Wibu to get an ambulance ?

[riversflows]

i live on my own, no family within a few hundred miles. I fell earlier and twisted my leg which has swollen up and I can’t put weight on it.the phone advice line say see my gp today but what can they do ?
I think I would be unreasonable but idk I can’t get around my house to make food and I can’t do the stairs to get to the bathroom or bedroom.

You can suffer a cardiac arrest from a broken leg ...so its important to leg qualified people assess injury and immobilise broken limbs for transport

No way! Get a bloody taxi.

It was actually both 999 and the actual ambulance service. I phoned the ambulance service twice during the 7 hours that I was made to wait telling them I would get a taxi, and I was told three times (initially and on the two subsequent occasions) that I was to sit and wait for the ambulance and minimise movement, I was to eat nothing, I was to drink as little as possible (sips only when I must) and to keep the hand elevated.

To add insult to injury, after arriving at A&E at 5:30pm with a severed finger, disabled, alone and having already waited seven hours for the ambulance I was stuck in a wheelchair in a corner and not spoken to by anyone until 9:30pm when I had a severe PTSD meltdown. That led to a nurse finally getting a doctor who looked at my hand and shouted at me for having "left it so long without treatment". That was the point at which I snapped and my reply was calm, not shouted, but also not pretty. I have lost the use of my finger, and it has been assessed as a result of inadequate treatment (they then added only doing surgery on it 10 days later when all the medical advice is within 24 hours) and have admitted liability to my solicitors.

Sorry you had to wait so long. I think it was around 20 mins but I was delirious with pain so could have been slightly longer but not much. I was in hospital for a month, so clearly needed that ambulance!

If the OP truly cannot weight bear, I’m curious about how all those who are recommending getting a taxi to A&E think she is going to get from her property into the taxi, and from the taxi into the waiting room?

Fall (with twisting involved) + swelling + unable to weight bear is absolutely appropriate for an ambulance if there is no one else available who could assist her into a taxi.

That's awful I would of absolutely lost it.

How are you doing op ? Did you get to hospital

I should make clear that I still believe in an NHS and think the majority of staff work hard and are fantastic. But if you have ever seen a 67 year old ordained ( not medical) doctor who spent decades in war zones lose it, we are more scary than an invading army. Theres a point at which the shock wears off! And the nurse, who was actually the Sister on duty, was brilliant. Once she realised what was done she never left them a second to make it worse.

But it's crap. Not being snobbish or arrogant at all, but if a highly educated and articulate person can be treated like this, even allowing for being in shock, what is it like for others? Even I only realised the surgery was too late after the event.

What is even more scary is that people on sites like this hand out "medical advice" based on absolutely no knowledge. If you cannot walk, and are in that much pain, do what a medical practitioner tells you. At least you can sue them. MN posters are irrelevance.

A&E.. ACCIDENT and emergency. OP has had an accident. Swelling can indicate a fracture. She definitely needs A&E

I had tonsillitis a few months ago and was really breathless, I honestly felt like I was going to die. Phoned 111 in the early hours. She asked me if I had anyone to take me to A&E. I didn’t. She put me through to 999 and told them I needed an ambulance. Waited an hour, all the while saying to my son “I’m not going to A&E in a bloody ambulance with tonsillitis, it’s embarrassing”.Decided I wasn’t going to go at all, again how embarrassing going to hospital with tonsillitis. 18 year old DS went on and on and on at me (ADHD and will not give up) saying that’s not just tonsillitis. It got to half 5 and I managed to get a taxi so cancelled the ambulance. Turns out he was right, not just tonsillitis, I had sepsis. My son now likes to remind me about the time he saved my life. 😂😂

I still think the taxi was a better choice you would probably be dead by the time the ambulance turned up. I live literally 10 minutes from the hospital im taking a taxi everytime unless im unconscious or not breathing i dont trust ambulances to come in a reasonable time frame.

I had the opposite, 111 told me to make my own way to a&e with my daughter, aged 2 and a half who had woken up at 1am spontaneously vomiting huge amounts of blood and clots. A&E was over an hour away, so I had to bring DH to sit in the back of the car with her as I was worried she would choke/aspirate if she had another bout on the journey and I wouldn't be able to do anything while driving on the motorway (I was right, she had 2 more episodes on the journey down, including airway difficulties). He had to wait in the car for 6 hours because it was in the "post COVID but we haven't lifted restrictions in hospitals" era so only one parent allowed.

She would have been so much safer doing that journey with paramedics/access to suction as needed and I still to this day don't understand why nobody sent an ambulance

Why didn't you ring 999

I had phoned them first. They asked if the patient was breathing and conscious, I said yes. They told me 111 would phone me back within an hour. Hung up from 999, phone rang almost instantly, from 111, saying they didn't know why 999 suggested that they should call me as the advice was "obviously going to be go straight to a&e" (to quote their own words). I asked if that meant somebody was going to send an ambulance and they told me no and to make my own way there. I did express my concerns, both medically about DD and about practicalities (I was 22weeks pregnant, with severe HG, and DH as the only other adult who could have driven, walked into her room, took one look at the blood and passed out, falling and smacking his head on a door handle while I was on the phone to 999 (which they knew as they heard the bang and asked what it was) and was just told if I couldn't drive to call a taxi. I'm pretty sure they assumed I was exaggerating the amount of blood (as did a&e until I showed them the photo I took) and that I was being dramatic so weren't interested.

To top it off 111 pre alerted the wrong hospital (having told them which one I was going to) so I got a safeguarding/welfare call from the other hospital at 3.30 (while we were in the other hospital) because I hadn't presented and they were worried about her

I was in a similar position when i was on holiday 2 years ago. I couldn't put any weight on my right leg at all. I wouldn't have been able to get out of the caravan in order to get a taxi. I did phone an ambulance and it turned up quickly.

Update - it’s broken.

Ouch bless you,I hope it doesn't take to long to heal.

Couldnt you have driven your DS in that timescale? If it was 2 hours they obviously didn't consider it life threatening

The two minor injuries near me don’t have x ray so you end up in a and e anyway with a suspected fracture

You will be very low priority for an ambulance. Get a real taxi.

Sorry to hear that OP. Hope it’s an uncomplicated break and you
heal quickly.

Sorry to hear that @riversflows , hope you get well soon

Hope you're not too sore and heal well.

I hope you have an easy straightforward recovery OP. Glad to hear you didn’t listen to the idiots shouting ‘GP, pharmacy, treat at home’ instead of actual A&E.

Thank goodness you went in OP, I hope you’re ok x