What is the check-in process in your local a & e after being advised by 111 to attend.

[Oliviajoseph]

Just had a 111 experience with my 9 month old. Was advised to attend A&E. Going back to a previous incident, when we attended a&e, the receptionist asked us to check-in using one of the IPADs located in the waiting room. I said we were told to attend by 111 and was still told to check-in using the IPAD. On the IPAD, I pretty much repeated what was discussed with the 111 advisor plus there were a few extra questions about benefits, marital status of the child (thought this was weird but please enlighten me with the rationale) if the child attends nursery etc.
So now with this very recent 111 advisor, I asked if they can transfer the information they have just collected from me to A&E so i dont have to spend 10-15 minutes with an unwell baby at the IPAD screen, repeating his entire medical history. This is after driving to A&E and somehow parking and getting to the deartment, so we are talking minimum 45 minutes all together before we can officially begin to wait to be seen by anyone. Already spent 25 minutes going through 111 at home, but sometimes longer. Anyway, the 111 advisor said they can't communicate the information to A&E and that I'll have to follow whatever the check-in process is at the local A&E, I.e. repeat everything using the IPAD.
Is this how it is normally ? I find it weird that a GP can inform A&E that you're coming but a 111 advisor can't even though they are advising us to go to A&E. And will it be any different if you were to ring 999?

If you were to just walk in with a sick child, on your own, without going through 111, what is the procedure at your local a&e ?
Is there a person who checks you in or are you typing in to an IPAD ?

I like to think that if I were to walk in with a seriously unwell child, who requires time sensitive care, a medical team would come running in like on the TV shows.

TIA

No. As my DD was technically a child (17), they put us straight on the list and we were seen pretty quick, then they sent us to paediatric A&E and wait very much longer there. But none of this iPad stuff and asking questions - this is a large London hospital and the waiting room was packed.

Currently on a paediatric ward after arriving at a&e at 10pm last night with suspected appendicitis. I didn't call 111, just drove to a&e. The receptionist took a brief summary of symptoms then sent us to the paediatric a&e where we were greeted by a nurse and straight into a cubicle where she did obs and took a history. Within 2 hours of arriving at the hospital we had been admitted to a private room on the paediatric ward and seen the paediatrician. Ds is now fast asleep after getting some pain relief - waiting on the morning to see what the plan is. Cannot fault our local hospital at all and currently feeling very grateful for the NHS!

It makes no difference whether you are brought in unconscious in an ambulance or brought in unconscious in your uncle's wheel barrow.

It’s really not the case, the ambulance drivers take you straight in where you are assessed skipping the a&e chairs. They don’t take you in and plonk you in a plastic chair.

it can still take a while to be fully assessed but you are on a bed and there are nurses around and you have pain relief and a closer eye on you.

Yep i think it probably varies by hospital whether you're triaged (and whether they have capacity to see you close to your appointment time - many don't)

They’re not ambulance drivers
being taken in by ambulance doesn’t mean you get seen more quickly though

My infant was taken by ambulance to hospital a couple of months ago and we were left in the paeds A&E waiting room (although it wasn’t very busy). So I don’t think an ambulance is always an automatic route to a bed.

At our hospital you still have to be triaged too and no information is passed on from 111 to A&E. Luckily triage is with a person rather than an iPad and didn’t take long (as long as there is not a large queue ahead of you). We then got sent to paediatric A&E and had to check in again.

I feel like with 111 and a child under 2 that you always get sent to A&E anyway just in case so you might as well just go directly.

Here, I would say that if 111 say "go to X clinic at X time" they have actually referred you for that appointment. In the same way as a GP could decide to refer you to a specialist. So they have entered onto a system that they talked to "Stichguru" about her problem (or her child's problem) of whatever and thought she needed seeing by a clinician. The clinician, or their secretary has agreed that this is a good idea and said we could see her at this location in 2 hours..." Then 111 have communicated this to Stichguru. If they say "go to A&E" this is just them telling you to go to A&E. It's not them "referring" you, it's simply giving you the instruction that attendance would be a good idea ... so they and A&E have no communication.

Not quite the same but I had cause to take my DC to Minor Injuries twice in a month - for unrelated reasons - a few weeks back. The first time 111 said we could go to Minor Injuries at the big hospital and they would give us ‘an arrival time’ but I said I’d prefer to attend the local one and they said that’s fine, just tell them we sent you.

The second time we were told to attend the local one and given an ‘arrival time’.

And actually it was quite different. The first time, even though 111 had told us to go we had to fill in a (paper) form and wait a couple of hours to be seen. The second time I gave his name and no further questions were asked. We were seen within 15 mins of our arrival time.

At our local a&e you check in with a real life person! Then triage in adults before being sent to either urgent care or join the masses for minors/majors. Paeds however is different. Straight to paeds a&e who are exceptional (three kids, with underlying immune issues. We’re there every winter).