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.

The system is a bit broken. I see a private gp. I shouldnt have to and i am lucky i can do so.

What other posters are saying about interstitial cystitis.

It is absolute agony, like a bad UTI hat never goes, I was in absolute agony, so feel for you, but not life threatening I don't think

Amazon Prime for next day delivery D-Mannose.

I've used Naturesupplies brand in the white plastic box

Our local A&e has GPs there as well so they triage on the door, GP, Nurse or full on A&E.. it's frustrating GP practices don't have to pay for A&E time to focus the practice on getting people seen

I guess I must have been lucky.

I had been getting shooting pain in my mouth and managed to get an appointment with my dentist. Nothing the matter with my teeth.

A few days later the pain got worse, like having a blunt knife jammed up through the top of my mouth into my eye. Absolute agony. I could barely talk but called 111 who said A&E and so got my DH to drive me to the hospital. It was a 3 hour wait and the pain had started to subside when I made the mistake of having a drink of water and that set it off again. About an hour later a Dr saw me and started to suggest I should see a dentist. I told him about the appointment just a few days earlier and he did some poking and prodding, diagnosed neuralgia and prescribed some tablets. He was ever so kind.

It’s not about pain thresholds. Pain is not an indicator that something is an emergency or life threatening. I have a couple of chronic pain conditions and wouldn’t go to A&E every time my pain level went up. There is nothing they can do apart from painkillers. OP was given painkillers but that doesn’t meet her criteria for treatment 🤷‍♀️

Me too. Last time I was in this situation my GP told me to go straight to A&E without delay. Thank God he did because I had sepsis and didn't even realise I'd got that, I thought it was a straightforward infection needing antibiotics.

Yeah cos it’s not diagnosing or treating the problem. It’s not treatment, it’s just a painkiller.

OP, you seem determined to wallow in your misery and rebuff every suggestion made on here. If you (bizarrely) won't go to a GUM clinic or back to A&E to demand a proper examination, then all you can do is call your GP every morning between now and your appointment to see if they've had a cancellation.
But you really need to put your big girl pants on and start advocating for yourself, no one else is going to.

I can’t go to the GUM clinic! I’ve literally just tried to book online and it says the service is not suitable for my needs! And I’ve already spent 6 hours at A&E and been yelled at and told off for going.

Have you tried things to help alleviate your pain?

Hot water bottle / heat pads
Paracetamol
Ibuprofen
Combination of above
Ibuprofen and codine from the pharmacy, no prescription required
Soothing bath

yes but the doctor who saw you was clearly unacceptable. Go to a different hospital, call a different GP surgery, pay for a private appointment, DEMAND an ooh GP from 111, but don't come on MN to whine about the advice dispensed on here because that definitely won't help.

You can call 111 and they will find a GP appt for you.

I have, and it’s easing the pain a bit but it’s not fixing the problem. I’m worried if it’s left too long and it is a UTI it’ll become more serious and be harder to get rid of, or spread to my kidneys.

I think you have been unlucky tbh. Our A and E are very good.triage first the see the doctor. Some people have no other way to get seen. Hope you soon feel better. If you are in agony you need help

You went there for pain and they treated the pain.

A&E isn’t for diagnosing ongoing medical problems and without a diagnosis they can’t offer treatment for the problem causing the pain. To be honest, I don’t know why you sat there for six hours thinking you’d found the NHS cheat code. Why do you think there are waiting lists month and years long to see specialists if all you need to do is pop along to A&E for all your tests and scans.

Sometimes the hospitals themselves send you to A&E,a few months back I took my mom to her physio appointment in the hospital and they were concerned about the swelling in her knee a few weeks after a knee replacement so said she needed to go to A&E,we asked if she could go to the GP instead they said no,the policy is referral to A&E,I even asked if they could refer us to Orthopedics instead to save waiting in A&E,they said hospital policy is A&E only....

8 hours later she was triaged and 13 fucking hours later she was seen and discharged as they said there was nothing wrong with it,it was normal to still be slightly swollen at this stage after a knee replacement.
We weren't the only ones there who had been referred to the A&E department by the hospital themselves either.

Are you absolutely certain that you can’t see the GP? Even if it’s an online consult at least you would be able to converse with one.

My dad told me that it was impossible to see the GP. I went along to the surgery, politely explained what the issue was and the receptionist said she’d speak to a doctor and see what they said. Doctor phoned late that evening and booked dad in for the next day. I just can’t believe that your surgery is as awful as you say it is

Sorry but you and this doctor are both wrong . I would out in a formal complaint.

What area are you in? Our GP surgery isn't perfect but you can always get an emergency same day appointment if you ring first thing. Or one through Nhs 111 if it is out of hours or even an online consultation. It seems very strange that none of these options are open to you. If I was in that much pain I would book a private appointment and put it on my credit card.

Do you mean you've never had sex in your life?

Some STIs don't manifest for years so if you've ever had sex at all, you can't rule it out.

Also you keep saying burning and feels like a UTI but then you want someone to look at your vagina. Are you having discharge or anything like that? Or is just burning when you pee?
When you say pain, where exactly is the pain?

don’t be awkward. It’s clearly completely different if you have a diagnosis so know what the pain is being caused by.

to be clear I meant to say: unexplained pain that is so bad you can’t function is an emergency and could indicate something is seriously wrong therefore you should get it checked asap and there’s nothing wrong with going to a&e for that!

I don't understand why some NHS trusts don't have out of hours/urgent treatment centres. This is exactly the sort of thing that I would go to our UTC for if I couldn't get a GP appt.

They have nurse practitioners who can prescribe, and if they think it's something that requires treatment or tests that they can't do, they send you on to A&E. The one in my town is in what used to be a "cottage hospital" and has an x-ray unit, so they can diagnose and plaster simple fractures. It must save a shedload of trips to A&E.

I hope you manage to get it sorted soon, OP.

"If you're stable" you shouldn't go, but without being a doctor how does one know one is stable?
You're not qualified to tell people what you're telling them on this thread, OP.

I’ve had a UTI since I have birth 18 months ago, still on a referral ‘waiting list’. This is after 10 or more gp visits. No way of accessing care. I have had to buy antibiotics online and self administer daily dose against doctor’s guidance. It’s unbelievable how shit the NHS is. I’m in intermittent severe pain- impacting every aspect of my life from ability to care for my child, be intimate with my husband, work to capacity. Literally no one gives a shit.