To think 70% of people shouldn’t be in A&E

[PrettyPleaseXo]

Recently I was admitted in excruciating pain to A&E due to kidney stones. Over the time I was there it got progressively busier as expected and there was corridor care (I was stuck in a corridor without pain relief and crying in pain for two hours) and ambulances backed up out the door.

When I was discharged and went back out through the A&E reception/wait room I couldn’t help but notice
that 80% of the people sat there looked perfectly fine, chatting etc and didn’t appear to be in either an accident or emergency.

AIBU to think that unless you’re seriously unwell, in acute pain or have an injury that needs immediately addressing you should be turned away from A&E and told to go
to the GP instead?

That's a hard one to answer, when I had a gallbladder flare up, I was waiting to be seen, when a girl came in and was seen quickly in a side room, she came out sat near me and explained she had period pains and didn't have paracetamol at home, I did ask why not pop to the shop and get some and she said why? They have it here. Another time I had a flare up this was about 6 months later, I was waiting to be seen when I saw a family sat around a table eating KFC, one of them thought he gallstones too and was waiting to be seen. But ( I know am a people watcher) on my second visit there was a lovely old man who clearly wasn't well but didn't like to bother anyone but was told to go to A and E by 111 as he had fallen and was in pain. Over both visits there were people coming in after being told by 111 to go to A and E, who were saying to reception am not sure if I should be here for this problem. So swings and roundabouts I guess

I was sent direct to an and e by my go when I had possible heart problem symptoms. I felt fine when there as the symptoms were intermittent. Hope you are better..kidney stones are very painful.

Looks can be deceiving. I have personally witnessed someone walk into A&E, looking absolutely fine after a fall, and they had fractured their spine in 2 places.

I think there will be groups of people. Some do need to be there. Many shouldn't have needed to be there but are because their condition deteriorated so much waiting for a GP appointment (basically they didn't get intervention when they should have which could have prevented A&E visit) and those there because they are sick of waiting for GP but don't need to be there yet.

We need a better system to see people earlier before things go too far.

Same here, 3 times for my DC(2). On one ocassion GP suspects it is tonsilitis causing high temperature, but sent me to QEUTH A&E. I got prescribed antibiotics after waiting for 8 hours. All could have been sorted by the GP.

Kidney stones don’t suddenly cause excruciating pain from nowhere, had you not seen anyone seeking treatment about the pain leading up to this admission to A&E?

Actually they did. I was woken up at 12:15 am in the morning in excruciating pain. I waited and 12 hours for an ambulance as I physically couldn’t get in a car and it turns out that it had become stuck causing swelling of the kidneys and could have easily have turned septic.

Your experience is different than mine so I apologise. You’re lucky it wasn’t a burst appendix or a pulmonary embolism because you wouldn’t survive 12 hours.

Well, that is why (despite what some PP say) sudden and severe onset of pain is an emergency and is A&E worthy.
Unless you are a doctor and radiographer in one, and have all the scanners at home... get to A&E.

Yes and in all honesty I can relate that many who live to our nearest hospital do use it as a walk in centre. It's in a deprived area and the locals will walk in when not feeling well. I know this because I support the community.

It's not just one person, a whole family will go, taking up all the seats in the small waiting area, order takeaways like it's a trip out. Meanwhile you're sat with someone in desperate need of treatment and in pain.

While I was waiting for a relative to be assessed, have scans, I observed the comings and goings. A family came in, the teenagers took up all the chairs so some with clearly recent wounds had to stand. After they had been seen it was advice about what to do for DD's cold. She seemed absolutely fine and was running about coughing at everyone 🙄

Others complained of aching back, ingrown toenail, rash on arm, I could go on...

It's A and E for a reason, staff are amazing and polite and must inwardly roll their eyes having to take all the details and the condition and give common sense advice.

2 weeks, lol our GP books 4 weeks in advance and mostly there are no appointments available, even phone ones.

Tbf they do try to do a same day service but it's not on a need basis but a first come first served deal. People use the same day service for lots of reasons, they need a sick note, prescription running out, a real issue, an imagined one or even because they can't wait 4+weeks for a routine appointment.

Yes I agree I've seen that too.
Last year I took my ill brother to A&E and it was standing room only because whole families were in there like it was a family day out for some. One lady did kindly stand up so my brother could sit down .
Shortly afterwards the receptionist came into the waiting room and asked those people that didn't need a seat or a reason to be there, to leave the waiting area.
No one bothered to move. 🙄
Why do whole families have It's accompany one person in A&E? Its not even a nice place to be.

