"Turned away"

I was turned away from Whitehaven A&E this Friday night at 9pm. I was told to call 111 as A&E apparently no longer accepts walk-in patients any more. I duly called 111 but was told that despite me being in considerable pain my symptoms did not qualify me to be seen by any one in A&E, even though there were only a few people in the waiting room and the staff were certainly not rushed off their feet.

I was told that my GP surgery will contact me tomorrow, although I don’t see how they can as they will be closed tomorrow as far as I am aware.

I am not sure where to turn now. Perhaps I will just have to call 999 next time and call an ambulance out. Is this the new caring, cost-effective NHS A&E service? Making sure that they limit the number of people they see and keeping the statistics looking good?

This is only the second time I have been to A&E in my nearly 50 years on this planet, so I am not accident prone or keen to rush to hospital at the first sign of a problem.

0/10 from me, I’m afraid. I can’t see how I can give you a higher score, as I wasn’t even seen by a member of the medical profession, just a receptionist. I am still in considerable pain after a wasted 1½-hour return trip to the hospital.