What is A & E actually for

[Top totty]

I have just spent 3 hours in A & E for my son to be seen with a fractured ankle and came away shaking my head.

The amount of people in there for the most minor of things. Why would anyone want to spend a morning sat around with a nose bleed that had stopped bleeding by itself. Even worse was the fact they had arrived in an ambulance.

Why do parents take children to A & E with a cough.

Why do people expect to be seen the minute they walk through the door and then spend half the time asking the check in lady how long they will have to wait.

So many questions but I just think people are treating A & E as one big joke. 

[smudge]

I know how frustrating it is Top Totty - been there, seen it all, etc......!

I think the trouble is, some people just can't seem to get an appointment with their own GP these days & in some cases have to wait up to a week or more! I do believe that's why most people end up going to A&E for treatment or just 'peace of mind'! Sad but true!

[desertrat]

With a free health service people will abuse it. It's a fair point from smudge about not getting a GP appointment. You might have to wait 3 hours but it might seem better than waiting 3 days. The most amazing one my wife told me was when an ambulance arrived to deliver a boy who had a verruca! The doctor managed to retain his temper and suggest that since it was neither an accident nor an emergency perhaps they would be good enough to wait for a GP appointment.

[Peter Pedant]

I am sorry that the lad had a fracture and I trust it is now set and on the mend - also that he had had good pain relief.

why do people clutter up A + E with trivia? I think the answer is that they cannot get seen quickly by their GP. Next day appt seems the norm, some do two days.

and er, Desertrat the NHS is not free - it costs about 90 billion a year - and straight from your txes. It is just free at the point of delivery.

[natalie_1982]

My original doc's surgery, you have to wait a min of four to five days to be seen if you want to be seen by your own GP.  If you're happy to be seen by other doc/ nurse then you may be able to get in the following day.

[Top totty]

I agree but lets be honest, how many of the people sat in a Doctors waiting room really and truely need to be there. ??? Yes I know a lot might need a Doctor but I still can't understand people going to the Docs with a cold, cough etc unless they have some other problem that a cough might really make worse. Would anyone actually go anywhere but their own bathroom with a nosebleed.

I avoid the Docs and hospital at all costs but I know we are all blessed to be in very good health.

[Quizmonster]

I recently read a suggestion that the sign above the entrance to A & E departments should be changed from 'Accident & Emergency' to 'Death's Door'. Seemed like a good idea to me!

[smudge]

Nice one Q!

[cassimer]

With less and less surgerys offering an on call service through the night and weekends, worried parents and those with worrying yet minor conditions will then inevitably end up in A&E. As said before, its as much a symptomof a troubled general practice as hypochondriac patients.

[tracymort]

That's what NHS Direct is for!
There just appears to be alot of stupid people out there.

[Little Lady]

I guess it must be because people can't be seen quick enough by their own GP's, my surgery recently, well in the last year, have set up a system where as you cannot prebook appointments except for certain things(being ladies ahems) and you ring up on the day, as so many people don't bother to turn up to their appointments. I always get in now when i need to, i just ring up first thing and fandabbydossey im in, shame they don't do this with all surgerys it would save alot of wasted time and money.

[magicdice]

if you can't be bothered to make a doctor's appointment, just go to A & E at 2am, it's empty. or you could just get over it...

[Sausagegirl]

Just to reply to TracyMort's answer further down, NHS Direct should actually be named NHS Redirect because 9 times out of 10 when you ring them they just say "Call an ambulance" which kind of defeats the whole point.

The creation of NHS Direct has actually increased the workload of the ambulance service by 20% because the nurses are reading from a comupter crib sheet rather than making their own clinical decisions.

Sorry to rant. Hubby's a paramedic.