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?

The headline says A and E... but the OP does mention minor injuries.

Regardless of which service it is, I couldn't work in any of them! It sounds like the nurse was having a hard day- goodness knows what else she had to deal with that day!

I hope OP gets sorted soon.

Stick to your guns however rude and dismissive they are. It can take 5 weeks to get a GP’s appointment and they don’t do minor surgery so would only send you back to A&E.

As a nurse yeah she shouldn’t have been so rude but it was not a true emergency or accident given the fact it had been there a week. It could have absolutely waited until you could see your GP

Now think of your scenario over and over and over and OVER again every single day.

A&E is literally bursting at the seams

Oh op you must be in so much pain, you might have a short hospital stay as it might need a minor operation and IV antibiotics, thinking of you,
And thinking of all the poor people who can't comprehend you went into minor injuries. 😆

There’s no excuse. There was no excuse for that nurse being rude to a patient like that.

Is it out now?!! Hope youre ok

Do you normally burst onto threads at page 30 without bothering reading the OP’s posts? Because it just makes you look a bit silly.

In your dreams.........

Terrible behaviour by the nurse. She should be reported. You needed to be there, glad the GP sent you. Delay caused by the nurse is unacceptable. She really does need pulling up on this, you will not be the first or the last. Horrible and frightening for you.
How are you now OP?

@Askingforafriendtoday agree. ^

I am happy that you got the treatment that you deserved and I'm glad you're well.
Should I be treated differently because nothing shows up on a scan or you can't see it or hear what I do in my darkest of mental state ?

How are things going OP? Just read all of this and it does sound stressful. Hope things are getting sorted x

Indeed. One person got lucky therefore everyone else must accept our fates.

I know several people who only had cancer diagnosed and treated thanks to private health insurance.

So where should she have gone? GP can’t do it. She could lose her hearing and she’s in pain!

So was it removed?

@User1839423799 Exactly. In the real world, no-one would bat an eyelid at anyone going to A & E under the circumstances. The parallel world of Mumsnet strikes again!

The nurse was rude, and unpleasant. She had no right to be. The OP was entitled to be there. Glad to hear you're going back @mitsicar I hope you will be OK soon!

.

Is it out now op?

Ouch earache is awful
Hope you got sorted

Of course you were in the right place for your condition. The nurse should not have spoken to you that way. I suggest you contact PALS once you are sorted.

problem is that:

1. people can’t be bothered to read the original post or the updates properly
2. everyone is a pro in everything these days 🤣

Our NHS is on its knees, my local hospital A&E wait times are an average of 9.5 hours this is standard whatever time of day you arrive. If you had gone to your GP would you have even got an appointment? GPs regularly tell patients to go straight to A&E. I think the nurse had no reason to be so rude to you she just needed to re direct you if you were in the wrong place. Anyway did you ever get the object out of your ear?

Are you, a stranger, telling OP what to do?

Hope it's sorted now. I would definitely speak to PALS. I found them very helpful when I had poor care and was assured that systems had been changed as a result.

Complete nonsense. It's definitely an a + e issue. She's wrong and I'd make a complaint. A GP won't touch it.

I hope you have been seen by a professional and your ear has been sorted.

Wishing you all the best.