i was feeling unwell so went to A&E was seen by a triage nurse told her my symptoms which were headache feeling sick slight chest pain neck pain she did my ops and an ECG and waited in triage. i have had angina and also a stent fitted a few years ago i waited for 4 hours seeing no one so decided to leave as the hospital obviously did not think it was serious i knew what was coming to take blood wait for another 3-4 and go home. am convinced they looked at my notes and saw i had been in a couple of times before with them finding nothing. i was polite and informed the nurse i was leaving. now i don't know what to do the doctor says nothing he can do as he is trying to control with meds. waiting to see the cardiologist for 18 months on the list. as the hospital does not seem to think it seriously. still have the same symptoms as typing this with no idea what to do... the hospital and ambulance staff are very busy i don't want to go thru them finding anything again i am 68 male and live alone.
waiting in triage: i was feeling unwell... - British Heart Fou...
waiting in triage
You could try 111. If they think your chest pain and neck ache sound as though it could be heart related they will get a doctor to ring you at home and if he thinks it necessary he will arrange for you to go to A and E.His notes will follow you .I do not think you can avoid the long wait in A and E while they do the necessary checks.
The blood test they probably were going to do was to check your troponin levels. It can only be done 8 hrs after onset of pain. That would be an indication if you need to see a cardiologist sooner, or meds or procedure. I know I hate that wait time. Maybe go back? Take care. Moni
Treponin is now done much more quickly. Mine was 2 hrs I think last time, though they have repeated mine a couple of times, so that took 4+ hrs, depending on how busy they were.
I had mine done three times when I went to A&E on Sunday. Discharged from the Coronary Care Unit on Tuesday...
Sorry but you should never have left!I went to the A & E in October, I got there about 2.30 pm on Monday, I had angina pain, I was seen throughout the night and had 2 x ECGs, blood tests and chest x ray. They kept telling me it was probably acid reflux. I insisted it was Angina.
I spent the night on a plastic mattress at the back of A & E and was eventually admitted to a ward exactly 24 hrs later. There were hours that no-one spoke to me and I had to go looking for a cup of tea in the morning.
On Friday I was taken to another hospital and had 2 stents fitted after drilling out my arteries.
A & E is what it is, you have to stick it out if you want something done, by leaving you will give them the impression you don't think it is serious!!
thanks for the input i understand what you are saying but i took it that after telling them my symptoms i waited 4 hours so my thinking is that they did not think it was serious.
The Cardiac Dr saw me on the ward on the Wednesday which was 2 days after I presented with Angina pain, she told me I would probably be tempted to discharge myself (which I was) but she said I would be mad to do that as if you go on a standard waiting list it could be months before you are seen.I KNEW I had Angina pain not acid reflux and was determined to stick it out to show them I was in a lot of discomfort.
As I said A & E is what it is and it is a waiting game, an ECG and blood test would show them you hadn't/were not having a heart attack and that is the priority.
I am not sure what other options you have but even though the way I was treated in A & e was dreadful IMHO in 5 days I had 2 stents fitted which did vindicate my determination to stay!
As an aside back in 2017 4 days after my first Angiogram I had a 'turn', I was working away and they called out the paramedics who said I was okay, a good friend and workmate told me he thought I had a stroke as he recognised the symptoms.
I phoned my sister and was taken home (wales) then went to the local hospital, I couldn't walk in a straight line, my eyes were looking wherever they wanted and my speech was slurred. I spent another night at the back of A & E having different tests throughout the night. again it took 24 hrs to be given a bed and after an MRI scan which showed I had had a stroke was transferred to a stroke ward at a different hospital.
As I said A & E is what it is, the trouble is to many people abuse it.
thanks again i should be strong i do suffer from depression and is difficult for me to be confrontational but should bite the bullet and not be soft thanks again
I too live alone and decided I had nothing better to do than stay there LOL. Also if anything had happened you would be in the best place.
I'm sad to say that my experiences of A&E are very similar to yours.
I am sorry you had that experience. The health service is a car crash now. I hope you are feeling better, and, if not, you get yourself back there and don’t let them gas light you into accepting their terrible behaviour.
