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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that NHS Direct is a waste of time and government money?

63 replies

EightiesChick · 08/11/2008 23:15

I have rung them various times over the past few years, and have always ended up being told either a) that they can't help and I should make an appointment with my doctor, or b) some stuff from the internet that I could have found myself, and usually have while I'm waiting for them to ring back. It's supposed to cater for people who have a problem but aren't unwell enough to need a doctor or go to hospital, so why is it apparently impossible to answer that kind of query?

Tonight, I rang them because I have picked up a cough and realised, too late to go out and buy any honey and lemon, that it'll bother me in the night. Rang to ask whether I can safely take either of the cough medicines I have in the house. They eventually rang back and said that only a doctor can advise a pregnant woman on what to take (other than plain paracetamol) so I should make an appointment with my doctor. Hmmm, thinking of all the times I've got advice from pharmacists! Plus why couldn't they have told me in the first place they would not be able to help me?

OP posts:
LittlePeanut · 08/11/2008 23:20

Yes, very annoying for you.

I have phoned them a couple of times and they have helped me though.

Once was when my DH collapsed on the bathroom floor, hitting his head on the way, and ended up unconcious with his head bleeding. He did come round after about 20 seconds, and was wandering about being vague.

It just felt sort of wrong to phone an ambulance... a bit hysterical or indulgent.

So I phoned NHS Direct, and they said, hmmm, we're sending an ambulance!

cheesesarnie · 08/11/2008 23:21

ive always found them really helpful

Yurtgirl · 08/11/2008 23:23

I agree - Never of any use to me at all

I always get told go to docs tommorrow etc
Which of course I could have done in the first place

I think they are helpful in the case of a potential life threatening problem though - someone dithering about phoning 999 for instance

Botbot · 08/11/2008 23:23

I think it's great too. Though I was a bit when DP was having weird heart palpitations while recovering from the flu and they advised me to rush him to A&E, where they hooked him up to a heart machine and advised him to...

...drink less coffee.

Mind you, I'm glad they did.

freshprincess · 08/11/2008 23:24

Not U at all, I'm with you.
You spend half an hour giving them your complete life story, an hour waiting for them to call you back, another half an hour verifying your identity and repeating your life story and then they say they can't advise and you should see your GP.

What exactly is the point?

LaVie · 08/11/2008 23:25

OK first of all, you have a cough. i know you're pregnant but really, NHS Direct?

I rang 2 weeks ago because me and DH had had sickness and diarrhea. We were worried because late one night ds got quite loose stools and wasn't quite himself. I called nhs direct and a nurse called me back and asked a lot of questions.

Basically turns out ss was ok, if he had been complaining of anything we would have taken him to A&E.

I think you are taking the piss. You have a cough, it's not life threatening.

thumbwitch · 08/11/2008 23:25

no sorry, I can't agree - they were very helpful one Sunday when my Grandad was very ill. They asked very directed questions and concluded that a doctor needed to attend, which he did.

sleepyeyes · 08/11/2008 23:29

I understand their limitations is frustrating. But for my DH and I its our only access to medical care and advice due to all the doctors surgeries being full and unable to take on new patients.

edam · 08/11/2008 23:29

Entirely sensible for a pregnant woman to ask NHS Direct about medicine use. That's the sort of thing NHS Direct is (supposedly) there for.

Sadly they do sometimes bring to mind a device for making cups of hot liquid constructed from Cadbury's finest...

edam · 08/11/2008 23:30

sleepy, have you contacted your local primary care trust? If you are in England, your PCT has a legal responsibility to ensure you can register with a GP.

ClaireDeLoon · 08/11/2008 23:31

I find them very helpful - I turned over on my ankle a couple of months ago, it was very swollen and I couldn't put weight on it so I phoned NHS Direct, they said if you can't bear weight go to A&E. Turns out I had a broken foot. Before NHS Direct I would have just assumed a badly sprained ankle and waited for the swelling to go down.

And I have rung when DP was unwell and got put through to a nurse straight away - if the person you first speak to assesses the problem as needing immediate help they will put you through to a nurse straight away.

ihavenewsockson · 08/11/2008 23:31

YABU. i have found that they always take serious cases seriously.

LaVie · 08/11/2008 23:33

So use the internet!! Otherwise, yes you'll have to put up with a cough. You're the type who clutters up doctors surgerys for no reason

Original poster
EightiesChick · 08/11/2008 23:35

LaVie, isn't that what NHS Direct is supposed to be for, problems that are not in any way major, or even necessarily needing a doctor, but medical questions you want answered or advice on minor problems?

Their website says:
'We?re here for them whenever they have health worries and we have the knowledge and experience to give them real help and reassurance. '

I'd say that covers what I wanted to know. Pity they couldn't do what they say they are there to do.

