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A and E nuisance calls

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By *ssex_tom OP   Man
over a year ago

Chelmsford

The Welsh have published a report saying that 1 in 4 calls for an ambulance are time wasters. These ambulance and paramedic staff do a great job..

Examples were a paper cut and eating a mouldy tomato..

But if you can't access GP service then who are you gonna call?

Not Ghostbusters...

Sort out the frontline and take pressure of the Emergency line

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

They should call NHS 111 instead. They're the in between a GP and Ambulance and it cuts out the waiting around A&E if you don't need it. I often find 111 much better than GPs, in my experience anyway.

I can ring them and be treated within an hour. With the GP I'm waiting 6 weeks just to see them.

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By *ove2pleaseseukMan
over a year ago

Hastings

GP is broken by me for an appointment you have to call befor 8 for something the same day.

When you tell them it can wait they say there are know aappntments pro call tomorow. start work at 7.30 so just don't go any more

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By *sianmale89Man
over a year ago

Stockport

Sadly this does not surprise me, most people who ring up legitimately do need help from A&E and require their services for emergency scenarios and situations which occur in this unpredictable life...

And yet there is also a large percentage who abuse and time waste their services and it also applies to all emergency services experiencing the same idiotic behaviour off like minded people every day..

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By *emma HoldenTV/TS
over a year ago

Ramsey

Don't keep ringing then Tom, behave yourself son.

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By *rMrs_CCouple
over a year ago

Plymouth


"They should call NHS 111 instead. They're the in between a GP and Ambulance and it cuts out the waiting around A&E if you don't need it. I often find 111 much better than GPs, in my experience anyway.

I can ring them and be treated within an hour. With the GP I'm waiting 6 weeks just to see them. "

Problem is, 111 is not medically trained. They have quadrupled our workload. We got sent to a lady who had a mild reaction to her eyelash glue?!?!

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By *pursChick aka ShortieWoman
over a year ago

On a mooch

The examples just go to show that some people really can’t think for themselves

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I was a paramedic for over 20 years in two services. In that time, amongst other LOB calls, I got sent to - broken fingernail, toothache, ran out of tampons, shaving rash and pissed people who were nothing more than just pissed. I once made the suggestion that the ambulance patient report form should have a box at the bottom - "in my professional opinion, this patient did or did not warrant an emergency ambulance". The same question at the bottom of the A&E prf - two "did nots" and send them a bill. They never implemented my suggestion. People who do this know exactly what their "rights" are.

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By *ouple in LancashireCouple
over a year ago

in Lancashire

It's the same in the other blue light services, massively frustrating and a waste of resources even with control ing out a lot of them..

Education helps but lot of cut backs to such things..

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By *ouple in LancashireCouple
over a year ago

in Lancashire

Weeding out..

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By *ssex_tom OP   Man
over a year ago

Chelmsford

What should be done to these time wasting buggers ?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"They should call NHS 111 instead. They're the in between a GP and Ambulance and it cuts out the waiting around A&E if you don't need it. I often find 111 much better than GPs, in my experience anyway.

I can ring them and be treated within an hour. With the GP I'm waiting 6 weeks just to see them.

Problem is, 111 is not medically trained. They have quadrupled our workload. We got sent to a lady who had a mild reaction to her eyelash glue?!?!

"

Luckily I've only ever had positive experiences with 111. Never needed an ambulance sent out when ringing 111 but you can get a timed appointment. I've had to ring before for burst abdominal stitches and they told me to go straight in. Didn't require an ambulance but they did need sorted straight away.

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By *ssex_tom OP   Man
over a year ago

Chelmsford

And these time wasting buggers ?

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By *a LunaWoman
over a year ago

South

Sometimes it’s not what you think though. I work in care and sometimes (and I’m not excusing it) you have folk living at home alone who probably really shouldn’t be. They might be lonely, or they may have memory issues. Sometimes they dial the emergency services for a chat, because they can’t find their tv remote, or because they want to know what time their caters are coming.

It’s very sad. And I dare say extremely vexing for the call handlers etc. but it’s not always done maliciously. Some folk just don’t realise what they are doing.

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By *inky_couple2020Couple
over a year ago

North West


"They should call NHS 111 instead. They're the in between a GP and Ambulance and it cuts out the waiting around A&E if you don't need it. I often find 111 much better than GPs, in my experience anyway.

