Paramedics made my father go to hospital

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My father has atrial fibrillation. He has had this for years.

He has been told multiple times what to do in the case of an episode of AF. Today, he had one while I was visiting. It took a long time to pass, so in line with his consultant’s plan my mother called 999, after the usual medications had been given at home.

In the time it took for the paramedics to arrive, the attack passed and when they did arrive, it had been nearly an hour since it had ended.

They still made him go to hospital as they “couldn’t rule out a heart attack”, despite my father insisting that he knows his body, knows what an AF episode feels like and knows when it has passed. All he wanted was to go to bed and sleep off the effects of the beta blockers he had taken.

They still essentially made him go to hospital, saying that they would make him sign forms if he didn’t which showed he had refused medical advice. I was present and the paramedics essentially made it sound as though he would be at the back of the queue if it returned and he needed an ambulance again.

Fast forward 10 hours and he’s still in hospital, no doctors available to read his ECG or his blood test results, and he’s been sleeping in a hard plastic chair. AIBU to think this is ridiculous? Paramedics really shouldn’t be encouraging patients to attend hospital when it’s not necessary.

If they hadn’t made him and it had been a heart attack, some families would then sue.

you can refuse but they do make you sign something to say it’s against their advice

Your mum called an ambulance, which suggests that it was an emergency. He probably ticked a number of ‘heart attack’ boxes, so the paramedics had no option but to proceed to A&E.

Its very annoying that he’s been waiting so long.

My mum has AF, she’s never called an ambulance. She did have an ablation, which improved things immeasurably.

We do understand that and he would have been willing to sign, but they were really quite forceful in that they think it would be a bad idea. They also made it sound like there wouldn’t be an ambulance later for him if needed.

He has had plenty of AF episodes and knows exactly what they’re like, he’s very experienced in them now.

Put a complaint in as the paramedics need retraining. Did you call to cancel the ambulance and they attended anyway?

Also, your father could have absolutely refused to go, as he can choose to leave now.

But the coercion and bullying is unacceptable.

He’s not detained, he can go home any time and didn’t need to go at all

He’s had an ablation and it worked for years but as is sometimes the case, it’s started to fail. He’s on the list for another one, but has another procedure first that takes priority. He used to get awful pain, but that’s subsided now. It’s the instruction of his cardiac surgeon that if it doesn’t stop after medication, resting and following some breathing exercises, he’s to call 999 to attend hospital for beta blockers and potentially a cardioversion.

I agree with the paramedics. They have to make these decisions and they would have been lambasted if they had not taken it seriously and it did turn out to be the start of something more serious.

It's not the paramedics fault if the hospital is unable to process patients in a timely manner. I assume it's because, as you say, your dad isn't an urgent case.

If your dad is sure there is nothing wrong, what is stopping him from leaving?

If he didn’t want the advice of the paramedics an hour after the AF episode had passed, maybe he, you or your mother should have cancelled the ambulance?

No, we were about to call when they pulled up. They were there at that point so there wasn’t much point in telling them to leave.

He welcomed their advice. What wasn’t appreciated was them essentially saying he was on his own if it was more serious.

Paramedics will rightly take a better safe than sorry approach. Just because he has one problem doesn’t mean he can’t have another.

your father made the choice to not sign the disclaimer and go with them. He could sign another at any point and discharge himself if he wants.

But he would have been on his own if they had left and something had happened.

Their insinuation was that a second ambulance wouldn’t be sent

Why call an ambulance if you don't want them to do anything??

Why?

10 hours later and a doctor is finally with him. It’s just so, so unacceptable

If he didn't want to go he could've have signed the paper like my mum did when she refused to go in an ambulance after a suspected stroke. He can still get up and leave know if he wants to,it's not a prison.

Missing the point of thread but what if someone refuses to sign the form saying they’re going against the paramedics advice or discharging themselves? There’s lots of talk on here of ‘they will make you sign a form’. How exactly would they make someone do that? Gunpoint?

We called an ambulance as that was the advice of his cardiac surgeon.

The ambulance attended, said everything looked normal, and it was “his choice” whether he went in or not. When he was leaning towards not going, they insinuated that if he had a heart attack today, another ambulance wouldn’t be sent.

He didn't have to go and he can walk out of a&e now if he chooses to its not a prison.

He's in hospital, not prison. Nothing to stop him from discharging himself.

Nothing they would just write patient refused treatment and refused to sign form

There’s been nobody there for him to speak to to find out how to go. He’s been given a cannula so he can’t just leave, but whenever he asks to be seen he’s told there’s “nobody available”.

If he knew best, why not sign a disclaimer?
Why not self discharge?

I'll be honest, people like you and your father get on my nerves.

You followed the plan, ie call an ambulance, then you disagree with their professional opinion.......

I don't believe for one second there isn't nurses in a&e

Well why didn't he go home if he knew better??