To think some things should just be turned away from A&E?

[ifallinlove]

I saw a channel 4 video about a day in a&e during the heatwave.

The first guy seen was a bloke who had decided to walk across hot tarmac to get food while at the beach and now had burns on the bottom of his feet.

He said he had “forgotten to get shoes”. I’m sorry but it’s been 35 degrees for at least two weeks now. There is no way on earth that you “forget” to put shoes on. He made the decision to do it and now sought emergency care.

AIBU to say things like this should be redirected to minor injuries and the appropriate referrals made from there? It’s his own stupidity taking up a bed in a&e!

I had upper belph surgery abroad and then 4 weeks in developed dry eye - booked and paid for appt with opticians- they confirmed dry eye and said use the drops more.

A week goes by no improvement so use
’Patches’ explaining everything to my GP and what drops I was using - later I get an email your prescription is ready - pharmacist says do you pay for your prescription- when I confirm that I do gave me over the counter stuff that I had already been using!!.
so took myself off to Manchester eye hospital
waited 4 hours confirmed severe dry eyes and prescription of 4 different drops, one being a steroid.
whilst I was there alone as told my
partner to just leave me there.

I was surprised as some people took it as a family day out 2 adults 4’children.

You are not unreasonable but it’s a very slippery slope. Aren’t a large part of injuries and illnesses self inflicted? Think smokers, drunks, hooligan ending up in fights, people doing dangerous sports, people not taking care of themselves, falling asleep behind the wheel, people on phones crossing streets, elderly people on ladders, people who haven’t eaten anything healthy ever, people who choose (dare I say it!) no vaccinations when they are easily available, and all idiots who walk bare feet across hot tarmac … I could go on and on. We could use more minor injury centres but to separate the idiots from the non idiots … it may be fair but it would be too complicated I’m afraid …

What can you sue a&e for for turning you away?

I've not read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been pointed out, but burns to the soles of the feet can be anything but a minor injury. In fact the national guidance for emergency department staff/GPs from the British Burn Association is that all burns to certain parts of the body, including the feet, should be at least discussed with a specialist in a Burns Care service.
I think this demonstrates quite well actually that people are not always very good at determining what is and isn't "bad enough" to go to the ED. People get it wrong fairly often and yes, it's frustrating if departments are full of patients who don't really need to be there. Some EDs now have Urgent Treatment Centres adjacent to them or GPs and other primary care staff working within the department so that patients can be directed to the best service from triage which I think is a very sensible system.
But people get it wrong the other way too and don't seek emergency treatment for things that they really should. I think most of the ED staff that I know would say that they would rather see people that don't need to be there than miss those who really do.
The reasons why people attend EDs inappropriately are complex and have been around for a very long time, though without doubt difficulties accessing GP care have made things worse in recent years. But people shouldn't be afraid to seek care if they think they need it. I have seen quite a few threads on here recently where posters have been berated for going to the hospital or the GP for things that other posters have incorrectly deemed to be trivial. I don't think many people actually see a trip to the ED as a fun day out and we do need to find ways of improving emergency and urgent care. But making moral judgments about people's injuries and illnesses and deciding who "deserves" medical care really is a very slipperly slope that we should not be going down.

I always look very well. But can be and have been seriously unwell

I was sent to A&E by 111 to see a GP. I waited for 6 hours, or longer, to be told all the GPs had gone home and the wait was so long to see an A&E doctor it would be better if I went home and came back in the morning. So I left and managed to see my own GP the next day. I didn’t look unwell but absolutely had something that needed urgent treatment.

Not true. I guess you don't work in A&E 😂

Are you even a doctor or a nurse? What was tolerable for you as a teenager could end up being life threatening for someone else. Burns are at risk for infection so absolutely need to be seen.

This. I was sent to A&E by a GP for headache and flu symptoms, which he rightly thought was meningitis and did turn out to be so.

With the example OP gives (burnt feet) yes,crazy to walk on hot pavementswith no shoes but lots of people get injuries from doing stupid things, inserting things into orifices for example. The burns need proper assessment, potential for fluid loss, infection. Pt may be diabetic, diagnosed or undiagnosed, and therefore may not have felt the pain. There might be all sorts of other problems related to diabetes going on. This is beyond the scope of MIU's, not all are attached to ED's

If you expect people to be seen by a triage nurse then that is still taking away a nurse from looking after sick people. Also, people could be turned away yet have some hidden problem that would not be picked up on a quick examination or questioning.
What would be a better solution would be people being more sensible. There is no alternative to a and e where I live.

@ifallinlove I take it you also saw the report about the young woman in the overheating flat. It was all part of the same news report on the heatwave. I live in a top floor sauna of a flat and have partially lost my hearing due to a bilateral ear infection caused by the heat and humidity (diagnosed) i was in an incredible amount of pain. The GP told me i should have gone to A&E.

Yes @ifallinlove needs to google Ella Dove

I’ve been for 2 stupid reasons myself. One I collapsed in the street in absolute agony in what I thought was my stomach, a colleague was with me and called an ambulance. I literally couldn’t talk with the sudden stabbing pain. I had a womb infection (PID). Doctors didn’t know what it was but ruled out appendicitis and bowel obstruction and put me on an antibiotic drip, was literally fine in a few hours

The second was even more stupid, I couldn’t feel my butt, thought it had just gone to sleep. 8 hours I waited at home, pins and needles in top of legs and lower back but complete numbness on whole bum. Finally went in to A and E as I googled and it came up with something serious (cauda equina). Got there, was seen very quickly as A and E was empty. Doc shoved her fingers in my butt and my butt resisted. She said it’s definitely not that (thank god) but was sudden sciatica.

now I’d never had either of these above conditions before and with HINDSIGHT they’re not remotely serious but sudden onset incoherent pain or what felt like paralysis was really frightening.

I think as long as they have paid national.onsurance they should be allowed treatment, anyone not paying NI should be billed

The key being that you were sent there by a GP!

So people too disabled to work should be billed for their treatments?

It is a reflection on the difficulty of getting a GP appointment when you need one . Knowing that it may be weeks mean people with abdominal pain or unexplained swelling , etc. are worried about their condition worsening . And the man with burnt feet did have an accident so rightly went there . Left unattended or not dressed properly could lead to serious infections or complications.

The policy needs to be around whether an illness or injury is appropriate for A&E. How a person gets the illness or injury is not relevant at all to that clinical decision.

Cauda equine is extremely serious!

Allseeingallknowing

but I didn’t have that 😂 I had sciatica

Exactly

I don't think self inflicted injuries should be turned away, burns on foot could become sepsis. Would they turn away self harming in this case?

However, I do think that those attending should only be allowed carers, and not their whole family. It should be headphones only for devices, long chatty phonecalls should be taken outside etc it's these small things that make A&E unbearable and noisy, and I think some people thrive off the attention and A&E visit gives them.

Do you mean things or people?

Ok, but sciatica can be serious too!