I just had my horrible registrar doctor experience today after 65 weeks of waiting to speak with a gastroenterologist he fobbed me off on his registrar. She was a bully.
Have you/are you reporting the person for their behaviour?
I am writing a letter to both my Rheumy and the consultant who was supposed to speak with me and I will cc my GP. I am not sure what else I can do.
You can also contact the Patient Advisory Liaison Service of the hospital.
You can say how you were not treated with respect and dignity.
Good for you.I am glad you are taking the time to do this, hopefully the person will see the error of their ways. Bullying is unacceptable in all walks of life,
hi Jim.. did the triage nurse take blood?.. they would look for raised tropinin level.. if raised they would take another sample 3 hours later
no blood was taken nothing just information I was in triage for 2 hrs then moved to another waiting area for another 2 hrs that's why i thought they did not think it was serious
Hi Jim. I am sorry for your experience. I was taken to A&E by ambulance and waited over 6 hours to be seen and have blood test results. And then another few hours to the ward. I had suffered a heart attack. You were in the right place and waiting is part of life right now. I work in the NHS and understand peoples frustration. The drs and nurses do everything they possibly can but we really are still in unprecedented times. And the end is not as soon as people think. 111 will tell you to go back to A&E. Your GP will tell you to go to A&E. There is a new ad campaign on chest pain on tv telling you to phone 999 or go to A&E. If you feel like you do you are not a burden to the system but if you are in the department and it turns more serious you will be acted upon. I appreciate physically and mentally it’s tough for you. Take care and hope you get the right help and support you need. Chris
Jim, I know how depressing it can be to wait in A & E without being informed of what is happening or not happening, or given an expectation of how long you have to wait. But it IS the hospital and the A and E department where you WILL get sorted. I have read all the replies to your post and all are excellent. I accept you live with depression but I urge you to believe in yourself and know that you are an important person. I urge you to return to A and E and explain what happened. You have every right to know the expected waiting times for each procedure and you have every right to stand up and questions at the reception area, during the waiting period. Big yourself up Jim. And good luck.
Patience is a virtue where A and E is concerned. Our NHS is wonderful but it is underfunded and understaffed and abused. Unfortunately there are times when the waiting list is long and full of people at deaths door so the walking wounded are pushed to one side. Its a service I use as a last resort and if I am able I always make sure I take a book or something to keep me occupied for the long wait. I hope you get the answers you want soon regarding your symptoms.
Yes. You have to be patient! I’m so pleased you said this, Begsagogo! I just settle down and let them sort things out for me. At the stage I go to A and E I have no doubt I need all their skills and am there because they have knowledge I don’t have.
But they have a huge and growing open-ended demand. Partly, as you say, funding has got so bad, they just cannot even meet current demand, and now (partly because waiting lists are so long) more and more people are arriving even more seriously ill. Each one of us is competing for their attention there…..of course it should be triaged by seriousness, but I’ve been there often enough to see misuse, abuse and alcohol all play a big part in making the rest of us wait.
Oh I heartily agree Kristin. A and E has to offer so much more these days. Last time I was in A and E the lady in the bed next to me had advanced dementia and kept coming in to assist my nurse. It took one member of staff to keep an eye on her as she reigned havoc. Then you take out those with self inflicted alcohol/drug abuse and the savings would be huge but where do you draw the line ? What else do we do. I guess that's a conversation for another day.
Like you, i just have great respect for what they do, with inadequate staffing etc, A and E has always been a bit of a zoo here, but with these extra very difficult times, don’t know how they do it. Like managing your poor lady ‘helper’ with dementia, alongside everything else…..
The secret with A and E is to take a good book, it makes the time go faster.
thanks, guys but i was not criticizing the hospital staff god forbid they do a difficult job i understand that.. the point i was trying to make (poorly) after the triage and waiting. my depression kicked it, was thinking the hospital don't think this is serious i am hurting but maybe it's not so bad, so i questioned in my head am i wasting their precious time difficult to explain but that's why i made the decision to leave next time i will go thru 111 i sadly feel there will be the next time 😒
Thanks for the further information Jim1953, it is just a matter of not having enough money in the NHS though but the problem of getting the right staff.