I have to say, anyone who rings NHS Direct if they/family member are actually more than mildly ill is making a big mistake anyway, IMO. If I actually felt properly ill I would go to A&E. If it was minor I would go to a walk-in centre. And that's based on years of dealing with being seriously ill and seeing what all levels of the health service can do for you - which is usually that if you are more than moderately ill, the best place to go is hospital. I do expect, though, that a telephone based service ought to be able to deal with something like this. Asking me to get a doctor's appointment is a) impractical and b) a waste of the doctor's time too.

OP posts:
AuntieMaggie · 08/11/2008 23:38

Yep - I'd agree YABU

They have been a great help to me when I've needed them and a much needed support to my sister with issues with her DC.

If you are going to phone them to ask them about cough medicine then no they aren't going to be much help - the advice to see a doctor before taking the medicine was good advice as they can't check what they need to over the phone.

They can only do so much as they can't examine you.

TheCrackFox · 08/11/2008 23:39

My best mate works for NHS24 (the Scottish equivalent) and she says half her phone calls are about coughs, colds and vomiting etc. Can you imagine before NHS Direct started? GPs must have had to deal with such time wasters.

hollyandnoah · 08/11/2008 23:40

I thought that is what they were there for too. I feel sort of guilty about calling them now though.
I called them whem my ds was being sick so much it was coming out of his nose, it was a Friday night, they told me to keep an eye on his temp. On the Saturday night he had a fit and i called them back, waited about 20 minutes for a call back, and they told me that i was to make an appointment with my GP. I was terrified!
I am 22 and had my first child 10 months ago, so obviously i am new to being a mum and got quite scared when my ds was choking on sick and it was coming down his nose. They made me feel quite daft actually. When i went to see my GP, Wednesday was the first appointment i could get. He told me it was a bug and it wouldnt be his last. He had a fit because he got too hot he said. Nothing to worry about.

I think you were being very sensible calling them with you being pregnant. I wish they could be more helpful!!

Original poster
EightiesChick · 08/11/2008 23:41

Oh yes, LaVie, a missed case of a pulmonary embolism that nearly killed me is just one of the reasons I've "cluttered up doctor's surgeries for no good reason" over the years. Believe me, I have no wish to waste the time of doctors who ought to be dealing with the genuinely ill: I have been in that position in the past. That's why NHS Direct, under the terms in which it describes itself, should be able to help me with a question like this, when it's out of hours and I can't get to a doctor or pharmacist, and why I'm disappointed that it seems to be largely useless in those circumstances.

OP posts:
Anifrangapani · 08/11/2008 23:41

They have been great for us.... dc had a really bad cold, bit of a temperature and really heavy breathing. During the night her breathing was a bit more laboured. Dh rang them and they had a listen to her breathing. By the time he had finshed talking to him an ambulance was on the door step to take her to the hospital. Just as well as we most likely would have taken her to the doctors in the morning. If we had done that she would have been dead as her heart was stopping every 3rd or 4th beat.

It turned out she had a nasty viral infection that was doing the rounds at her school - there were 3 other kids from our village taken to hospital that night to be hooked up to ECGs and oxygen masks. All admitted after ringing NHS direct.

I have nothing but admiration for them - I owe them my dd's life

AuntieMaggie · 08/11/2008 23:42

What if they advised you to take the medicine and you had a reaction? I'm sure you'd be the first to complain then ! They don't have access to your medical history!

Are there no 24 pharmacies in your area that you could call instead? Or as someone already said use the Internet.

misselizabethbennet · 08/11/2008 23:51

I've found them quite helpful when DS was a baby, as I wasn't on mumsnet then!

Yes, with a baby they always defer to parents' instinct and err on the side of caution, but so they should. We've had several occasions where I am fretting and DH is saying 'everything's fine' and NHS direct were a big help.

LaVie · 08/11/2008 23:52

Oh purlease. Stop being a drama queen. Having a bit of a cough is slightly different to a pulmonary embolism. You wanted to have a right moan to someone and they quite rightly weren't having any of it.

You've obviously quite rightly wanted treatment for something serious and then thought ooh, I don't know how to nread a label on a bottle of cough syrup, best ring the nhs

SlartyBartFast · 08/11/2008 23:53

exactly, pharmacies are an underused resource. not so sure about nhs direct but they are a good backup when you really don't know what to do, they tend to suggest gp/a & E when you are dithering, or to wait a while. again when you are dithering. you can use the internet but thye are a good voice

SlartyBartFast · 08/11/2008 23:54

but cough medicine?? that surely coudl wait.

smurfgirl · 09/11/2008 00:03

I always under rated them but rang once in a bit of a state because I knew I needed to go to A&E for a cut I had but was v.reluctant. The guy on the phone was really lovely to me and said I could ring back whenever to ask for him, he was very understanding and talked to me for about 15 minutes and persuaded me to go to A&E.