I’ll tell you exactly why our hospital healthcare system is strained…
I just spent the last 2 days in emergency because I went to my family doctor and she told me to go to emergency with my issue. As she was unable to make a proper assessment and needed to rule out some potentially life threatening diagnosis. Turns out the hospital isn’t 100% sure either but that’s another rant.
So I’m In emerg for over 7 hours day one and just over 6 day two. And in that span of time while waiting hours in a room, I was able to hear many of the conversations between Doctor & patient (in several of the curtained areas around me). And came to the conclusion that people are idiots, lazy or just plain ignorant to why you should be going to emergency. People with potentially life threatening illnesses & injuries sure, those who broke something, need stitches sure. But I’ll tell you the majority of issues that I heard could have been easily seen by a family doctor or at a walk in clinic!!!
Why the F are you in EMERGENCY?!?!
A lady and her daughter waited over 5 hrs cause she tore a fingernail trying to grab someone with her 3” Lee Press On nails! What do you want the doctor to do? Glue it back on?! That’s basically what he told her besides putting on a bandaid and keeping it clean. Oh and cut or remove the press on nail on the affected finger so it doesn’t catch on anything else? Are you daft?
Another patient had an sport injury back in June & now feels like it’s reoccurring. Umm what’s wrong with a family doctor, physio & referral to an orthopedic surgeon if necessary? Which is what the doctor basically said. Again, why are you in emergency?!? And there were many more, my eye hurts, I fell while on vacation last week and now my knee is bothering me…it goes on and on…pure stupidity.
Helloooo isn’t that all just common sense?! Could you not have gone to a local walk in or your family doctor? No instead you choose to go to emerg and strain the system further. As well as delay others who really need immediate medical attention and are visibly in pain or discomfort. The world is full of stupid, selfish, ignorant people these days!!
The government needs to release literature or have some kind of advertising campaign that tells people to seek alternative medical treatment if their condition is not life threatening and stop going to emergency for every little thing!!! I also think emergency should have the right to refer out to a clinic.
And it might be helpful to have the literature available in different languages!
Ok rant done! Thanks for reading!
Update: This is a post from Canada