My poor daughter

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skewbaldpony

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Fell off her ponio this morning, concussed herself, and had lost short term memory. I took her straight to the doc (as had to load her into car at the yard anyway) on the way she was sick - got to the drs and the receptionsists LAUGHED AT ME
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and refused to even ask a dr or nurse if they would see her, told me to take her to minor injuries 40 mins away.
Well sorry but she is a kid with a head injury, vomiting - so I brought her home and rang nhs direct, who sent out an ambulance/paramedic, who was great.
She is much better now, has got her memory back, and is staying at home, though it was a toss up whether to take her in for observation.
I have seen a lot of falls, done first aid, etc, and was pretty sure a quick trip to the doctor was the best thing - no use trying to get them to come to you these days! - had no idea that our only really viable course of action was blue lights and a paramedic - how silly (nice though he was) and no wonder the nhs is in a state!
However, my advice now, and certainly what I shall do in future, is to dial 999 and have done with it. I thought I was trying not to over react, and save the nhs a bob or two, and all I got was sneered at.
 
what did you say to them when they laughed at you?? I'm sorry but i would be most peeved to say the least and would have to have a word with someone about that kind of behavior! what a bunch of ******

good to hear you daughter is ok and not too seriously hurt..........hope she starts to feel better soon xx
 
They should have never told you to drive her anywhere. Your car insurance would have been totally invalid and you would have been breaking the law. If they could not see her, they should have called you an ambulance. I would write a sharp letter to the practise manager!
 
That is atrocious behaviour in my opinion. Any head injury requires (usually) immediate expert attention so I think she acted very unprofessional, from what you've said.

Hope daughter ok after all that.
 
Sorry to hear that
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Poor thing, I hope she is feeling better. The Doctor's receptionist shouldn't have laughed, but she was correct in that, based upon the history and the symptoms, they didn't have the resources for the examination she required. Vomiting after a head injury can be a very bad sign so A & E is definately the place for assessment.
 
ooooh how bleeping rude! what if you had got her there and she had taken a turn for the worse! stupid people...
i would seriously have lost it with them!

glad she's feeling better! and i hope she hasn't lost any confidence either!
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Arh your poor girl, glad to hear she's ok now though.

If it was me I'd write a letter complaining about the receptionists attitude!
 
I see your point, stella, but the thing is, she vomited on the way, so I couldn't do much about that, and she was there. The paramedic agreed with galaxy23 that if they could not see her (and he said it's the receptionsists, they have enough trouble getting to speak to a patient's doctor themselves!) then they should have told us to stay put and called an ambulance. He thought it was apalling that I had been told to drive her anywhere!
 
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then they should have told us to stay put and called an ambulance. He thought it was apalling that I had been told to drive her anywhere!

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I totally agree - although they were almost certainly right to recommend that a trip to A&E was necessary they should not have told you to drive her there IMO. Much better off them calling an ambulance and keeping her there in the meantime under the supervision of a doctor in case she took a turn for the worse.

Time to write a letter to the practice manager I think; a very angry one.
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I agree - the trouble is, I had loaded her into the car at the yard (I knew she had no head neck or back injurie, or to the best of my current first aid cert I did. She seemed fine and got back on the pony to walk back to the yard in fact. It was only as we got back that I happened to mention the history lesson we'd done that morning, and she had no idea what I was talking about. I got her off, pronto, and chucked the pony in its box, by which time, she said she felt a bit sleepy. Yes I should have called 999 at that point, I suppose, but I was fairly sure it was a mild concussion.
I was wrong to take her to the surgery, but we were, as they say, where we were, and the vomiting had not ocurred until we were on our way there.
I agree I did not react quite correctly, but I'm afraid the doctor's surgery did not react correctly either. Thankfully she has been getting better ever since, but if she had been getting worse, and I had been in traffic on my way to a minor injuries unit (NOT A&E which is even further away) I could have been in a lot of trouble.
 
my husband was having an asthma attack when we walked into his doctors and the receptionist again thought she was the doctor and told me to take him away as they need 24hr notice to get medication ready...! Im sure they are all sent to a receptionist school and taught how to be as rude as possible to patients!!
I understand doctors are under pressure but being a key worker myself they have no right to deny attention or even laugh at you...
I blew my top and demanded we had a doctor immediately..I didnt bunge and despite the horrible glares I got from them my husband was seen to straight away....
who do they think they are...I hope you are going to write and complain....unbelieveable...
hope your daughter is ok....and you :0)
 
