a private hospital, all on a GHIC card, so free.

At that point I realised how absolutely shit the NHS is. Members of staff were quiet, got on with the job, weren't standing around talking, and were very professional. So yes, I'd rather be ill in Spain than here.

Sadly unless you travel a lot, you don't realise how jaded and crap the UK has become with pretty much everything, transport, the health industry right down to eating out a basic meal.

The lab won’t conduct a culture unless the urine is positive for white blood cells. Twice my sample has been sent in, looked at and rejected because it doesn’t contain white cells. The third time they did culture it, but I was already on antibiotics so it didn’t grow anything.

The GP surgeries should have emergency appointments available each day, but might only have 2-3. Phone first thing in the morning and ask for GP emergency appointment, they might triage you but if your in a lot of pain then you should be prioritised.

Angry doctor should be reported.

Unfortunately A&E departments are overstretched and under resourced. It would help if there were separate A&E units (attached to mental health hospitals) for those with addiction, mental health and self harm problems.

In a general hospital, A&E staff see the same people doing the same thing (repeat overdose, cutting themselves, swallowing batteries and glass) over and over again and they get fed up with that too. Those patients take priority while others have to wait hours on end to be seen. Then you get the angry doctor taking out their frustration on patients like you.

There have been lots of suggestions on here- phone 111 who have access to those emergency GP appointments (I know they do, we have used them!), go to another A and E, go to a GUM clinic, ring the GP first thing, get a private GP appointment (some of them work up til 10pm) for about £50...

It's ridiculous to have to do this stuff to access basic health-care but it is what it is.

The doctor should not have shouted at you as people cannot always tell when they are very severely ill and so if a bad pain comes on, they may need checking and further tests to find out what's happening.

I promise you my gp surgery have sent them off to test even without white cells, they did the same when we were wondering if my daughter had a UTI even when she didn't have any classic UTI symptoms. I'd get on at them to send it off to test if I were you, I know how miserable utis can be so I really feel for you x

Oh I don't doubt it!
I was kicked out of A&E in exactly the same fashion.
The doctor got offended at my questioning of his diagnosis (flu) and refused to speak to me. He also didn't review my blood test results (that was done by a nurse) and didn't issue the medication (that was done by a nurse and she said she's not authorised to issue antibiotics but she's really worried about my blood test results).
I had a septic infection and without that nurse I might have not lived to see the morning. I mean, I still deteriorated massively and nearly lost a leg but those "unauthorised" antibiotics probably bought me a little time to find the right help.

Quite a few medics are proper arseholes.

This is not my recent experience of A and E at all.

DH was recently advised to go by a health pro friend due to ongoing pain in his leg. A and E were helpful and friendly. X rayed it and confirmed not broken, suggested pain relief, then referred him back to his GP and he’s about to have an op just a few months later.

I had a twingey ache in my calf, A and E fast tracked me within minutes to the DVT clinic where they did blood tests and scanned me. Everyone nice as pie.

111 have arranged several out of hours appointments for my parent recently too. Call backs have been within the hour, appointments same day. OOH GP’s couldn’t be friendlier, I was in the appointments.

Never in all my years have I ever heard a doctor “shouting” either.

It’s not that I’m a super fan of the nhs either. Don’t get me started on the pharmacy at my GP surgery! But credit where it’s due, and scaremongering is not helpful.

Last time I was there I spoke to the duty doctor. The nurse said she couldn’t find anything wrong and my tests were clear, so she’d book me a GP appointment in a couple of weeks time, and I was crying because I couldn’t wait that long.

So she called the duty doctor, who checked my record and looked me over, and basically backed the nurse up saying I wasn’t at risk and would have to wait to see a GP.

She said you need to be examined internally and I won’t be doing that today, because I’m only on duty in an emergency capacity.

So I lasted another week and ended up at A&E in severe pain, but they also would not examine me (for the same reason, because it’s not an emergency) and told me I had to wait for a GP appointment.

Honestly I just want someone to look at my fanjo and tell me what’s wrong. I’ve been suffering for nearly a month and not once has any of the five medical professionals I’ve seen actually looked at my bits.

I doubt you have been in agony for a month and I suspect you are prone to exaggeration which would be clear to the staff at your GP Surgery and at A&E.

Oh the GP surgery sends the sample off the the lab all right. But then the lab looks at it under the microscope, and if they don’t see white cells they refuse to culture the sample.