I get that a&e is busy, but was not expecting to be spoken to so rudely

[mitsicar]

Went to a&e tonight. I have a foreign object stuck in my ear. I did not know it was in there until someone looked last night before I left my house and said i should get it looked at. Wasn't able to go to a&e today as my son had his own medical appointment in another city that I have waited months for and we were in a hotel for last night. There was no way I was cancelling it for my own ailment.

The pain has got significantly worse. Have shooting pains into my jaw and cheek bone and my ear is making clicking noises. This is since about lunch time today. Went to a&e this evening and the triage nurse asked me how long it had been in my ear. I said I suspect a few weeks, but I thought I just had an earache and it went away after a while so thought it was gone. Got some new foam ear plugs last week (which obviously pushed the foreign body in further!) and am now suffering for it. I hadn't finished when she cut me off and said 'well I don't really understand why you have picked this evening to come to a&e' and told me I would be better off going to my GP. I am in some pain but ended up leaving because she just made me feel like I had done an awful thing by heading straight after my son's appointment. I spoke to 111 earlier in the day and they told me to go to a&e asap because I could risk my hearing and that whilst it isn't life threatening, it is both an accident and an emergency. I asked if I could wait until morning and they said no. This was the 111 dr not the triage staff. I have no idea if this is the correct advice.

AIBU to think I didn't do anything wrong? I told her a medical professional has looked at it (a friend of mine who is a dr of 30 years) and said it needs ent because of how far in it is and she actually rolled her eyes at me and said I should see an actual GP (I suspect by that she meant my own GP?) and that a&e were sending everyone to minor injuries and that cases like mine are the reason she now has a 6 hour waiting list.

Is this normal for a&e now? Is it so awful working there that being rude has just become the norm or do most people have a better bedside manner? I haven't been to a&e since I was a child and was really shocked by the way I was spoken to, after being advised to go there by 111 and a trusted friend who is a medical doctor (GP).

To add, she didn't look in my ear.

Would you have done anything different? Am I missing something?

There is no such thing as an A&E appt. They might know you're attending, but you dont skip the queue etc... you're still triaged and seen in exactly the same way as anyone who has just turned up.

Funny out of the many times we’ve needed to go for her condition (which is serious when we go to A&E) I’ve only seen her cannulated. We’ve never had to wait 6 hours but we have had to wait for long periods of time even though it’s clear she’d need to be admitted.I’m happy to wait in an A&E wait room though as I know we’re incredibly lucky to have an NHS and universal healthcare will always involve waiting. What I am never happy with and will not put up with is rude staff.

Yes it is called accident and emergency..it is for when you have an emergency, ir have just had an accident.

Other than choosing to attend a&e of an evening, after spending a night away in a hotel?

I’m glad she got push back. There were alternatives available to her.

No you don't understand all trusts are run differently.

Some people in jobs now days lack being civilised or Professional!!
Medical receptionist or nurse needs a kick up the arse.
Hope you noted her name..complain! .
It is not for her to roll her eyes at you.
Biarch.
Complain!
If you can not go to a gp...gp back.

No you do skip the queue because you are never on the a+e queue list that starts at triage. You are on the majors or minors list.

What a disgraceful person you are. You've got a cheek to call the other person harsh.

You can only speak for where you work. Though I really hope that you do not have any patient contact. Not every GP or hospital works the same. Surely you know that. People with a little bit of knowledge are often the worst people to give advice.

The majors and minors list is the a&e queue. You're still triaged even if you've been sent by a GP because your condition could have changed on route. Please don't try and tell me my job.

GPs can’t give out appointments. They can let them know you’re coming. We’ve had to arrive by ambulance and been sent by GP several times. There is no appointment. How could there be?

I've never found it not to be like that when you use the services appropriately.

Perhaps we should cancel all the initiatives and work to improve all the issues in quote above then, if they are not affectinf wait times and patient outcome?

You should tell the NHS they need not bother. Perhaps start with your MP?

several people just told you that many trusts don’t work this way

Her child had an appointment. She was right not to miss that. Her condition is serious but not immediately life-threatening so she made the right call. Are you envious of the hotel stay or something? I don’t understand why you’re behaving in this silly way.

Fucking hell. Did you get out of the wrong side of the bed this morning? Such vitriol because someone needed some help and you think she shouldn't have asked for it.

I think there’s only you looking for the drama. Just because your A&E doesn’t have a minor injuries unit attached to it that shares the same triage doesn’t mean that you are right. It doesn’t matter how many people tell you theirs is set up the same you won’t have it because you’ve obviously decided to wake up and chose to be obnoxious.

The GP contacts the hosptial. The hospital gives the appointment. So GP will ring and say I have a man with an abcess that is causing severe pain and needs lancing now, I can't do it here so I'm sending them in. They'll say, okay, come at 12pm. You go at 12pm, they know youre coming, and take you to somewhere they can do your thing.

It might be in the emergency department itself or more often, They'll take you to a clinic room in outpatients where they have the things they need.

A&E's don't have different ways of working.

Good for you but I just explained you that in 2 different parts of london hence at 3 different trusts the GPs can’t make any urgent appointments as you just described and just sent me or my child into a&e

are you saying I’m lying?

What’s your role in the NHS and what experience do you have?

We’ve always used the services appropriately( even had a team guiding us so I know we always have) and still had to wait for long periods of time. That is universal healthcare which we are very lucky to have.

I think they do and people just don't bother trying.

That’s not how it works.

There are a few nurses like this at my local A&E, which is now in special measures partly because of serious failings in patient care. People have allegedly been sent home and later died or suffered life-changing injuries due to a lack of appropriate medical care. There have also been incidents of people taking their own lives in the toilets after staff failed to listen to them and instead jumped to conclusions.

It sounds as though you were triaged and directed to the minor injuries unit, which is exactly what it is there for. Your GP cannot remove it. Nursing is a patient-facing role, and people in most other professions would not get away with speaking to someone in that tone or behaving that way. Nurses are specifically trained to deal professionally with people in stressful and difficult situations.