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?

Nope. Read the thread. OP thought it was a simple earache and at one point it disappeared. At that point she probably would have gone to her GP. Once her friend pointed out that there was a foreign body there that she hadn’t previously been aware of, then it became an A&E/minor injuries issue. As evidenced by the fact that when she contacted her GP this morning she was told to go straight to A&E. The reading comprehension on the thread leaves a lot to be desired.

But she didn’t know it had happened then, just thought she had ear ache

Some people end up in A&E days after breaking a bone, as didn’t think it was serious at the time and then as pain worsened realise it was something more serious. Should they not go to A&E as they hurt themselves a few day previously

No. That’s on the nurse. If she was so rude to OP that she made her feel like a nuisance for seeking help, and OP left without treatment as a result, then the nurse needs to take responsibility and re-examine her attitude. I wouldn’t have left but then I’m gobby and would have stood up for myself - lots of people aren’t. The fact that OP has a bleeding ear and hearing loss this morning indicates that it needed urgent treatment - further evidenced by the call to her GP who told her to go straight to A&E.

The thread is going round in circles because people haven’t understood the OP and aren’t reading the updates.

The nurse said she should’ve seen the GP but didn’t tell her to leave.

The OP said she decided to leave A+E after this.

OP never went to her GP, she spoke to a friend who is a doctor who advised on going to A+E. An actual GP may have just referred OP to the correct service (a friend cannot do this).
so yes, the nurse did do the right thing. There’s nothing wrong with educating the public on correct use of services, OP should’ve gone to her GP when she first realised there was a problem.
I imagine OP was told “you should’ve gone to your GP but we’ll triage you anyway” and OP still left, she was aware she would still be seen but chose to leave.

Exactly this. My mum had advanced dementia and broke her wrist. They set and splinted it in A&E to allow the swelling to go down so they could put a cast on. Every day for the next five days we woke up to the fact that during the night mum had taken the bandage off and thrown the splint on the floor. She had to be taken back to A&E each time to have the bone reset and re-splinted until they finally put a cast on as a last resort even though the joint was still swollen. Judging by what some posters have said only the initial attendance at A&E immediately after the break was the emergency. So where should she have gone in the aftermath ?

I read the thread so didn't need a recounting of the issue. She knew about it long before she went to A&E.

You have my sympathy. I fell into water last week hitting my ear very hard on the water. I immediately experienced a lot of pain and assumed I had put a hole in my eardrum. When I got home I rang my GP for advice (2 hours before closing time) but they told me to ring 111 who in turn told me that a consultant will ring within 60 minutes or an ambulance will be dispatched. It was completely mad!!! Luckily the consultant rang back within 20 minutes and sent me to A&E. I asked for minors, out of hours or majors instead but he was adament it had to be A&E. I got there and waiting to be seen was 6 hours :( but got fast tracked and was seen in 35 minutes. Turns out I had completely blown my ear drum and was put on very strong antibiotics (rivers not the cleanest) and got given tons of really strong pain killers. I have to go back yo GP in 3 weeks and if not healed they will refer to ENT. I just thought it all was bonkers to waste A&E time but every person I spoke to said its an A&E job. Who knew?!?

its not okay that the nurse was rude but at the same time OP is a big girl and can’t run away because someone wasn’t all smiles with her, she was still being seen by the team and chose to leave. The nurse clearly felt OP should’ve sorted the problem sooner rather than wait until it needed to be seen urgently, waiting until the condition worsened just costs more time and money.

well of course people aren’t reading the updates, there’s over 600 responses and I don’t care that much to read them all, I’m only here for a bit of drama not a real investment.

From what OP said it was far more than ‘you should have gone to GP but we’ll triage you anyway’. I’ve spent my life in and out of hospitals and have come across some lovely staff, but I’ve also met my fair share of grumpy and discontented people who clearly don’t want to be there, and are rude and unhelpful as a result. Let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen because it does.

The nurse wasn’t ’educating the public’ she was passing on her resentment at a six hour wait time to a patient. In what world is that acceptable ? OP has explained over and over that she didn’t realise there was a problem - she just thought it was earache. As soon as she realised there was a foreign body causing the pain she went to A&E because it’s appropriate to the situation. From there she was referred to minor injuries and encountered nurse nasty. Yes, OP should have stayed, but that doesn’t excuse the rudeness from a health care professional. And on contacting her GP surgery this morning she was directed to A&E so clearly that was the appropriate service to deal with the issue.

So you go to the GP for an ear ache? If you have wax in your ear, they won’t do anything unless you are very elderly. Have to go the opticians or pharmacist round here if you have ear problems (and pay for the privilege).

You don’t have to read all the responses - just click on ‘see all’ under the OP to see OP’s updates.

She was rude and unhelpful. Next time, say you've come to where you've been directed by 111 and you want to be seen.

However, you have had pain that felt like an ear infection and ignored it for weeks which will frustrate medical staff. I'm on the phone to my GP surgery as soon as I'm in pain.

She had earache. And she said at one point it disappeared. Had she thought it was significant she would have gone to her GP. Had she known it was caused by a foreign body of course she would have tried to get an appointment earlier. But that doesn’t change the fact that she would have been directed to A&E - as she was this morning.

Ohh I didn’t know that as I’m new here, thanks!

No of course not. I got to the GP when all else fails.

My GP refers to Specsavers for microsuction on the NHS - I know, I've had it twice in the past two years. Bloody marvellous. Was well worth a trip to the doctors.

How do you get that? Won’t even see you here

Not for GP. Definitely for minor injuries. You only noticed it recently and couldn't come immediately- that was the answer you should have given.

So if you were the OP at what point would you have used medical professionals and who would you have gone to?

Waiting for ENT to sort. To those saying suction, the earring is adhered to my ear. If the GP would've tried to remove it it would have been incredibly painful and would have required them to rip it off my skin. Needs proper numbing. Wish me luck!

@mitsicar soery people have been so bitchy on here. Of course A&E is where you need to go and have been told by 3 professionals now. Sorry people are arseholes and I hope you get seen and sorted

Good luck @mitsicar. Sorry you had a hard time on here. Completely uncalled for. Hope they detach it without too much damage or pain.

I had awful ear pain and went to GP (years ago admittedly). He looked in my ear and said there was a foreign body now partly covered by wax.
He retrieved it and it was an earring back - I too have no idea how it got there.

Lots of people go to A&E because they've had trouble getting a GP appointment these days/are working and don't want to take time off so I understand why they get het up.

Last time i was in A&E (pneumonia) there were so many people there who shouldn't have been. I would be too embarrassed to go unless it was serious or a doc advised me to go but in this case, you were advised to go there by a doctor and by 111. I would have told her that you had no idea it was in there until doc friend saw it and 111 confirmed you should go to hospital.

Good luck OP. Ouch! Hope you get good care now x

Oh god another thread full of people saying someone didn't need to go to A&E.

I am curious how you get things out if you can't do it yourself? Even when you could see a GP, I got told by my surgery that they couldn't deal with it and to take my son to A&E when he had a foreign body stuck up his nose. A&E dealt with it quickly and politely and didn't at any time make me feel like we shouldn't be there.

So you can't do it and your GP can't or won't do it. So what do you do?

(minor injuries might be an option but there isn't one where I live)