Best A&E in London?

[wildsummerdreams]

Our daughter has been sick for the last couple of days with high temperature
(39) and it's not coming down even with paracetamol. We are very worried.

Last time we went to A&E at the Royal Free we had a horrible experience - it was a similar situation, she was very sick and we were made wait 4 hours and no attention.

Please can anyone recommend an A&E that actually works? We would consider private too. Thanks.

Kings is brilliant - whenever my kids have been seriously sick, they’ve been triaged and treated right away. The one time I brought a kid who wasn’t seriously sick (I couldn’t get an out of hours appt so they advised a&e), we weren’t seen for ages and I gave up.
Are there any other symptoms you are concerned about eg breathing, mottled skin, unresponsive etc? If not, agree your best bet is out of hours GP, ours is better than normal gp.

First off call 111 you might be able to get an appointment with OOH
Or call for a GP appointment first thing

But in regard to A&E the problem is they are being used with OOH or GP or minor injuries could be used so there are so many people.

Secondly you are triaged according to need, when DS had a non blanching rash from complications of scarlet fever we were seen straight away, own room and lots of doctors because he needed it (and was v v sick) the wait time for everyone else probably went up but he needed it.

When he broke his leg we were there for 6 hours and included a lot of waiting because though unpleasant it was not dangerous for him to wait

Your v sick is probably not a&e very sick

Get your child seen ASAP. A high temp that won’t come down is a sign of Kawasaki. Best to be safe than sorry. I really don’t understand people saying not to go to a&e.

Maybe you need to step back and look at why you automatically assume something so random.

A child who has a temperature is fighting an infection. The child has vomited. No other symptoms. Let's sensibly put 2 and 2 together. The child in all likelihood has a sickness bug. Which will pass.

I don't know why anyone would even contact 111 or the GP at that stage. Unless there is any reason to suspect something else or an underlying health condition then he really a sickness bug will pass.

GP, 111 or A&E - none of them will give a child any treatment. The advice is keep fluids up and wait and see.

Massive over reactions on this thread.

Just on the subject of temperatures, i have one child who just does not respond to paracetamol at all too. Its very weird.

We only discovered this when he was a baby and had tonsilitis, temp went up and stayed up and he was getting sicker and sicker. Despite giving him the Calpol as often as you can I had in the house, his temp went up over 40. Went to out of hours GP who sent us to A&E. Seen quite quickly there, they weighed him and gave him more paracetamol, Temp didnt budge. They started talking about admitting him, were preparing an ice bath. He was almost too hot to touch. A new nurse came in to give him more paracetamol, looked at the chart and realised he couldnt have more yet so said lets give him some ibuprofen instead ans do the alternating thing. Bang, within minutes, temp came down, skin went back to normal colour, he started laughing and playing. Oh, ok then, you can go home. It was almost embarrassing after all the drama.

Since then I've only ever given him ibuprofen for temp or pain (after trying paracetamol a few times again with no effect). He's utterly immune to paracetamol. So try both!

I dont think they have vomitted I think they are sick with a high temp

Oh maybe I misread.

OP did your child vomit or do you say sick to mean unwell?

Not that it matters, my advice would be the same, in fact I would be LESS llikely to visit a doctor or whatever if it was just a temperature.

flomper

That's also something parents can do at home before considering seeing medics.

I know, thats what I meant. Try ibuprofen as well as paracetamol before phoning out of hours, like I did.

All A&Es in London have waiting times. As someone said the ones rushed through (like DS2) are the ones with a complex medical need and who need instant hospitalisation.

Do you live in London or are you visiting? If you have a GP go to the GP or the out of hours GP. A high fever isn’t an emergency per se. She could have an infection and need antibiotics or it could just be viral. A fever doesn’t need A&E.

Maybe you waited because they had an emergency in, this causes delays. Or because you got triaged as not as urgent as other cases. If your child is that sick you’ll go to your nearest a&e.