Waited over 90 mins with no triage at Plymouth a&e with swollen lip from allergy

[HeBeaverandSheBeaver]

All the advise online is this is a real Emergancy and 111 was to get seen asap. This isn’t good enough. Lucky I had the foresight to stuff 3 antihistamine down my neck before I got there but they didn’t know that. Know one asked. The system is truly broken.
is it unreasonable to call a ambulance next time. I carry an EpiPen

Did you use your EpiPen? If you aren’t in anaphylaxis then it’s not an accident or an emergency.

No you don't call ambulance for a swollen lip. And it wouldn't make you get seen any quicker. In fact they'd probably decline to send one in a reasonable time unless it started to affect your breathing.

I'm sorry for you having to wait but there must be others with more serious illnesses in front of you.

Did you actually use your epipen or just pop a few tablets? Sorry if I am being thick, but if you carry an epipen and had an allergic reaction but didn't actually use the epipen then the surely that means the reaction wasn't that bad?

Calling an ambulance doesn't get you seen any faster. You can sit in the ambulance waiting for hours for a bed, if there's someone more urgent inside ahead of you. If you're fit enough to drive to A&E then why would you waste NHS resources?

I've been to A&E three times this year. Once for bleeding in the mouth that wouldn't stop (rushed in by my dentist after 6 bits of dental gauze failed), twice with a relative for heart related issues. All three times either me or the relative were seen within 5 minutes and triaged.

That's how triage works. The system isn't broken. You just weren't a priority.

If you can breathe then you're not an emergency. When my daughter's allergies flared up and her eye or lip would swell, I just filled her with antihistamines and kept an eye on it. I think you know when it's a hospital job.

When you arrived did you clearly tell them that you carry an EpiPen and this was an allergic reaction? Why did you take antihistamines if you carry an EpiPen for this reaction? Did you need treatment once you were see ? I wonder if it was an emergency would ordinary antihistamines do the job sufficiently untreated time you got to hospital? Just questions as I don’t think it’s clear in your op.

You could contacts PALS if you are unhappy, but I disagree with your poll. My DH was on A&E yesterday and he no sooner sat down then he was called through and treated immediately due to the severity of his symptoms. My DS had an as-yet-undiagnosed Asthma attack and arrived by ambulance and was triaged and treated immediately.

An ambulance will not move you to the top of the queue. Sounds like you had a relatively minor reaction that did not require the use of a Epi-pen. I would imagine that if you had required the Epi pen that you would have been triaged differently or if your reaction had got worse you would have gone back to triage.

🤔 At some of the answers here.

NHS guidance TELLS YOU to call 999 if you have a swollen lip and have used your
EpiPen.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/anaphylaxis/

Ignore the ignorant and dangerous posts in here @HeBeaverandSheBeaver and hope you get seen very soon.

Except op took 3 antihistamines and hasn't confirmed if she actually administered the epi pen...

I'm allergic to guinea pigs and nuts. Epi pen for accidental ingestion of nuts as anaphylactic reaction likely. Accidental guinea pig contact requires antihistamines for swollen eyes, lips etc but I wouldn't present to A&E expecting to be seen for a reaction unrelated to nuts.

Op self-medicated and no further symptoms developed. No reason to be in A&E...

Yes I used the EpiPen. It continued to swell for 3hours post antihistamine which is why I went to hospital after calling 111. My gp told me to ring an ambulance last time it happened six months ago but after driving in and parking and then waiting 90 mins it had started to subside. However surely on arrival at triage I should be in and assessed straight away.

Voted by accident. Don't like the simple phrasing. The NHS is not completely broken, parts are amazing, but A & E (and Elderly Care) seem to be barely coping.

There does seem to be a problem with getting priority triage - especially if you are advocating for yourself. A panicky relative saying "Severe allergic reaction, EpiPen used but still progressing. . . " might have got you assessed quicker . . . Glad that you had the antihistamines and are ok . . .

I don't know why people are giving you a hard time. The whole point of triage is to do it quickly to be able to prioritize cases. It taking 90 minutes to even decide which cases need to dealt with urgently is mental.

The NHS is broken. I'd call an ambulance next time, i certainly wouldn't drive if there was risk of anaphylaxis

I sat in Plymouth A&E for 6 hours after TIA. It was horrific and very upsetting.

I wonder if the ambulance would have got to you any quicker?
This must feel very scary. I must say, antihistamine is a first line response in my house. Just in case it helps!

How are you feeling now?

I agree you are getting a hard time, you absolutely should have been triaged pretty much straight away, they could have sign posted you to other services if not an A&E job

have they given a reason why you haven’t been triaged yet?

So you had a swollen lip, took 3 antihistamines, waited 3 hours then called 111 who told you to go to A+E where you failed to tell staff on reception about the antihistamines, have now remembered you also administered your EpiPen, and then waited 90 minutes to be triaged? What happened after that?

I think some people have misunderstood.

Triage should be very quick otherwise how do they know who is a priority or not! That's the whole point of triage! A 90 minutes wait is ridiculous. Did you chase them up or just sit and wait? I would assume that there had been an oversight rather than that's standard procedure.

That's not true. Not everyone with anaphylaxis will have problems with their airways or breathing. Anaphylaxis can involve one or all of airways, breathing and circulatory system. Some of us go straight to our blood pressure crashing.

@HeBeaverandSheBeaver you absolutely should not have driven yourself. Your allergy plan should be clear that if you use your EpiPens that you must call an ambulance.

Of course you should uave been treated with more urgency but people are dying in corridors

She didn't remember she now used an epipen. She confirmed she did.

Derriford Hospital is shit. Have been to A & E several times with my elderly mum.

25 hours on a trolley after she had a heart attack, then on a respiratory ward for 16 days because there were no beds in cardiology.

Sent home another time after we'd been waiting in A & E for 6 hours. They "diagnosed" heart burn. Took her home where she had 2 massive seizures. Absolute joke.

If you were IN A&E though, where they could get a doctor to you in seconds if you deteriorated, had just driven and were breathing ok, I'm not quite sure what the rush was? I mean sure if you'd been at home, at least some minutes from A&E even by blue light plus however long it took the ambulance to finish a job and get to you, the defo you should have been the next job...

So A&E should triage based on when people fall to the floor unconscious? What if someone is quietly sitting there having a stroke?

I'd disagree that Derriford is bad @FatLarrysBanned . I've seen more of the place than I like to remember and they've saved my DH's life on several occasions.