A&E

[imanastronaut]

I’m currently sat in A&E for an injury. Multiple people have been walking in and out (they’re patients) to pick up takeaways, go outside for a cigarette, go to the vending machines etc. patients are wearing wristbands so it’s obvious who’s who!

AIBU to think if you can do that, you should be directed away from A&E to somewhere more appropriate for a minor injury?!

NSTEMI?

Wow! I think you may be some kind of savant! You can diagnosis just by sight.

Or a sad wee troll that gets their kicks from winding strangers up on the Internet, don't you have any friends that could sit with you? Can't think why that might be!

It’s normal to feel frustrated and angry when you’re sick and need help and have to wait. But this is why triage exists… so minor illnesses etc come at the back of the line. It’s not your job or expertise to decide that you and your injury are more important or dangerous than someone else’s. That’s for the triage team

Have you ever been to children's a&e? Try telling an under 5 that their breathing is too fast to be running to the toys section.

I've been an a&e botherer for about a year because I had a recurrent pain issue which could turn nasty, and by nasty, I mean fatal. If it passed a certain threshold, I was told to present to a&e, no ifs and buts.

Because I was generally not dead on my feet I was triaged slowly and usually passed to urgent care based on the time of day. You bet I ate and did what I could to relax whilst waiting.

They whipped the offending organ out, been fine since. An emergency doesn't just mean bleeding out and fractures.

Maybe we could all pop round to her house on a Sunday, we could sit around and worship her - She has single handly saved the NHS with her genius 🤣🤣

You really are just a bit dim aren't you op.

And you don’t seem to understand that many people can’t use their phones when they’re seriously ill - yet you are using yours and fine and seek completely coherent.

Someone is watching you wondering why you’re there if you’re able to sit on your phone and thinking that you can’t be that ill.

I would say most conditions that require A&E don’t stop you from eating or drinking and walking around is obviously encouraged.

What is wrong with you to feel you needed A&E?

I do know that some people misuse the service, but also not all serious illnesses are visible.

Ive been in with gallstones and I was throwing up (in a bucket) and writhing in agony, but I've also been in with pancreatitis and could have sat and ate crisps (I didnt because I was seen in triage and admitted very quickly after) but i felt fine despite being seriously ill. My ex was also in A&E a few years ago because he had a collapsed lung, but we were laughing and joking and he appeared fine.

I dont understand why anyone would willingly sit there unless seriously ill, hell on earth!!

You have no idea why or how long people have been in hospital, people needing to eat doesn't mean they don't need to be in hospital.

The thing is this thread is pointless, because regardless of the dozens of people who will give you their own examples or their own experiences where they sat in A&E for a very real reason and still went to smoke, ate junk good, god forbid even smiled, you will still say they're not worthy. So why bother? You're right, they're wrong. Carry on living in your self righteous little world where you know everything.

You can't blame them, they are likely there because they've been told to go there. E.g. DD burned her finger with a glue gun and it went white and waxy so needed medical attention. 111 said to go straight to minor injuries. Minor injuries said everyone had to go th2rough A&E triage so we had to go to the nurse then to be seen by a doctor who could give us the ticket to confirm that minor injuries was the correct place.

Pain is not the only reason to be in A&E. My DD was there a few years ago on direction of 111. She looked absolutely fine. She could eat, talk, even laugh. But she was numb down her right side and feeling certain symptoms. She was admitted and eventually diagnosed with MS. I was in A&E myself last month. You could look at me and tell something was not right (not least because I was vomiting fairly constantly - I had a twisted ovarian cyst). My son was with me. You could have looked at him and though ‘why is he here’? Well he’s there for me, not as a patient. Also I was in and out of A&E three times that evening as they would take me for a scan then I’d return. Take me for some blood tests then I’d return (I was waiting for a bed). Yes some people use A&E inadvisedly. But assume most are there for a valid reason that just isn’t obvious to you. It’s not first come first serve, if your need is more urgent you will be seen quicker.

Yeah if you lose feeling in your leg and saddle area after having back pain, don’t bother going to a&e as you can vape and eat and walk sure it’ll be fine(!)

reality - it was not fine and I had over 4hrs in neurosurgery to repair my spine

Of course you can. I ate a full bowl of pasta just hours before it was confirmed that I had appendicitis and that it needed to be removed.

My local hospital has declared a Critical Incident today, as the serviced have become overwhelmed, and the wait time to see a Dr in A and E is around 12 hours. It has been announced on BBC local news, and in SM
I am not surprised at all. Not only did I used to work there, but over the Summer I accompanied my adult DS when he had sudden onset of symptoms mirroring a stroke, and we waited 9 hours. There were people near us in the waiting room ordering food. There should be a system where a trage nurse refuses entry on the grounds that they should be treated by a GP/Pharmacy/OP Clinic.

You don't get allocated a hospital "meal" if you can call it that at A&E in our town. Only once you are given a bed on a ward are you fed. So the vending machine is the only option for patients waiting days for beds! I feel lucky if the red cross trolley comes round with a free cup of tea and some biscuits, that's all you'll get other than a vending machine packet of crisps!

No OP is the most poorly person there!!!

All of the staff must be discussing how she is the most sick one there because she’s not eating vending machine crap and everyone else must be faking it!

I wonder if she’ll get extra special treatment for being the best one there.

I’ve recently been in a and e
and saw triage turn 3 people away I presume this is the type of thing you’re in about

At the hospital near me, there is a shared waiting room for minor injuries and A&E (they triage you when you walk in). There aren't massive signs up telling you that.. maybe its the same at the OP's hospital?

I took my son into A & E recently as he was in mental health crisis. I also bought him a packet of crisps while we were there. That OK with you Dr Beaky?

Oh you’re one of them OP 😇 🙄

That's exactly what happens at the nearest A&E to me.

People are triaged promptly, then either sent to the urgent treatment clinic on the same site or to A&E, where they seem to be split according to ugency of need. I daresay some might be sent away because they don't need treatment at all, but I've never seen that happen.

It's in a city with a significant number of rough sleepers, and I suspect that few of them are registered with a GP, so have no other way of accessing treatment.

You are being incredible judgemental. I broke my elbow and required 3 surgeries. It happened at 9.30am and I sat in a&e for 11 hours. Even the triage nurse put me as low priority as I wasn’t screaming the place down Anyone coming in wouldn’t have realised the extent of my injury. I left a&e to go the m&s (inside the main hospital building) as I was starving having not ate since 8am. Where would you have sent me following my accident? As far as I’m concerned I was in the right place.

She's clearly dim, she alludes to the patients wearing wristbands 😂 you won't get a wristband whilst waiting in A&E, only if you are admitted.....

She forgot to consult the Troll big book of believable lies before posting 🙄

You say you’re there for an injury. So unless it’s to your mouth, there’s nothing stopping you from eating Doritos and smoking, and you presumably think you need to be there….