Does anyone know what time of day is usually the quietest in A & E?

[bodiddly]

DS hurt his arm/shoulder earlier today when he fell off a stool but it doesn't appear swollen or dislocated. We have given him calpol and decided that if he wakes up in the night in a lot of pain or is still complaining in the morning then we may take him to A&E. Is first thing in the morning usually the quietest time as we don't want to make him sit there in pain for hours if at all possible? He has gone to sleep ok but has obviously been in pain today at times. It is difficult to tell whether there is anything wrong though as there are times when he is brave and brushes off falls etc and other times he is a total wimp when he sees a minor scratch or spot on his leg!

over a Bnak Holiday weekend I think first thing in the morning would be okay.
Very early mornings will be full of lads with alcohol poisoning probably !

Imagine they would prioritise a child anyway, so probably wouldn't make you wait for too long. Our A&E has a special children's section, with their own waiting room, which makes it less scary for them, and means that they are seen more quickly. Maybe yours will too!

was planning on going as soon as he wakes up if he is still in pain. I am sure they will say all is well but my gut instinct says we should get it checked out. He has cried A LOT today and that isn't really like him! I don't think there are any NHS walk in centres nearby .. how would I find out?

Around 9 a.m.
Too early for people to have had DIY accidents etc and too late for the ravers/drinkers

hard to say though
we went early yesterday- well 9 am - but it was too early for the doctors! plenty of nurses around but we had to wait 3 hours to see a doctor - all for a bit of glue for a cut. the extra doctors didn't arrive on shift til 10am, before that was skeleton staff

phone nhs direct and they can tell you your local options...or phone out of hours doctor for same info....

also check with NHS that you don't have a closer minor injuries place - ours does X-rays and the queues are far shorter (apols if you know whether you have one or not....I didn't realise how much they could do at minor injuries till quite recently!).

i would imagine they will have a look at it (not that there is anything immediately visible) and maybe x-ray.

I would just take him if you are worried, they prioritise children and most a&e departments have a separate area for children.

My dd (aged 3) fell off a chair on the first day of the summer holidays and made more of a fuss than she would usually - a trip to a&e the nest morning showed that she had broken her collar bone. The nurses kept asking if she had done it within the past 24 hours, so not sure if that is relevant?

omg cravingchocolate, is she ok? ... ds is 3.5 and was standing on his stool this morning trying to persuade our cat to get off the work top - he was so busy laughing he forgot he was up on the stool and just stepped off into fresh air and fell off. He took ages to calm down and was upset again later today after a nap. I guess I figured he was over-reacting a bit but am now starting to have second thoughts.

I have been to A&E too many times to recount (sigh) and always found late morning a quiet time. Don't worry too much about leaving it more than 24 hours. When my ds2 broke his leg (aged 17 months) I did not realise for more than a day and my ds1 has broken his arm three times and, because the first time was very serious and required an operation, he assumed all breaks would require an op and was so scared, he did not even tell me his arm hurt for over a day the second time he broke it!

i have been before with dd about 10pmish and we were seen very quickly even though waiting room was quite busy... but they do like to see children quickly at night i suppose it is not the most pleasant place at night time..

hope all is well

On call GP would be my first stop, ours usually take your number and a GP calls you back so you would get advice on A&E from them. A&E will make him wait regardless of age if he is not in danger of deteriating. DD (when she was only 21m) waited 5 hours with a 2 inch cut on her forehead after a fall, not allowed anything to eat or drink in case of a GA being needed. It was hell on earth for all of us in that waiting room

I hope he is OK in the Morning

ok, will definitely take him unless he magically wakes up with it all better. he is asleep at the moment though so unless he wakes up in pain I think I will leave him be until the morning! fingers crossed all is well but you have all got me worried now!

We actually took her in when she woke up and was still complaining about her shoulder hurting, very out of character for her. I would just take him tbh, you will be worrying about it anyway and if he is anything like my dd's he will see it as an adventure - it is worse for us as parents!

She is absolutely fine thanks, actually she was fine at the hospital - her sister and her had a fight over who was going to go on the rocking horse in the waiting room! She is a tough little thing and we were seen very quickly and back on the beach within 2 hours,(we were on holiday in Cornwall) She had to wear a sling for a couple of weeks, but it was more to remind her to be careful then for anything else. A check up 10 days later showed that it had healed perfectly and she has not mentioned it since.

she how he goes dd had twisted her ankle on her scooter... went to bed but woke and hour later in pain screaming so i took her...
I think he will wake if in pain

Ringing up your local A&E before going is a good idea, especially if you have already left it for a while and can keep your son quiet and happy at home.

We have a children's hospital near us and once had to take ds3 in following post-op problems (I told you I have been to A&E too many times!) It happened to be a Saturday night and I thought it would be a quiet time for a children's hospital, ie no drunks such as you would find in a general hospital. Turned out that half of Bristol's children had a stomach bug and there were children everywhere being sick! We couldn't really not go, given ds3's problems, but it might help you to make up your mind when is a good time.

tmmj - wishful thinking of me to hope that that was in barnet hospital A&E .. but somehow I doubt it!

I could have guessed as much!

have you got a gp out of hours service? i rang ours this morning as i suspected ds had impetigo (i was right...), & they told us to come in straight away, saw a dr who agreed with me & straight out again with a prescription. fantastic service. we also recently had a very good experience at moorfields (ds again. & he's my sensible one ), in & out within an hour, fast-tracked as under 16. i rang moorfields before i took him in & they gave good advice over the phone so that's worth doing as well.

Hi,

You asked earlier about finding Walk-In centres. here is a link to help although it seems to be malfunctioning ATM.

TBH if there is a local walk-in centre I would favour that for 2 reasons. 1. the wait tends to be shorter as has already been pointed out. Secondly A&E is supposed to be for acute emergencies. As this is not a totally fresh injury it would be classed as less of an emergency IYSWIM.