I can ring them and be treated within an hour. With the GP I'm waiting 6 weeks just to see them.

Problem is, 111 is not medically trained. They have quadrupled our workload. We got sent to a lady who had a mild reaction to her eyelash glue?!?!

Luckily I've only ever had positive experiences with 111. Never needed an ambulance sent out when ringing 111 but you can get a timed appointment. I've had to ring before for burst abdominal stitches and they told me to go straight in. Didn't require an ambulance but they did need sorted straight away."

111 round here will have you waiting many hours/days for a call back and it doesn't send you to a timed appointment because there aren't enough of them. The last time I called, I was told to go to the nearest urgent care walk in. They closed the walk in centre in our (very large) town so the nearest was 30min drive away. This was a Sunday evening so no public transport to that hospital campus and anyone without a car would have been paying about £20 each way for a taxi. Mr KC caught 2x buses to that hospital when I was an inpatient there a while ago and it took him over 2hrs, during the day. This is hardly easily accessible? And don't get me started on parking as a wheelchair user when most of the car park is cordoned off when it's "out of hours".

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By *ooo wet tight hornyWoman
over a year ago

lancashire

My friends daughter works taking the 111 calls...she's not medically trained at all and reads from a script that covers the ailments she enters. More 'NHS Walk in Centers' are needed to take the pressure off A+E, we have 1 here in Blackpool and it also has a X Ray department, they did have 1 in Yorkshire where I used to live...they closed it as it was too busy??...and yes that is the correct reason why...shocking!!

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By *a LunaWoman
over a year ago

South


"...they closed it as it was too busy??...and yes that is the correct reason why...shocking!! "

The mind boggles doesn’t it.

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By *ooo wet tight hornyWoman
over a year ago

lancashire


"And these time wasting buggers ?"

Charge them for wasting valuable NHS time.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"They should call NHS 111 instead. They're the in between a GP and Ambulance and it cuts out the waiting around A&E if you don't need it. I often find 111 much better than GPs, in my experience anyway.

I can ring them and be treated within an hour. With the GP I'm waiting 6 weeks just to see them.

Problem is, 111 is not medically trained. They have quadrupled our workload. We got sent to a lady who had a mild reaction to her eyelash glue?!?!

"

Oh ffs. Meanwhile my old man with chest sepsis was left at home for 5 hours waiting. When he did get taken he ended up in resus. Because he lives in a nursing home and one of the nurses made the call it was a cat 3 instead of 1/2. Complained to SCAS and got told “operational pressures”.

It’s a sorry state of affairs at the min.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I can only speak for cornwall but the govt closed and downsized all our hospitals and made them “cottage hospitals” for the elderly which is needed yes but then there’s now only one major ED for the whole of cornwall from lands end to Bodmin (though I think people up that north go to deriford)

They need to ship the elderly bed blockers out to these cottage hospitals re open smaller ED units like Penzance and then having more beds in the main hospital reduces the waiting times and pressure on ED.

My last admission I was in ED for 16/17 hours before a bed came up. That was nothing apparently. I was there longer than the staff on shift lol

I don’t know what the answer is nationally but there’s a care crisis which is a bigger issue than covid but they won’t talk about that.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago


"The Welsh have published a report saying that 1 in 4 calls for an ambulance are time wasters. These ambulance and paramedic staff do a great job..

Examples were a paper cut and eating a mouldy tomato..

But if you can't access GP service then who are you gonna call?

Not Ghostbusters...

Sort out the frontline and take pressure of the Emergency line"

Surely no one needs medical help for a paper cut or eating a mouldy tomato !

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Some.people unfortunately just don't know what qualifies as an emergency, and unfortunately these are often younger people. The culture of immediate gratification is really strong, and few people know enough about their bodies work and what A&E can actually do, hence calling an ambulance for something that seems really trivial.

The lack of a viable alternative to A&E is an issue, but ultimately people know that they can go to A&E and it's a one-stop shop where they will get x-rays and bloods (not that everyone needs them, though god help you if you try to explain why a stubbed toe doesn't actually need an x-ray...), whereas most people won't get those through their GP. So the alternative.is to reorganise the system, but there's no money or will to do that...

So blaming a very, very small proportion of daft calls is one thing, but that doesn't help the bigger issues.

G

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

If GP appointments were easier to get this would probably help massively.

However there seems to be a lack of common sense too.

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