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?!

Do you always have such an incredibly self-centered view of things? YOU might be in pain and unable to eat but not every medical emergency means someone is equally in pain or has no appetite.

I'm not in the UK but earlier this year my mum lost most vision in one eye. She wasn't in any pain, she was eating just fine but her situation was urgent (so much so that they called out an ophthalmologist immediately on a Sunday morning) and good thing they did as they were able to save her eyesight.

An employee at my company went to a health centre for what he thought was a kidney stone. The CT scan showed something serious and he was told to go to A&E immediately. He said at the time he felt perfectly fine except for the occasional abdominal twinge but by the next day he was being operated on for metastatic colon cancer.

I think it's quite normal for those in a lot of discomfort and pain, unable to eat or look at food etc. to think "bad" things about those they see looking perfectly "normal", and eating and drinking. That's just human nature. I mean what else is there to do in A+E except people watch and wonder what the hell is wrong with others!

The serious cases are in resus I reckon so no gawping of them there, the rest of the walking wounded/ill are down the pecking order for medical attention.

I do realise that it's perfectly possible to look fine but be quite ill. I was one of them with a serious gastric bleed sitting on a hard chair awaiting an emergency endoscopy/repair. Such is life. I was hungry but didn't eat or drink in case I needed an anaesthetic. I was given the endoscopy quicker than most because I had not eaten or drunk as the sedation requires 6 hours fasting etc. So a lot of the time people are waiting for treatment but have to stop eating for a few hours, hence the wait and looking ok. That could be one reason anyway.

Surely, no one that didn’t need it, or a complete fool, would go to A&E. It’s a bloody nightmare.

But you can’t always tell by appearances. In 2023 my DH was taken to hospital because of a breathing problem, which he had anyway.

They said, oh it’s a mild dose of Covid, but took him in because of his underlying health problems. He was chatting, eating etc

I arranged his funeral 2 weeks later, 🤷‍♀️

Hope that you feel better soon @imanastronaut

That does not seem to stop you from typing though. When I am in pain that would be the last thing that I would be doing.

Ok "registered" then.
Presumably there some people who come in but do get sent away without making it as far as triage.

But you don't have to be seriously ill to be at A&E. I've been at A&E with my kids when they've had broken bones and need seeing but they aren't otherwise ill and are more than able to eat a packet of crisps.

I don't get this - if they're wearing hospital bracelets, they'll have been admitted as patients so won't be sat waiting in A&E, and there are always people in hospital gowns/in wheelchairs smoking/vaping/in the coffee shop outside our hospital. Anyone else, you've no idea whether they're a patient or someone accompanying a patient. And as plenty of people have said, you don't have to be in absolute agony to be in A&E, there are plenty of conditions where people are in A&E, need to be seen, but are capable of walking about and eating (and yes, vaping).

The last time I was in A&E, I was able to eat, and drink. That does not take away from the fact, that I had been taken there by paramedics. I certainly was not looking around judging other peoples behaviour there. I concentrated on myself.

Well the OP is clearly lucid & able to seethe on her phone so she can’t be that ill.

I think you need to concentrate on yourself and stop speculating about other patients, and please don't listen in to their conversations - how do you know someone is there because their antibiotics aren't working? Being in A&E is not a pleasant experience and long waits are the norm. I'm not surprised that people get food and smoke or vape. Don't be so judgmental, you don't know how sick they are.

I would imagine that the op is maybe fed up, frightened, overwhelmed and in pain so should be allowed to be a little dramatic and unreasonable.

Winding her up probably won’t change her mind while waiting.

I understand what you're saying @imanastronaut

I think accident and emergency has often got blurred lines because GPs are overwhelmed and can be quite dictatorial

I had a burn on my elbow. 2 months ago
Sent photo to GP saying what should I do? Also popped into local pharmacy

BOTH said go to a and e

Honestly? Ridiculous! The a and e nurse I saw,said I should never have been sent there

What was I meant to do?

So......@imanastronaut I agree with you. Lots of people are sent to a and e,imo, unnecessarily

I was at the GP yesterday with DD whose antibiotics (prescribed by pharmacist as first port of call) didn’t appear to be working. GP (nurse practitioner actually) advised waiting 12 hours then going to A&E if no improvement - because A&E are the only ones who can do anything (give antibiotics over IV, drain abscess). Believe me we asked if there was any alternative! Yes it’s annoying to wait while you’re in pain but thank goodness for the NHS.

I had to take my daughter to a&e earlier due to hearing loss, she was absolutely starving so she ate from the vending machine! Shock horror!! We'd been there for hours by that point and didn't think to pack the good snacks from Waitrose and the fancy restaurants didn't want to deliver to the hospital!

Just because they’re walking around doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be there. They often put a wristband on my dd in A&E while waiting for treatment even though she isn’t admitted. It’s just so the staff don’t get the wrong person. They also stopped open access to wards for people with underlying health conditions. So all those people that would otherwise wait in an assessment area in a different part of hospital now have to go through A&E. It’s often the only way they get to see a consultant when they’re health detiriorates. In my DD case they have to consult with another hospital over the phone for her treatment as there’s no neuro consultant. It’s quite stressful watching your child have multiple cluster seizures and they can’t treat her until they have the go ahead to treat her. I’ve also waited for hours with her in A&E for injuries. I would rather do that than have her rushed through.

Perhaps they think you look fine as you're constantly typing savagely on your phone.

DS2 late teens ate 2 meals in A&E and various types of junk food whilst playing on his phone in A&E for 15 hours. He was wandering around chatting clearly not in pain.

Just as well the medics considered his actual symptoms and admitted him for over 3 weeks for a condition that has rendered him nearly blind. You would still never guess when you see him that he has a serious disability.

Oooh calm down. OP is allowed to have a conversation about it.

That is simply untrue. Do you think everyone in need of emergency treatment looks sick? You don't know what you're talking about.

I’ve been there waiting hours in A&E had to order takeaway to the hospital mainly because if my DD misses or is late having her meals that has an impact on her health. I take all her meds up water bottles and a few snacks. But she has to wait even an hour or 2 later for a meal that could land her in hospital because of low phosphates. Which did happen one time when she was in my sisters care. Then it makes me look like a shitty parent when it could have been avoided.

That was one of the first comments on the thread.
8 pages later most on this thread seem to agree with me.
So.... whatever 🙄

You clearly have no idea.

I eat when i am seriously ill

Smoking is an addiction - People will still smoke even if very ill