triage nurses

What IS 'triage' anyway? I know they have these nurses at A&E in the hospitals, but are they there for deciding which person needs to see which doctor, or if they need to see a doctor for their 'accident' or 'emergency'?

just got a phone call from the triage nurse and got an appointment for 10-15 am to see her...apparently she is allowed to prescribe antibiotics!!! bit concerned about that...

I think it comes from a technique used for assessing casualties on the battle field. Three (tri) categories:
That one is beyond help (dead or definitely dying)
That one can be saved with emergency medical attention
That one can wait for medical attention

I guess with some things, like cystitis or children with ear infections, a nurse could easily make that call dollie

dollie at least seeing the nurse you have a foot inide the door and if she thinks it necessary, there is always a doctor down the corridor. From memory the list of antibiotics that she is allowed to prescribe is limited. She can always get a second opinion easily.

I have a friend who is a 'nurse practitioner', she writes prescriptions too. She is more experienced than some of the doctors, and the patients queue up to see her. Even the doctors ask her for advice.

I don't think this new system is necessarily a bad thing, it all depends......

Maybe they should be renamed biage nurses. You're hardly going to ring the surgery if you're dead!

The triage nurse should be experienced enough to assess how urgent your medical problem is by asking the right questions and responding to certain particular warning signs.

In some circumstances they may be allowed to prescribe some drugs in consultation with a GP. they do need to have had training in these skills.

I would not object to seeing one if it seemed a fairly simple thing I was worried about.

It does come from that, Jess. There is a move towards this now (having a triage nurse in GP practices), and also what are called "nurse prescribers" (as Lona says) - so the nurse will be qualified to prescribe. But it is an unfortunate additional hurdle.

From my experience GP appointment systems are in a mess (or at least in my area). I had a host of bloods taken recently, was told the results would be back the following Tuesday (a week ago tomorrow) and if I hadn't heard from the surgery, I should call, and found out from the website when I could call for test results. I tried on three different occasions to get through, each time the phone simply rang out.

Then I lost interest and decided it can't be urgent. This week I am motivating myself to make an appointment with the doctor to find out what the results were. So ... would I be one of the time wasters?!

Better than being judged by a receptionist with no clinical qualifications!

Lilygran that unfortunately is what happens at my GP surgery. I keep meaning to have a word with the practice manager who I know quite well. I used to have the clinical qualifications so resent having to tell the receptionist anything.

The practice used to have a full time nurse practitioner who saw patients with earache, eye problems etc. but after she left, I think the general feeling was that for a few pounds a month more the practice could afford a part time GP.

Triage is a french word that means sorting.

I refuse to discuss my medical condition with the receptionist! Experienced, well-trained nurses are a different matter. I'm more than happy to be seen by a nurse, as long as (as with the doctor), she knows what she's doing. Mr H recently had a bad attack of labyrinthitis, so off we trundled to the out-of-hours walk-in centre. The nurse gave Mr H a thorough assessment, and prescribed him some medication. She then checked to see if there were any interactions with his blood pressure drugs, and over her shoulder I could see it said it could result in 'hypotensive effect'. She then told us that the drug could make his blood pressure go up! Hmm! She was gracious when I pointed out her mistake, though!

have to say the triage nurse was very thorough hopefully the meds she prescribed clears my ear infection...

Glad to hear you had a good result dollie.. hope you feel better soon

At my local surgery the triage is carried out by a GP. If I ring for a same day appointment I'm asked by the receptionist for an outline of the problem, which I am told I can decline to answer. The GP then rings me back within an allotted time-frame. Often I know exactly what the problem is (ongoing health matters) and can tell him what I need to be prescribed and then just pick up medication from the chemist. Or, if I need to see a doctor I'm asked to come in and the GP makes me a same day appointment.
I think a triage system is an excellent way of managing patients.
My daughter is a (hospital) nurse practitioner and is held in very high regard by the doctors she works with.

As Lilygran has said - better than the unqualified receptionist dragon!

I once refused to tell the receptionist at the desk about my problem and said that I would go away and ring for a home visit!

