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!

See my post about people with diabetes, diagnosed or undiagnosed

I mean I think things that are not urgent and a GP should be able to deal with can be turned away, eg someone needing an antibiotic. But they come to A & E as hard to get GP appointment.

But burns on feet even if he is a total idiot surely he needs treatment.

Yes but how do you know how people arrive at A&E? You can’t tell by looking at them. Someone else may have taken themselves there with the same symptoms and they wouldn’t be wrong to do so.

Many city hospitals have a minor injury unit and an out of hours gp service all on the same campus, makes so much sense

So disabled people who can’t work because they’re too disabled to work shouldn’t be treated because they’ve never paid national insurance ? You might want to rethink that.

A&E and walk in acute care both missed my husbands’ lung cancer. He didn’t even get the courtesy of a chest X-ray , despite presenting with what I now know were classic signs of the disease that they should have picked up on from the start. The only reason I didn’t sue them after he died (less than a month later after being admitted as an emergency when he collapsed) was that I don’t believe in profiting from the NHS’s mistakes. And neither did he.

Why do you think you could’ve sued them though, and why do you think it would’ve been successful?

what all these “I went to a&e with a cut lip and it turned out I had cancer” takes sort of miss the point that a&e isn’t there to diagnose chronic conditions. Cancer is not something you treat in emergency medicine. These are long term specialist treatment plans (as you obv know better than most) it isn’t a failing of a&e not the diagnose chronic conditions

That is not a decision for a receptionist to make.

YABU
Stupidity and carelessness is a common reason for people to end up in A&E but the reason does not matter... the treatment of their injury does.

I think everyone should be seen and triaged, then after that some people should be turned away. I would say burnt feet is exactly the kind of thing A&E is for though even if it was caused by stupidity

Even triage can get it wrong.
I broke my foot, could walk on my heel but not my whole foot. The triage nurse outright accused me of making it up and said I was walking fine... then said I did it on purpose (how?). She begrudgingly booked me in to have an x-ray.
It is a shame she did not see me hobble out in a boot with crutches, and a follow up appointment to the fracture clinic.

So when they’re turned away, where do you suggest they go ? Given that a GP appointment is often too late to stop a condition turning from minor to needing inpatient or similar treatment ?

Absolutely this. Triage missed an advanced lung cancer in my DH’s case. He was discharged with pain killers and a referral for physio for a trapped nerve. He was dead a couple of months later.

Totally agree. The concept of A&E being a safety net is lost on MN.

Maybe not, but receptionists have seen their fair share. It’s not ideal but heigh ho.

I don't think that being a self inflicted injury should make any differences most accidents are self inflicted in a way, because they are often caused by carelessness, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated.
Burns can quickly become infected and cause sepsis if not treated properly. And not all areas have minor injury clinics anyway.

Sorry to hear that. That is awful

I wouldn’t turn people away but health promotion and education is key. People that arrive at A&E with injuries from the silliest of things know they’ve been silly but some polite health education goes a long way whilst they are being assessed. Sunburn for example…we see it a lot….assess, treat accordingly and educate and hope they learn that lesson.

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

Dh rushed me to A&E the first time I had an ocular migraine. Absolutely harmless and rarely even something to bother a GP with, never mind A&E. But at the time, one minute I was cooking dinner and two minutes later I was blind in one eye and half blind in the other...it was utterly terrifying, I thought I was having a stroke or haemorhage and my number was up 🙈

Right ok, one time I was actually sitting there laughing with my partner and eating dairy milk as I felt awful, I ended up having urosepsis and ended up in ICU due to my blood results. You have no idea why anyone is in there.

I was laughing and joking, but had a broken foot (that only hurt if I tried to stand on it).
Weird how some people think that you are only genuine if you are sombre and/or groaning in pain.

I used to work in a children's hospital, and the patients in A&E would often be playing and zooming about.

We don't have either of those in our large Northern city. We have to go to A&E. Register wait to be triaged and then get sent to the minor injuries area of the A & E.

Depends on the extent of the burns and any systemic complications and any underlying conditions. I don't think the idea that a person brought it on themselves is of any relevance as to wether this is a matter for A&E or minor injuries unit.

A brain haemorrhage is very time critical!

If you were significantly unwell you would not be 'chatting to a friend' 💯, I'm sure a GP or minor injuries would have sufficed....there are people in cardiac arrest being treated whilst you're chatting away!