Help lines

[wellhungjock]

A new category (health) for help lines say AA and NHS direct amongst others, this would help a lot more than the advice given in body & soul (no offence meant) by unqualified ABK users. What do you think Answerbankers?

[cheyenne]

Thought you would know the AA number already Jock!!(:

[woofgang]

ifd you need those numbers, they are easy to get from search engines, phone bboks etc

[wellhungjock]

Here we have a person with bad headaches in body and soul category. I had a friend who had the same collapsed in the street and was rushed to hospital and found to have a blood clot and was operated on immediately  another 20 minuets he would have been dead, so the hospital told him. He has never worked since. Some of the advice given in this thread whilst well meaning is wrong if there was useful help lines as I said the NHS direct they would be better to advise this person, also woolfgang as people go onto body and soul to ask these questions what better place to put all these very useful phone numbers together.

[tanyavee]

I think it is a very good idea if  the phone numbers stayed on the top of Body & Soul so they are always visible.

[silly moo]

As a qualified health worker the advice given by most ABers to the person with severe headaches was the same as he / she is likely to have been given by NHS Direct.
Those people are nurses NOT doctors and even doctors, with such minimal information, could not possibly have diagnosed any life threatening problem such as that suffered by your friend. That sounds as if it may have been a CVA of some kind.
Without a CT scan such major problems are extremely dificult to diagnose accurately.
At the top of the Body and Soul page the following always appears
Important Notice
If you are unwell we strongly advise you to seek professional advice from your doctor. Please do not rely on or wait for advice from Answerbank users. Also, any user posting sexually explicit or offensive posts will have their account terminated.
Both AB and the people who contribute usually suggest going to see a doctor ASAP if worried.

[paula.e]

I am amazed at the first part of your answer silly moo glad you�re not my health worker. The N.H.S Direct is a very good service it also helps direct people where to go therefore use resources economically. I think a permanent N.H.S Direct phone number with the warning in B&S is a good idea. Here is a link to N.H.S Direct.

here

If you are ill this is the link to use.

here

[silly moo]

You sem to have misunderstood paula.e
I was not denigrating NHS Direct - I was simply saying that in the case of severe headaches the advice from NHS Direct would have been no different from that of most ABers.
They cannot, and have never said that they can, diagnose over the phone.
In the Q linked to below virtually every A said go and see a doctor.
This is exactly the sort of advice given by the nurses answering the phones at NHS Direct.

As far as not wanting me as your health worker I would like to say that I am good at my job and have been doing it for over 30 years. If you needed my professional expertise you would be glad that I was there.


http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Question107 190.html

[Chillum]

I think a lot of medical(ish) questions posed in Body and Soul, are looking for simple reassurance, i.e "Do I really want to trouble my doctor with this?" or  "What was your experience?"   In cases where a doctors advice should be sought, contributers are not slow to point it out. I suppose helpline numbers could be available at the top of the page, but it just seems a bit like enjoying an episode of Coronation Street, then at the end getting the "have you, or anyone you know been affected by the storyline? If so, you can 'phone our24 hour helpline on 000-- etc. Billlox.