The unqualified receptionist dragon is often working to the orders of the doctor who, when he then sees the patient is all 'sweetness and light' and saying things like 'why didn't you come to see me sooner'. There's usually a triage slot during which you can request a nurse to phone you and tell you any test results and advise if an appointment is needed; half the time the nurses phone people back only to find their phones are switched off or they don't answer them [they then moan about the fact no one phoned them back]. It's all a bit thankless sometimes. And the number of 'did not attends' is staggering .

..if anyone does encounter a horrid receptionist they should be reported; the nice ones know who they are and are helpless to do anything without complaints being made. There was once a complaint made when I was working; my colleague didn't hold up her hands and say she'd been unpleasant; thankfully the doctors knew it wouldn't be me as they knew me too well, but it was quite upsetting at the time.

Our GP surgery has done triage for the 3+ years I have lived in this village, and I still find it strange. I can go into the surgery and be sent home to wait for a phone call from either a nurse or a doctor to decide whether I need to see a nurse or a doctor.
I have never seen a full waiting room. Quite often I am the only one there apart from the receptionist.
I had to have a medication review at the end of October last year, and it took until 15th November before it was sorted out, by which time I had had to have a repeat prescription of a tablet that was reduced by half.
I will keep the 10mg until they are out of date or until the amount is put up again, whichever is the earlier. I then, of course, get told off for ordering tablets I did not use. It's a tablet that should not be cut in half, unfortunately.

I don't find this a problem at all. Surely it's far better to speak to a Triage Nurse than have to wait days for a doctors appointment. If you had an emergency you would call for an ambulance or the receptionist/nurse would deal with your case immediately.

There was a mention of this on a thread recently. There was a doctors surgery in Swindon being shown on Sky News I think it was. The surgery was in a mess and patients were waiting days for an appointment. They had adopted a Triage Nurse scenario and now not only are patients being seen promptly, they sometimes have spaces. The doctors were very open about things and admitted they too were benefitting due to less stress and were actually spending quality time with patients.

In fact it seemed such an obvious approach to take I think it should be rolled out nationwide by the NHS. After all if nurses are allowed to do ECG's etc. surely we can accept they know their job and will serve their patients well.

Glad you feel all is well Dollie. Ear infections are a pain aren't they. No pun intended.

Years ago my daughter nearly died because my doctor was on holiday and the receptionist told me I didn't need to see one. I'm glad to say that when my doctor returned he went ballistic and I never had a problem getting an appointment again. I think a nurse would have picked up the danger signs and saved a lot of worry.

As I said, POGS, I saw the triage nurse but she could not alter the prescription. I had to see the doctor and that took two weeks, by which time I had had to get a repeat prescription for a month's worth of tablets that I might not take. This is because I had an aortic dissection last Easter, and was put on ten tablets a day. The GP asked how many side effects I had and which should be tackled first. The triage nurse could not do that.
We have three partner GPs in the surgery, but two of them are on the board of the CCG, so are always having to go to meetings. The third is on maternity leave.

DURHAMJEN

I take no issue with the points you raise concerning your practice at all. It does sound a nightmare of a surgery.

Had you watched the Swindon surgery report then what would have possibly happened is the Triage Nurse would have referred you to a doctor for a call back that day. You would not have had to wait as you have at your surgery.

Quite possible the Triage Nurse at Swindon would have known immediately that your request was 'beyond' her capability, quite rightly as a doctor must be the one to increase, alter prescriptions. It would be obvious to me a nurse could not be responsible for doing so. Unlike your surgery they were NOT making their patients wait 2 weeks anymore. They were getting it right at last and it was a simple routine they had put into practice.

I approve of triage in theory but, as everybody keeps repeating here, the person doing it must know what they are talking about. However, when my "tummy ache" was diagnosed on a Tuesday morning by an experienced GP over the telephone as indigestion and when he repeated that diagnosis on the telephone on Thursday evening in spite of some rather drastic changes in the symptoms, I was somewhat concerned. Not quite so concerned as I was on the Saturday morning when I was admitted to the nearest hospital (blues and twos) with a temperature too low to register on a clinical thermometer, a perforated appendix, peritonitis and pleurisy.