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 don’t know why people are so outraged about you attending minor injuries, the nurse gave you the wrong advice.

I have t-tubes fitted in my ear drums and they often get stuck in my ear canal when they fall out. The wait time for ENT is insane in my area, even when you’re already under them and have a foreign body causing ear infections, but my GP can’t do anything but prescribe antibiotics. Removing anything from your ear a very delicate task and they don’t have the right equipment at most surgeries.

I hope you feel better soon.

Don't be a idiot. If her child had missed an appointment that could have had huge impact on the child and be seen as neglect. Most parents would delay medical care to prioritize their child's medical needs.
It's hardly galavanting taking a child to a medical appointment at a distance that requires an overnight stay.

Sometimes people wait to see if things improve so as not to waste medical professionals time. Waiting and then going when you realize you do need medical attention does not make the visit not urgent.
In many ways she left it until it was more urgent shown as pain in the jaw for example means it has become urgent

Yeah she was a bit abrupt which isn’t okay. but she sounds overworked and pissed off the a&e are sending everyone over to minor injuries. I think her point is that you’ve been in pain for weeks, and now decided to go to a&e, and you could have gone to your GP in the mean time because actually something in your ear isn’t an accident (think fall from a height, car accident, sharps incident, being physically attacked, falling over when pregnant etc) and it’s not a life threatening emergency (think heart attack, DVT, stroke, possible aneurysm). Just go to your GP asap.

GP sent her to A&E

Where was the teacher on this a&e mentioned on this thread?

I have a couple of questions myself. Actually, just the one. Did you read the thread?

spoiler alert - i ready know the answer.

The reason GPs don't remove items from deep in the ear is because of the damage it can cause to the ear drum. They are no longer insured to do this type of work. Ear syringing is also no longer allowed to be done by GPs. Too many people were left with damage to the ear and hearing loss.

Pediatric hospitals have pediatric A and E
Some appointments are not done at hospitals but a clinics without a and e

Maybe try reading the OPs posts.

Agree. I find it helps to anticipate the myriad ways in which they try and get rid of you and have an answer for them. Same with my NHS dentist who would rather use an appointment slot on a private customer.

So - why have you come in tonight? I have had a sharp pain since lunchtime TODAY. 111 sent me here because I have discovered TODAY there is an earring back in there and my GP will not extract metal from my ear.

She didn't need to know it had been in there for weeks.

Defo a job for an emergency GP appointment. Much more convenient too.

That's the case in our area yes. It's very annoying. Was much better when we had a walk in MIU.

She was abrupt and came across a bit rude yes, if you were advised to go there she didn’t really need to speak like that to be honest, I know the NHS are under pressure but you can’t help what you were advised, it’s not like you rocked up from your own advice.
I went to a&e 6 years ago as i was miscarrying my baby, the bleeding was insane, it would not stop and soaking my trousers (waited 5 hours sat in my own blood) and I was in the worse pain I’ve ever felt (worse than labour honestly!) and they were dismissive to me, the dr I saw said I might not be miscarrying and asked if I had intercourse recently that may have made be bleed (really? The amount I was bleeding and that’s what you think) they gave me some pain killers and sent me off. I was indeed losing my baby just as I thought, honestly was a waste of time and could have just bought my own painkillers at a pharmacy but like you, I was advised to go after calling 111.

ive actually never had a good experience with the NHS. Not bashing them as it’s great we have them, but they are evidentially struggling and have been for so long now and you do get misinformed a lot.

Nurse seems to be working in the wrong job/ place (minor injuries)

Her GP told her to go back to A+E.
A GP wouldn't be able to remove the stuck object.

I was in a mental health crisis last year ,.my husband took me to A & E it was 1.30am , we were advised to go there by the crisis telephone number.
We waited to be seen by the crisis team , a matron reminded us that the two chairs we were taking up were for 'sick'peiole (there were at least 8 empty chairs)
If my husband hadn't been with me I would have got in my car and killed myself.

I am really sorry this happened to you. The A&E operative was extremely rude and way outside her zone of authority and I hope you are going to make an excoriating complaint about her. I believe PALS is the way to go.

I am gobsmacked at the way you were spoken to there - when you had been repeatedly advised to go there.

A phrase like “Bang out of order” seems to fall short.

Glad you have someone with you today and hope you get it sorted ok.

You did the right thing OP, ignore everyone making you feel awful, typical mumsnet reaction here. You went when you realised it was a foreign object and were referred onto minor injuries. I’m my experience (children who really like putting things in their ears) GPs won’t touch foreign objects lodged in an ear unless it’s right at the entrance and easily grabbed.

I work in a hospital and there’s a very high percentage of staff who do speak to patients like crap. It’s worrying and sadly being normalised.

Yes - in a job that requires you to know something about triage.

I am appalled at the number of people on here advising OP to ignore unprofessional behaviour and medical advice.

I am sorry - that is so grim. Hope you are doing better now.

Yes I agree. People blaming patients rather than the system, does nobody any favours. Not least those of us working in the NHS.

Hope you were seen swiftly and kindly at A&E/MIU today op, and that they were able to retrieve the offender smoothly.

Thinking of you OP. What a total nightmare. I hope they're dealing with you properly this time.

So it’s okay to be rude to people when you’re overworked?

And what’s wrong with the OP using A&E at the point when a situation becomes urgent? Infections can most certainly be life threatening by the way, I know somebody who died of sepsis after a common cold.

The fact is that a triage nurse is there to do her job: triage people as they come in. She can leave her personal opinions and her attitude at home and do her job, just like the rest of us. I don’t know why we are expected to put up with subpar treatment through the NHS. Healthcare professionals are not conscripted into these roles, they go into them with their eyes wide open - everyone knows what the NHS is like. So if they are not able to work under the pressures then they need to find alternative employment and not take it out on patients.