My sister leads a mental health team in A & E, for a start they are 2 down (unable to recruit the right staff), add that on to isolation absences/sick leave and leave she ends up seeing patients as well as her management duties works over (already does 12 hour shifts with only a 30 mins break), gets asked to do extra shifts etc, she loves her job (and is very good at it) but quite rightly she has to ensure she has time to look after herself and her family as well.
I am full of admiration, as it something I couldn't clearly do.
Hi,
I have also been to A&E a few times with chest pain to be sent home hours later with it not being a heart attack, however, after waiting and thinking I was wasting their time again last time, it turned out I had had a heart attack.
They really should have told you what to expect. The person in charge of the ward told me what was happening and how long I would be roughly waiting until the next thing being done.
I don't know if there is still a shortage of vials for the blood tests but I think the one after 8 hours is the most important one as any elevation of Troponin at this point would indicate that something has happened. If you weren't in immediate danger they probably focussed their efforts on the people who were.
I hope everything is ok now, but don't hesitate to start the process off again if you're still in pain. They would much rather you did this than ignore any pain and not get the help you need.
Matt
Hello 
I know the procedure only to well , I had to go to A&E and through what you have explained 3 times which were heart attacks and a few false alarms
I really do not think even on my false alarms they are not taking it serious but the procedure does take time
My ECG'S always were ok only when they did the blood tests did it show up I had a heart attack so a good job I waited and had them done
A&E can sometimes be the only place that can tell us for sure if we have had a heart attack or not and I wished you had stayed and let them do the bloods
I know how it drags and not a nice experience sat around waiting but worth it if something was to be wrong
I suffer with anxiety , depression and agoraphobia so I really understand how difficult it is just getting me there is a nightmare literally but I take things with me to try and distract me as well as I tell them what my other issues are and could they help me as I am struggling ( which most of the time they can clearly see )
It feels like agony and tortue been totally out my comfort zone but I know I have to stick it out for my physical health and even though the experience for me is the worst I do it somehow and you can to
If you are still feeling unwell or you start getting anymore symptoms , go prepared for a wait but go and stay till they do what they need to do to make sure everything is ok
Don't think about what they are thinking which no doubt is not what our minds are telling us think about your health and staying safe that is the most important thing x
I had a heart attack in 2018; before the present mess. I was taken by ambulance at 10pm to A&E as paramedics were suspicious of my ECG and thought HA. However I wasn't sweating, grey and clutching my chest so I was shoved at the end of the line down a corridor with a locked door between me and A&E and, apart from a nurse taking my BP, was left there for 5 hours. I can't walk and had no wheelchair so couldn't even get to the loo. When the day staff came on I begged a passing nurse to get me to the loo. It was 8am before I was looked at and troponin done which confirmed HA and at 12 noon I was admitted and angiogram done first thing next morning. I wish I'd had someone with me who could have gone and asked what was happpening although they couldn't have got through the locked door.
Hi Jim, I have also attended A/E on two occasions with chest pain, two heart attacks in 2019 and stented, and still on the usual cocktail of medication. My last trip to A/E was 30 December last year, chest pain, breathless, clammy ,pale and tacycardic. Rang ambulance relayed my symptoms to the call handler who stated they were busy and be prepared for up to 2/3 hour wait! Hence at 1am we went by car! Usual ECG nothing wrong, " do you normally look so poorly" asked the nurse! I had a pain score of 8/9. "We have no beds to put you on, but I will see if I can find one from somewhere!" No offer of pain relief, bloods done, then the nurses came back at 4am " your blood test is ok" Ten minutes later another nurse rocked up " we need another blood sample as the first one was abnormal" I eventually saw a doctor at 11-15 am who said although my Troponin was slightly elevated it was just an angina attack! I felt a fool for being there.The previous time the diagnosed a pulled muscle, it was exactly the same as this time. I suppose next time I just wait for a cardiac event that will end my life! I just wish the medical profession would learn more about heart issues and be more emphatic towards people who are scared of what could happen, all of us with heart issues are well aware of a event happening to us again, so I air on the side of caution, I want to live a bit longer than 68 yrs. Sending hugs to all.
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