NHS Direct Self help website

[miss_moose]

Has anyone else been on the NHS DIrect Self help part on their website where you answer questions about your symptoms?
I find it can be as terrifying and Googling. The answer is usually call 999.

The thing is, instead of asking just 1 question you have to pick from 4 options, So if you have a pain in your chest it will say something like

Do you have chest pain or
Do you have crushing pains and pain down your arm or
Are your lips going blue

So you have to say YES because your symptoms are option 1 and it tells you to call 999.

I think they need to break down their questions and answers more.

Just wondering if others feel the same?

[miss_moose]

Anyone? :-) x

[Laylag]

I am with you on this one too,frightens the hell out of me,stupid nhs website.

[june]

I found that you cannot answer many of the questions because of the wording.I once went to an NHS walk in centre with tummy pain and dizziness (i did tell them that i suffer from anxiety) they asked me to give a urine sample.
which showed blood in the sample = she wanted to give me meds as this could be quite serious.
I said no and went to my GP first thing on Monday morning in great fear and agitation.
I had to do another test for her but she said that MOST urine sample show a small amount of blood OMG ----- when the results came back there was NOTHING wrong with me.
It had all been due to anx and IBS.
I also had the chest pain fright and ended up in A&E - again axiety. Thank God.
But the fear these symptoms generate is awful. NHS is a bit like Google only good in parts....... it is knowing which part......
best wishes
June

[mabelina]

I didnt know they had a website? Ive rang their helpline many times though and ive nothing but praise for them:yesyes:

[agingwuss]

I've only had to ring NHS Direct once & I do agree - they were great & so helpful.
However - I also agree 100% on the website. I've frightened the guts out of myself several times.
I think a good rule of thumb is:- treat as Dr Google & [B]avoid at all costs!!!
:ohmy:

[moore]

The self help section is to rule out things like people calling 999 when they have a headache or a cold.
I dont think they really meant it to deal with anxiety and panic. I only use it really if I have symptoms that I dont think could be anxiety and panic, like if I physically injure myself or something. lol.

[sMINT]

I went on this before and had the same thing happen to me as you. Was going through the options and clicked on one of the answers which was true to me 'does your headache stop you doing your day to day tasks' and the answer for me was yeah kind of becuase I had to stay in my dark bedroom becuase it hurt more when i moved about.

then a BIG red page comes up DIAL 999 NOW

Talk about making you panic lol :(

[Marginalia]

I agree the flowcharts don't cover enough possibilities, forcing you to click on things which aren't completely accurate just because the other options are even less accurate. And yes, it seems really geared to upper-end-of-the-scale acute things, rather than average ailments and aches and pains.

[tim73]

They are daft. A number of times I've just gone through and it flashes up the red call 999 page, but I know the symptoms are not a 999 issue. Problem is, most of the symptoms it will check for can by anxiety symptoms.

However I wouldn't ignore it entirely. The chest pain one for example, if you have all three (chest pains, arm pains *and* going blue) then you should be calling 999. There's a key point in there where they say if you haven't been diagnosed with something like anxiety. I think the problem though is they send you off in an ambulance just for one of the symptoms.

Still, first time around when I had chest pains & palpitations I ended up going to A&E (though in part was advised to by the out-of-hours doctor if I was really so concerned, particularly because A&E could run an ECG and bloods).

I'd try calling NHS Direct though also. I found them quite helpful and as it was out of hours they got me an appointment with a special out of hours doctor service they run round my way at the local community hospital. Aside from that, if you have a walk-in centre, that can be an option if you have any immediate concerns.

[daisycake]

Discovered this thing last night and it was awful - I'm never going near that website again. All I had was a sore throat - and I ended up in a complete panic thinking I had swine flu, meningitis - all sorts...
Have phoned them in the past as well and unfortunately that's had similar effects (headache - suddenly I convinced myself I was dying, after questions about rashes...)

[den68]

it scares the hell out of me. Like many others its said ring 999 and i have thought im sitting here going through each stage i cant be that ill and i rang them once as my son had eye infection and his eye had gone really blood shot i just wanted to know if i should keep using the drops or stop they said take him to a&e now or shall we send an ambulance. Well it was a saturday night it would of been full of drunks and he didnt seem that bad so i left it untill the next mornung took him to a&e told them what nhs direct had said and they told me it was always happening and there was no need for him to go really and def no need for ambulance ( thanks god i didnt send for one )
denise

[rjb2214]

I too have frightened myself many a time on the NHS website, and to be honest the questions are way way too vague. The questions say are you exepriencing "any" of the following, which to me says, if I have one, i must click yes... And like you say, I clicked yes on something and the 999 warning came up.

Mind you, it did come up pretty well when it says "You may have a migraine, phone NHS direct" so it had 1 use.

I see my doc every week or 2 whilst im on antidepressants to monitor my situation so thats all I need, Im no longer going to ask Dr. Google!