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 was in minor injuries for the hundredth time!

I went through see an audiologist for microsuction, when I had pain and pressure in my ear. They refused to do anything, in case I had an ear infection and told me to go see my GO for antibiotics, as they couldn’t prescribe them. Neither of them could see my eardrum, because there was so much wax.

IIRC, the GP prescribed antibiotics, because she couldn’t see anything; then told me to go for microsuction and go back, after that, so she could look at my eardrum.

I just went to the GP as I kept having this problem with a blocked ear and it would go on for months, couldn't hear properly. He had a look in and said I suspect there's some compacted wax down there, did me a referral and within 24 hours I was sorted!

DH had it too last year - didn't even see a GP, we just did an e-consult via online form and then arranged for it.

Not sure if varies from area to area due to funding.

OP if I were you, I would ignore the fools who can’t be bothered to read your comments and are here just to have a silly go at you and be contrary.

Quite a few times, I have lost an earring back on the floor and not found it. I’m now wondering if there is a collection of earring backs sitting in my ears!

Ah, OK. So the OP’s posts are shown in blue - if you go right to the top of the thread to the original post and scroll to the bottom, on the right hand side you’ll see ‘see all’. If you click on that you’ll see just the OP’s updates, so easier to scroll through. AIBU is a bit of a baptism of fire, but well done for navigating through this far.x

And even if you weren't, where do you go if your can't use a GP or minor injuries?

Sorry this made me snort coffee all over the screen !! Got a lovely mental picture of a cauliflower ear with gold bits protruding all over the place !!

Good luck - fingers crossed for you. Hope
they are giving you some decent pain relief.

As a nurse I am saddened to read this. Yes services are stretched and busy but you genuinely needed to be seen.
I would speak to PALS and complain. It’s not ok to make you feel this way when your need was genuine.
Hope you feel better soon x

Oh OP, I feel for you. I hate anything related to ear nose and throat - and eyes. Far too near the brain. Let us know how you get on and sending a virtual hand hold.x

Not and accident or an emergency. You should have phoned 111 and taken advice from them. Probably have been sent to a walk in centre.

What does she think your GP will do? Absolutely nothing, in fact they’ll probably tell you to attend A&E! They’re not removing foreign objects from anywhere are they?!? She was out of order. I hope you get it sorted soon.

GOOD GOD. Did you even read the first post?

Which is exactly what the OP did. I can understand missing the OP’s updates but not the initial post!

Read the thread 🙄

@mitsicar I hope it's going/gone ok for you 💐

I would have done the same as you.
it kind of feels like a minor injures thing more than a GP? But I’m not a medic.

Jesus, this thread...

@mitsicar hopefully today it will be sorted for you. Sounds blooming awful.

this thread, i know. nobody reads it. sigh.

hope you’re ok op and they got it out painlessly. poor you. it sounds grim.
when you write to pals you can say that by bringing this to their attention you're trying to help them explain policy to their staff as this has slipped through the net.

Hi there, everyone.

Just a gentle reminder that while Mumsnet can be a useful place to hear about other people's experiences, it's not a substitute for professional medical advice.

We'd encourage the OP to continue seeking guidance from the qualified healthcare professionals involved in their care, as they'll be best placed to advise on the specifics of their situation.

We really hope you feel better soon, @mitsicar 💐

Best wishes,
Faye
MNHQ.

I wonder what has happened to today’s society that makes them so unable to read?? Mind boggling.

Good luck when the finally get it out OP, I hope your eardrum stays intact 😬

I know. Esp when it’s 27 pages in, wouldn’t they just check the OP’s posts for an update before sharing their wisdom?!

If everyone actually read OP’s posts, the thread could actually only be 4 pages 😂😂

Can I help by explaining that different areas do things differently - in my area, like the OP's, there is just one queue to be triaged by one nurse practitioner who then sends you to either A&E or Minor injuries.

Yes, that's a stupid way to run a department, but it's really not the patient's fault. The queue is often out the door at our hospital, with people who have been referred by 111, those with really urgent issues in severe pain and those with minor injuries all stood waiting together. I had to go recently after a fall from my bike in the evening which left me with a hugely swollen hand and severe grazing where my leggings had been scraped into my skin. I waited, along with far sicker people, for 2 hours to just get to triage, only to then be sent to minor injuries where in less than an hour I had my leggings soaked off and the wound cleaned and dressed, an x ray that diagnosed a broken thumb and a splint and strapping and referral to specialist hand surgery dept.

I could have waited far longer tbh - I had paracetamol which worked to bring the pain down to a perfectly bearable level and sat and read my book. And they could have put more staff in the actual A&E dept which was rammed. But it's not my responsibility to manage the NHS's processes and patients should never be blamed for turning up at the right place.

Having frontline staff and patients getting pissed off with each other when both are usually doing their best (yes, even the frequent flyers in A&E who don't need to be there often are doing their best to cope with the mental health issues/lack of social care that drives them there) simply means we aren't all directing our ire where it should be - at bad managers in the NHS and govts who have managed health and social care terribly for at least 30 years