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?

Asked the OP for permission?

Last few encounters with A&E my family have had, we all looked “okay”.

1. parent fell badly while holding baby and both landed on hard surface, 111 advised baby needed checking over at A&E, baby was fine thank god

2. infected bite which had suddenly spread through the whole limb overnight and it had tripled in size, it was the weekend no doctors provision and would have been ridiculous to wait two days to ring the GP as blood poisoning is no joke

3. patient had been fobbed off by GP for months and eventually presented at A&E with agonising pain and vomiting, she turned out to be dying of cancer

The bite could have been treated at minor injuries, it clearly just needed antibiotics. The vomiting/pain should have been picked up by the frankly terrible GP. The accident - well it’s A&E I guess that was the right place to go to check a baby for concussion? Ironically that was the healthiest patient but could have been very different.

What do you mean by a “drop in centre”? Do you mean a minor injuries unit? If so, we don’t have one where I live and in any case, my understanding is that they are not staffed by doctors so only useful for things like cuts, etc.

Well lucky you for having a gp that you can actually get an appointment with!!!

I think A&E is a last resort for those that have been trying to get appointments.

Half the people may be accompanying the sick person and indeed not be ill themselves. The last time I was in A&E with my partner the quietest person in the waiting area keeled off his chair and died on the floor so you just can't tell!!

I agree. We had to recently go to A&E as my wife was having chest pains and breathlessness. On the surface of it she probably looked absolutely fine (and was initially dismissed by the triage nurse) when in fact she was having a prolonged allergic reaction coupled with a chest infection. I absolutely refuse to put my and my family’s health and lives at risk just in case. We pay for a health service and we have a right to access it at all points.

It'll be in the news soon.

I imagine to an outsider I also looked fine when I was sitting on a chair in A and E having been sent there with suspected Cauda Equina. And my husband certainly looked fine when he had sudden sight loss in one eye and the GP sent him straight there in case of stroke.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people there who don’t need the A and E care. But I don’t understand why all depts can’t do what my local hospital does. You get pre-triaged in a room before you even get in to the A and E. And if you’re there with a sore throat or twisted ankle (for example) you get sent to the walk in centre (on site) or told to go to the minor injuries clinic or wait for a GP as appropriate. The people on the desks (there’s usually two) are either nurses or other hcps (so not just receptionists). You only leave that room and go in to the A and E department if they consider you a genuine A and E case. Randomly after years of not darkening their doors, me and DH have been there four times in the last couple of years. The two above times and once when I had an accident and the GP was concerned I had fractured my eye socket and another time when I needed oxygen and monitoring after an asthma attack. Even with this system though, it’s like a war zone in there. And that is because of the insane amount of new house builds in this area over the last few years without a single GP, UTC, MIU or hospital being considered let alone provided.

People need to be absolutely desperate for help to sit in a packed waiting room for over 12 hours often on the floor surrounded by some very distressing sights.

Give over. It’s not medication, it’s something to itch their scratch. They certainly shouldn’t be lumped in with people of genuine need, who wants to share a room with that? When I left they were hanging around outside in packs, with cans of beer. Intimidating and very scary - especially in the middle of the night in the pitch black when I need to walk back to my car.

Yes and no. Last time I was there, there was a teenage girl who’d been referred there by 111 for a uti.

It may be very different in different areas of the country so perhaps if there are areas with short waits then people may go without being desperate. In our area I think people who should go often dont or not in a timely manner due to the waits and this causes further issues for the NHS

Maybe she had some sepsis symptoms? UTI is a common one that can cause sepsis.

We were A&E last week with DH had a reaction to a trace of Brazil nuts He didnt look ill, but his throat had closed up but could breath throuhgh his nose. They wanted him there just in case it got worse. He needed steroids.

As a radiographer who covers ED I can confirm that yeah, many patients shouldn’t be there! Unfortunately the public see A&E as a walk in gp service & their idea of what is an emergency is very different to what ED is actually for!
I don’t know how we solve this! But GP services need to be the starting point.

There was a time I agreed with you but as it stands it is impossible to get a GP appointment. The only way to be seen and have a chance of being taken seriously is A&E.

And yet the house builders will almost certainly have been paying an NHS provision.

Wonder where it goes.

Where I live, the urgent care centre was closed down and merged with A&E. That’s not my fault 💁🏽‍♀️

A sexual health clinic would see you to remove it. GP should have sent you there if they couldn’t deal with.

Caveat being depending what your local services are, not all clinics open at the weekend so timing (eg if it was a Friday evening) may have been a factor?

That’s your opinion only and certainly not evidence based. You do not know everyone’s individual medical history so cannot possibly judge whether they need seen urgently or not. It absolutely IS a fair point and in many cases it’s not times wasters. No doubt you would think the lump in my breast shouldn’t have been urgently seen either.

There are a lot of people in this country now with no NI number. So, no GP, but A and E won't turn them away.
And they will get older and sicker.
This is what we should be worried about.

@OchAyeTheNo0 My friends daughter has just been in hospital for 3 days with a uti and was also sent to A&E. I had no idea that could be necessary but presumably it was as she was admitted so I wouldnt judge

Access to primary care has become harder and harder in the UK. Getting a doctor's appointment is very hard. If you're worried or have been trying for days, what other choice do you have but a&e?

DS2, 7, had to go to A&E after he was sent home from school with the outer parts of his eyes and the whites of his eyes swollen to the point the irises were descended. Never seen anything like that before. Gave him Piriton in the meantime.

Called a pharmacist first, who said call the GP. Called the GP only for the system saying they didn’t have any appointments. Called 111 who told me the GP was closed and told me to take him to A&E, both hospitals 30 minutes from us not including traffic. DH took him and the receptionist said it was a 3-4 hour wait but sent them somewhere else to be seen and they were out in an hour.

Consider that some may be in the same situation because their GP is closed and unavailable.

Few want to spend hours waiting in a hospital especially if they have to travel a distance and find and pay for parking.

I completely agree with this. They can weed out the crap quickly. I was a bit 🙄 when my friend recently accompanied her sister and brother in law to A&E. She is a retired nurse. She should know that it’s not a family outing!