adult A&E

toffuna101

so in the county where im from the two A&Es that are there only accept children in their children's emergency department from 0 all the way to 15 years old. so if you are 16 you automatically get redirected to the adult emergency department. so i went to one of my county's adult A&Es last friday as a 16 year old and i noticed something. they dont really tend to care as much. ill give you an example. so since the adult A&E accepts adults from 16 to death basically there was this elderly man in majors who was wheeled in by a porter. i was in majors since there were literally no beds available in A&E. i could have asked to be in the mental health room since i was a mental health patient but it was probably occupied by someone. so this man wanted to get out of the wheelchair and into a comfortable chair right? but the nurses just flat out ignored him. the nurses eventually came up to him and tried to help him onto the chair but he fell down and had to be lifted up with a board by the paramedics. he was injured as well so it didnt make the situation any better. my point is that if he was under 16 in the children's A&E he wouldve gotten help straight away instead of being initially ignored. also in my time at A&E i overheard someone being aggressive so thats why they were probably moved to the mental health room therefore i couldnt use it.

but i will say that although i was in adult A&E the camhs crisis team still came to me since im under 18, so i wasnt completely classed as an adult. my dad also had to write down his contact details for safeguarding since im still legally a child. but its still so confusing. if im still legally a child why cant you just move me to the children's A&E? one might argue that at 16 you can legally consent for your own treatment therefore youre old enough to be in adult A&E but if you still have to be safeguarded and if camhs still come to you then wouldnt it be easier for me to go to the children's A&E? the children's emergency department is way better too. its newer and there are more rooms for you to have a chat with the staff there. plus its brighter and more friendlier than in the adult emergency department. in the adult A&E it just looks grey and dull.

independent_

This is likely down to the fact that at 16, at least medically, your body is usually physically fully developed. Hence if it is a physical health condition you’re given adult doses of medications etc. And over 16s can consent to their own treatment. It is confusing but as far as medical things are concerned you’re treated as an adult because physically at that age your body is an adult body

Edit: being in children’s A&E definitely doesn’t mean you’ll get help any quicker and if you do, it’s likely because it is quieter. There’s less children in comparison to adults, and there’s also bound to be less people in A&E at one time given the presumed lack of drug and alcohol related visits.

toffuna101

independent_ wrote: »

This is likely down to the fact that at 16, at least medically, your body is usually physically fully developed. Hence if it is a physical health condition you’re given adult doses of medications etc. And over 16s can consent to their own treatment. It is confusing but as far as medical things are concerned you’re treated as an adult because physically at that age your body is an adult body

Edit: being in children’s A&E definitely doesn’t mean you’ll get help any quicker and if you do, it’s likely because it is quieter. There’s less children in comparison to adults, and there’s also bound to be less people in A&E at one time given the presumed lack of drug and alcohol related visits.

that does make sense that youd be treated in adult A&E at 16 because usually your body is physically fully developed. and yeah when i was in the children's A&E when i was 15 the wait was shorter than in adult A&E likely due to there being less children than adults which is fair. thanks for the insight @independent_
but i do have a question. if you were say, 15 for example and you were detained in custody and you had to go to hospital, would you still go to children's A&E? i think if the detainee was especially being aggressive it would scare the other patients who are under 16 themselves.