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?

I’m fully aware how A&E works, had to use it unfortunately many a time the last few years .

Then it isnt an emergency even if it started as an accident. See your GP.

She went out of hours, obviously ent opds are not staffed 24/7 like A&E.

ENT dep, like eye opd will have a walk in 'A&E' session 9 til 5. This was neither an accident nor an emergency

This.

Several posters who are doctors and work in A&E have said she was in the right place and acted correctly.

I originally replied to you to say A&E's don't have different ways of working when the original topic was talking about triage etc... you then replied to me explaining about the different ways of referring out and services such as mental health. Apologies, I did perhaps get you mixed up with the other 2 or 3 rude posters who are deliberately derailing the thread, I thought you were doing the same. I was just trying to stick up for the poor OP amongst the sea of people who haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

They come on here shouting at people who obviosuly don't have a clue how the system works, because why would they? It's a complex system and they're not supposed to know, we're supposed to tell them when they arrive. Then they're telling OP that it's people like her who are clogging the system up when that couldn't be further from the truth.

It had been there weeks. ENT provide 9 til 5 sessions. Attending main A&E is inappropriate and a waste of their time.

Obviously the FB needed removing no-one disputes that. I had an eye issue a while ago, needed seeing asap guess what I went to the walk in eye department not main A&E. Waited hours yes but I was seen and treated.

Other doctors and A&E staff on here have said she was in the right place at the A&E MIU triage desk not the GP.

Like many our GP stops online bookings at 9.30, you then only get an appointment for 2 weeks later or longer. Said GP would never deal with removing objects pushed down into the ear and would send you to A&E MIU triage desk which is where she was.

I had a fall and it wasn’t until some weeks later that severe pain developed in the area affected, where there had previously only been mild discomfort and bruising. My GP surgery refused to give me an appointment and referred me to A&E. OP is in a similar position. What she thought was a simple earache she’d had for weeks turned out to be as a result of an embedded object. Entirely appropriate to A&E, which is what her GP will suggest.

To be fair, I’ve had ear infections that have ruptured my ear drum, it heals itself- so a ruptured ear drum isn’t actually a massive deal in itself anyway.

I think perhaps going at night when things are already stretched in an and e was where you went wrong. If you do feel you have to go, go at a more reasonable time, during the day for example. It was not that urgent it couldn’t have waited until morning- I can understand why she felt a bit frustrated.

Seems appropriate to go to minor injuries clinic especially if you were following 111 advice. I cannot imagine a GP will be able to remove something so small from your ear so will just send you back there.

The nurse was very rude and dismissive-honestly since Covid some NHS staff have started treating people rudely. It’s almost like you have to prove you’re worthy of their help. Stand your ground, be firm and clear about what you want and don’t let them dismiss your pain. I suspect the GP will just send you back.

GPs can call ahead if they think patients need something specific in A and E. But it depends on the GP, how much time they have, whether somebody actually picks up the phone at the other end, if the person they speak to is helpful, is that service even available in that A and E etc. So many variables when human beings are involved. It’s not a perfect system. People need to be careful when extrapolating their individual experiences with such certainty and confidence.

Sure, we’ve all had stressful days at work.
But to send this person home without so much as examining the ear - this would take less than a minute - is actually borderline negligent.
Minor injuries is a perfectly acceptable place for this condition, with these symptoms. I am rather bemused at the number of presumably non-medically qualified people on this forum who are clearly experienced triage nurses.

'I think perhaps going at night when things are already stretched in an and e was where you went wrong'

This. Imagine being a run ragged hcp. Treating serious, acute onset illnesses and someone wanders in saying 'I've had this problem weeks'. I'd also be a bit 'fgs really'

So doctors and A&E staff on here don’t know what they’re talking about.

There is no ENT emergency in our area. You are supposed to go to yep you’ve guessed it A&E MIU triage- which is where the op was.

That's for routine appointments. And besides, in at least some cases, you wouldn't even need to see a GP. For the ear thing, I'd have put in a digital request that is triaged promptly and it would have been sorted by phone. We have to always use that system. It's called Klinik.

But that isn't what happened or the OP's situation. Pain is pain and you don't get to control when you're in pain. The nurse was wrong, end of.

OP sorry you're getting a rough ride on here. I too had the same issue as you, but it was a silicone earplug and had got stuck in my ear canal. I went to my GP who tried to remove it but couldn't and made my ear bleed, so they sent me to A&E. After assessment they sent me to ENT straight away and it was removed with specialist equipment.

The GP usually does not have this equipment so you absolutely need to go to the hospital. The good thing is as its metal stuck in your ear the liklihood of infection is low since it's not organic matter.

I had to go to A&E heavily pregnant with a suspected blood clot.

I'd rather die than ever going in there again.

There is lots that is frustrating being an NHS worker. But you know what, you keep your feelings to yourself and deal with it. I sometimes roll my eyes inside and occasionally think a swear word when I find a situation challenging. You do not take out your anger by being rude and dismissive to the patient. That’s so damn unprofessional.

OP - don’t let this nurse shame you, you did nothing wrong. The staff need to be telling the abusive drunks, druggies and frequent flyers where to go, not you, but they won’t as those types will kick off.

NHS is an absolute shit show. Why we worship this system which is no longer viable (however much money we throw at it at he expense of everything else) is beyond me. The day it is scrapped will be a day to celebrate. Trust me that day is coming it's a mathematical certainty with the changing demographics.

Did you go to minor injuries as suggested? If she was triage that's her job to send you to the best place, you would wait forever in a&e if you are very low priority.

You are aware that things can progress and evolve into an emergency?

Honestly mn worries me, so many people telling others they don’t need to go to a&e and blaming them for the state of the NHS. Op went to a&e on the advice of 111, she was treated unprofessionally, rudely and wasn’t triaged properly.

Not in Uk but a triage nurse dismissively told a relative, who had been sent to a&e by the GP, that the issue was minor and she was surprised the GP had referred to a&e. Relative was admitted a few hours later and was an inpatient for over a week.