While waiting 5h for a suspected second episode of sepsis (confirmed after the wait), I overheard multiple conversations from other patients around.
While I’m not one to judge as I’m one of the minions of the NHS, I overheard things that surely made my blood boil a bit more🙃
Favo one was the “can’t be bother trying for an appointment tomorrow as they never have any (I imagine they were referring to primary care) and I need off work this weekend and Monday”

Sometimes DH has come with me because if my condition is flaring I cannot speak clearly, or drive, or carry things, or walk far, but I need to be there as he doesn't have parental responsibility for my children (and their dad is often out of the country) . So again, you can't always tell from looking at people why they are there

They are grim places to hang out. I dread going. I doubt many people go there for fun.

(in that situation though if the waiting room is busy DH would stand up. But I would need to sit as my legs don't work well, although if we have time we would load my wheelchair into the car. But depending on the emergency we may not have that option)

There are all sorts of issues that put people in A&E. Last time I went I was haemorrhaging as I was having a late miscarriage of twins. My DF took me as DH was looking after our other child at home. I lost one of them whilst waiting and my DF did his absolute best to keep me distracted talking (quietly) about normal things whilst I bled through my clothes.

Let the system figure out where people should or shouldn't be and focus on getting yourself better. There's so little dignity and privacy in A&E as it is.

They will be the ones waiting for an absolute age though, because they can wait. Then they will moan about it.

I think more walk-in centres does lessen the load on A&E. My town had one in the centre and I used it a few times. I have MH issues and self harm, so it was usually for that.
It closed, and I went to the new minor injury/urgent care unit at the hospital. Was turned away and told to go to A&E. I was there for patching up, but because it was MH related, it was beyond their remit, and had to go to A&E.

The number of times I've taken my DC to A&E they've been sitting and talking normally. Reasons have been variously being severely underweight, head injuries, a strained knee ligament and an eye injury. I'm sorry they didn't look ill/injured enough for you.

I sat in an a&e waiting room with my mother chatting and looking like all the world was fine to everyone else, once.
In reality she was talking utter shit, waffling on a boyfriend I’d had when I was 17, and my grandmother. She’d woken up that morning totally confused and making no sense, we had a GP appointment for a blood test that morning anyway so I took her
there. When her highest blood oxygen level they could get was 78% they said to go to a&e. so didn’t sit there long admittedly. we were triaged within 20 minutes. 45 minutes after that they were putting her into an induced coma on a ventilator that they couldn’t guarantee me they’d be able to wake her up from. She was on that ventilator for 5 days. Thankfully she did wake up that time, however she was dead 9 months later from blood cancer which was why a simple cold had caused her to be so unwell.
But she would have appeared to be fine to anyone would have seen her come in. She walked in, she was talking, she was even laughing.

appearances can be deceptive.

when you say severely underweight do you mean like an ED crisis? because I can’t think of any other reason why you’d take a kid to a&e for a weight issue.

Not all of the people in the waiting room will be patients. In recent months I have sat in the waiting room while relatives have been in resus and have only been allowed to see them when they were more stable. To anyone looking around the waiting room it wouldn't have been obvious that I was a relative rather than a patient.

Ffs you can’t tell to look at someone how serious their condition is. I have just found out I am dying of cancer but to look at me at the moment you wouldn’t know. Yeah I am sure plenty of people probably do t need to be there but have no other access route to treatment or help as it can take weeks for people to get drs appointments and if you are frightened, worried and in pain you need help or reassurance. What do you suggest people like this do? People are dying from a lack of access to care because our healthsystem is failing. Given that these failures and delays are what is responsible for me not getting treatment in time despite seeking it then I would absolutely advise people to go whatever route they feel they need. I wish I had made more of a fuss.

In my part of London it is very common for the GP to send you to A&E for pretty minor things or if they have no appointments left and you might need antibiotics or something fairly urgent. You also get people who are not registered with a GP going to A&E. We have also been asked to come back in to A&E by a surgeon because they wanted to see my son again in a week’s time to check if he was responding to treatment. The waiting list for regular appointments was months long. We waited in A&E and they popped down when they had a moment. That is why we have never look particularly ill in A&E but we are just doing what we are told by medical professionals.

I drove myself to a&e in Dka. There were no seats so I stood to one side- to an average onlooker I looked fine if a little tired. In reality I was literally minutes from unconsciousness. Once I had phoned first - despite telling receptionist I was in Dka- 2 nurses came literally running to take me to resus after I told them what my ketones and blood sugar were. No way you could have known just by looking at me standing there.

I've taken DS to A and E twice. First time had swallowed a non edible object (he looked fine) second time we were advised to go by 111. He had D and V and was passing blood every half an hour. If you'd seen him between toilet visits he probably looked OK. At that visit a few young children were there due to vomiting and another teenager who looked fine (but had been advised to go)
I've also taken my dad, on advice from other HCPs, he also looked fine but had concerning symptoms related to the cancer he had.
Considering the enormous wait times, I'd think there are very few people going unnecessarily.