Herringbone - I had the same experience - went to doctor's surgery as having bad asthma time...receptionist told me I could book for an appointment in one week. I declined. She said 'See, you can't be that ill then!' when an asthma nurse happened to walk past and gave me treatment there and then.
Skewbald - a good tip is to look at the rider's hat...the dirt/marks often shows you where they've hit their head (velvet ones are best)
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I saw her fall, she landed on a shoulder, rolled onto her back, and then her head went down, on the back, of a top of the range extremely well fitted crash helmet, thank Heaven! I wouldn't have expected a head injury to ensue, it wasn't a heck of a crack, and it was on soft, muddy ground, which just goes to show you can be wrong.
I have a creeping suspicion it may have been the body protector in the neck that did the damage, but I shall keep it to myself! I think they are a very mixed blessing - the only other time she's hurt herself significantly it was being winded by her body protector!
One of the nastiest moments I saw when teaching was also a back protector job - but who knows what would have happened with out them, so you keep putting them on your kids, because statistically it's the best thing to do.
 
I've heard that back protectors increase the likelihood of injury to arms and legs, as the impact isn't absorbed through the body due to the rigidity of the back protector. Maybe the same happens to necks - the head wouldn't have to actually hit anything, just decelerate quickly, I suppose, to cause injury.
Best not think about it!
Hope your daughter manages to live without the history lesson knowledge
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S
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She says it's all come back to her now. James-the-first-and-sixth. The gunpowder plot. Not very interesting apparently as no horses involved. Glutton for punishment.
This was small Welsh Git the First and the Spring Grass Plot, I think. Feeling so good he jumped about 3'6" over a 6" crosspole.
 
I fell on my head last summer and was seriously concussed with short term memory and vomiting so sounds similar to your daughter. I couldn't string a sentence together either. My OH took me straight to the hospital A&E but they still left me til last as I was 'low prioirity'!! Bloody doctors though, how rude and unhelpful
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They should have never told you to drive her anywhere. Your car insurance would have been totally invalid and you would have been breaking the law. If they could not see her, they should have called you an ambulance. I would write a sharp letter to the practise manager!

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Why would her car insurance be invalid?
 
I would be furious - merely writing a letter to the practice manager is not enough, I would contact the medical board.
 
I learnt this on a first aid course. It's because you are not insured to be an ambulance. Apparently driving people in this condition makes you drive differently and you should be specially trained, ie a paramedic.
 
not horse related but is related to the topic of how poor the nhs can be,

my 82 year old gran had a nose bleed, doesn't sound serious but the blood lose was immense. she was taken to our local surgery. then i went with my cousin to the hospital with her, by this time she was as white as a sheet. we were left for over and hour while me and my cousin had to clean the blood off my gran with the nurses sittin having a tea break in our direct line of sight they did nothing!!! no one even asked if she felt light headed or sick!!!

we were then rushed via ambulance to the ear nose and throat place at livingston hospital (after about 3 hrs) my gran passed out and had to been in hospital for a week
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I learnt this on a first aid course. It's because you are not insured to be an ambulance. Apparently driving people in this condition makes you drive differently and you should be specially trained, ie a paramedic.

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Didn't know that, I've been on loads of first aid courses too. What sort of injury invalidates your insurance then?
 
Any injury that requires you to take them to a hospital as far as I understood it.

My first aid course was the one you have to do for the BHS to go on their register of instructors. Maybe we need telling more than "normal" people!!! Ha ha!
 
Im glad that your daughter is ok. I would be getting the receptionist names and making a formal complaint against them, what they did is disgusting.
 
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Any injury that requires you to take them to a hospital as far as I understood it.

My first aid course was the one you have to do for the BHS to go on their register of instructors. Maybe we need telling more than "normal" people!!! Ha ha!

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So if you drive anyone to hospital who has an injury your insurance is invalid?

Also how is it illegal?

Glad to hear your daughter is ok OP. I would definately complain to the practice manager.
 
I hope your daughter continues to make a good recovery. I had a similar experience with my daughter some years ago. I took her to the surgery with breathing difficulties and the doctor didn't even examine her. When I got her home she started turning blue and her eyes were rolling up in her head so I rang the surgery again and they sent an ambulance because suddenly they realised that it was actually an emergency.

She was, in fact, seriously ill with pneumonia and when she recovered after a week in hospital (no thanks to the doctor) I wrote a strong letter of complaint and the head of the practise visited me at home to apologise and reassure me that it would never happen again. I accepted the apology but I didn't feel reassured because I thought that the doctor was arrogant and would probably do the same thing again to someone else.
 
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