The Student Room Group

Did I waste Accident and Emergency's time??

Have been really unwell for the past week, extreme headaches, painful and stiff neck, nausea, lethargy, fatigue etc. Saturday night I got really bad with a very high temperature so Sunday morning my mum rang 111. 111 sent my details to an out of hours GP who would ring us to get an appointment, however the GP did not feel it was appropriate as I have all the symptoms of meningitis. We were told an ambulance was being sent.

Paramedics arrived, did my blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. ECG was slightly abnormal and I didn't have sepsis so they said they'd take me to the local hospital via ambulance as they couldn't treat me at home. I was completely out of it and in lots of pain, can barely remember but felt like I was wasting emergency services time at this point already because I wasn't dying or anything you know...

Got to A&e, they took some blood and did some other tests, put a cannula in in case I needed IV painkillers and gave me some strong medication for the pain I was in. I basically just lay on the bed in a&e for 2 hours, sleepy as anything and with my jumper over my eyes because the light was hurting my head.

Consultant saw me after 2 hours, confirmed it was not bacterial meningitis but viral, so sent me home and advised me to rest, take ibuprofen and try and eat and drink.

Feel like I wasted their time and can't stop beating myself up about it - did I?

While I was lying in the cubicle i overhead a nurse talking about one woman who had collapsed and called an ambulance to get to a&e and she was saying that this woman had wasted their time and didn't need an ambulance... pretty sure I didn't either and i keep feeling so guilty about it all.
No meningitis is very serious so it’s better to be safe than sorry. It also sounds like you didn’t send for the ambulance so how could it possibly be your fault. Anyway get well soon
Original post by Anonymous
Have been really unwell for the past week, extreme headaches, painful and stiff neck, nausea, lethargy, fatigue etc. Saturday night I got really bad with a very high temperature so Sunday morning my mum rang 111. 111 sent my details to an out of hours GP who would ring us to get an appointment, however the GP did not feel it was appropriate as I have all the symptoms of meningitis. We were told an ambulance was being sent.

Paramedics arrived, did my blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. ECG was slightly abnormal and I didn't have sepsis so they said they'd take me to the local hospital via ambulance as they couldn't treat me at home. I was completely out of it and in lots of pain, can barely remember but felt like I was wasting emergency services time at this point already because I wasn't dying or anything you know...

Got to A&e, they took some blood and did some other tests, put a cannula in in case I needed IV painkillers and gave me some strong medication for the pain I was in. I basically just lay on the bed in a&e for 2 hours, sleepy as anything and with my jumper over my eyes because the light was hurting my head.

Consultant saw me after 2 hours, confirmed it was not bacterial meningitis but viral, so sent me home and advised me to rest, take ibuprofen and try and eat and drink.

Feel like I wasted their time and can't stop beating myself up about it - did I?

While I was lying in the cubicle i overhead a nurse talking about one woman who had collapsed and called an ambulance to get to a&e and she was saying that this woman had wasted their time and didn't need an ambulance... pretty sure I didn't either and i keep feeling so guilty about it all.


No, you did 100% the right thing. 111 and then the GP correctly decided you needed to go to hospital because it could have been very serious. The symptoms are very similar and there's absolutely no way of knowing without having those tests done in A+E. It's much better for the health service for you to get the help and attention you need straight away so it can be dealt with rather than waiting till you're critically ill!
Nahhh - don't know about the case the nurses were discussing, could've been someone faking symptoms for the attention for all we know.
Reply 4
Okay so I did a whole thing and then it got all messed up so here's me scrapping it back together...

You did not waste time.
You followed the advice of a medical professional who thought you needed immediate attention. Even if you didn't, that call was on them so it's not something for you to feel guilty for.
Sounds like you had symptoms that could have been something very serious. They can't tell what it is without checking you out. You ended up being fine, but you could have also been very seriously ill. Better for you and them for it to be nothing serious and you be on your way than it be something very serious that wasn't noticed until late on and you needing loads of complex care when it could have potentially been avoided by you being seen sooner.

There will always be nasty stuff going on at the same time, but that doesn't mean you don't have a good reason for being there.
I'm pretty sure at least one person died while I was in A&E once. It put things into perspective sure, but it didn't make why I was there any less important. I needed to be there and it sounds like you did too.
Some people will call ambulances for very stupid reasons when it's clear it wasn't needed, but this was not one of those times.

Glad you're okay. Never be afraid to get medical advice when you're not sure if something is serious. That's not something you're in the position to know. There's a big space between a waste of time and literally dying and medical professionals are there to work out what needs what attention and help as appropriate. You did the right thing. :smile:
(edited 6 years ago)
You followed the advice of a medical professional so don't stress. Someone who fainted once for a few seconds doesn't need urgent medical help clearly. If you have meningitis you could deteriorate in minutes so it was worth being safe.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending