Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending A&E for a couple of hours,
(Long story, I'm fine-ish)
While I was there i managed to indulge in one of my favourite pleasures in life, people watching, or more accurately, idiot watching.
(I live in East London, it is a hobby I can indulge in frequently, the idiot to norm ration is off the scale) What started off with just a passing interest in my fellow attendees of A&E soon turned into frustration beyond belief and a part understanding of why the NHS is in trouble.
People are idiots.
Firstly, may I remind you of what A&E stands for?
ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY.
So if for example you have been to the doctor in the morning and the doctor thinks you have a grumbly appendix or an ovarian cyst, then yes, go on down.
If you have been juggling chainsaws and you lose concentration for a couple of seconds and one saws off a finger or two, I am sure that your local A&E will be more than welcoming.
If you have a sore throat however, I don't blame the receptionist for looking as if she would like to give you a real reason to be in A&E. After a couple of hours in the waiting rooms even a mild-mannered, calm person like myself
(Oh ssssshhhhh, my blog, my rules) can be driven to handing out chainsaws and yelling, "Amuse me, Bitch"
I genuinely saw a man in his early twenties, bowl up to the receptionist and when he was asked what the problem was, said, IN A NORMAL voice, "I have a sore throat" I admire the receptionists restraint as I think if I was in her shoes twenty seconds later he would have had a genuine complaint of a sore throat where I would have strangled him. She calmly directed him to the walk-in centre to which his only reply was, "Nahhhh, I just thought I'd get seen quicker here"
Dude, it's A&E, not a fast pass at Disney!!!!
One thing I see every time I have to visit A&E is baby with a temperature, it happens, I have been there myself, we have all heard about febrile convulsions and when we can't get our baby's temperature down, it is scary. you want to get your baby cool and comfortable. So why the hell do you bring your fever-ridded offspring to the hospital wrapped in more blankets than an egyptian mummy while either squeezing it close to your chest, FULLY-CLOTHED may I add, or in a car seat, covered in sodding more blankets?
Again, receptionist, I applaud your restraint today when pointing out to the couple with the "hot baby" "Of course it is bloody hot, you have him fully clothed and wrapped in two blankets, I am hot just looking at him, strip him"
The other wonder of A&E that I noticed yesterday that a Dr has the magical powers to heal limps, Three people came in while I was there, all dragging a leg and wincing as if they were smuggling razorblades in one shoe, and yet ALL of them left after Triage, un-bandaged, and NOT LIMPING anymore. Screw Lourdes, we should send everyone to a Triage nurse. If all they wanted was a cuddle and reassurance it wasn't broken
(Are cuddles available on the NHS?) couldn't they have got that elsewhere? and if they felt the need to exaggerate their injury in the first place, common sense tells me that it wasn't that bad to begin with.
Meanwhile I am behind these idiots in the queue and am seriously fighting the urge to give them something to queue up again with.
There were coughs, sneezes, a child zipping around the waiting area so fast and so loudly that I assumed his mother was the patient and had had no other option but to bring her child, but alas no, they called the boys name and the mother who had previously been ignoring her child's destructive and loud behaviour suddenly became No 1 contender for the Mother of The Year awards, (
If she could have walked in breastfeeding him just to show how much she truly cared for him, I fear she would have)
and I am behind these idiots.
Eventually I was seen, but the delay due to people just clogging up the A&E unnecessarily was obvious.
The only ray of light was when a nurse came out and called for "Gaynor, Gloria Gaynor?"
(At first I was afraid......)
But it drove me insane and I am sure it drives the receptionists, doctors and nurses insane on an hourly basis. I raise my glass to their restraint.
What do you think?
Are more and more people abusing the A&E?
Have you seen people going to A&E for something ridiculous, like a sore throat or worse?
What's the worst thing you have seen someone go to A&E for?
Or even, do you think that is what the A&E is there for and they should just get on with it?
Let me know.
Big Fashionista x x x