does anyone know if there is anywhere you can walk in and get a ecg done?

Why do you want a walk in one ton?

If you’ve got chest pains any hospital casualty dept would be the place to go, especially when you tell them about your heart problem.

no chest pains or anything like that.
my heart rhythm seems odd and i wanted to check 1st rather that wasting their time.

I don’t think anyone would think you’re wasting their time Tony. Get down the A&E and get it checked

Ton,

If you have an odd rhythm (like if your heart beat is missing, or your pulse doesn’t match up with what you think your heart is doing), get yourself down to A&E now. Don’t muck about, don’t worry about wasting their time, just do it.

If it’s AF, then it may need help to get back to normal. I know that from personal experience, so go and do it.

willard, i have been in af for the last 12 months.
had a ablation 2 week ago, which worked, but i fear it may have gone back into af.

a trip to the hospital i reckon………….bu55er 🙁

Cant hurt to go get it checked out can it. It’s not a time to man up. Get thee to A&E.

i wanted to check 1st rather that wasting their time.

I walked straight into a gp appointment last week with chest pain, I knew it wasn’t heart but I did want it looking at immediately. Get yourself down to the A&E you tart.

Anxiety is only going to add to the mix. As you have noticed something ‘not right’ then go now before the hordes start to arrive. I would think they’d be happy to check you out with your history.

This is from my clinical pharmacist wife.

a&e, would you really want a monkey manning a walk in ecg machine analysing the ecg for you anyway?

A&E if you fancy a wait.
Or ask your GP for an appointment for the ECG dept at the hospital.
Some GP surgeries have an ECG machine that the practice nurse can use so check with them.
It’s pretty common for AF to come back after the first ablation.
Success rate jumps up a lot after second.

errr… 2wheels1guy

I don’t know any GP surgeries which do not have at least one ECG machine. I haven’t heard of anyone being sent up to a hospital by a GP for an ECG for about 20 years.

In this case Ton the key question is whether knowing you are in AF is going to change your management tonight?

If you are breathless, or have chest tightness, or the rate of the pulse you can feel is 140 or greater or just feel ill, phone 999 now.

If those do not apply, and you are not on warfarin, and you are sure the AF started in the last 24-48 hours, and you might be considered for cardioversion (DC Shock) again, you need to go to A&E now.

If you are on Warfarin, and are not breathless/ill/having chest discomfort, and your rate appears to be 120 or less, this can wait till tomorrow.

The warfarin question is because there is a 48 hour window of opportunity from onset of AF for cardioversion without warfarin. After that you need to be on it, and if you are on it there is no hurry.

Usual T&Cs apply… who knows if I am even a Dr…. But given how long you left it the first time… if in doubt, sort it now.

I don’t know any GP surgeries which do not have at least one ECG machine. I haven’t heard of anyone being sent up to a hospital by a GP for an ECG for about 20 years.

I’m not sure where in the country you are then because I can name at least 8-10 GP surgeries in one area of NW London alone where they don’t have an ECG machine and regularly call 999 for ambulances to take patients to A+E for an ECG. there’s also a good number of GP surgeries where they do have ECG machines and can’t interpret the ECG.

That’s proper doctoring, right there.

Excellent advice from Dr Stoaty.

Wisepranker – that’s awful….

errr… 2wheels1guy

I don’t know any GP surgeries which do not have at least one ECG machine. I haven’t heard of anyone being sent up to a hospital by a GP for an ECG for about 20 years

Pretty standard practice here.
Our ECG dept takes multiple GP referrals every day.
We also have a rapid acces clinic.
I don’t know what the exact resources of every GP surgery is, but the standard practice is for the GP to get a 999 anbulance to take them to hospital if there is an acute concern, otherwise give them an ECG appointment or ask them to attend A&E.
The main reason for this being maintainence & calibration of the machine & training of staff.

But anyway, Ton has lived with this for some time and so knows the deal.
I would recommend A&E if he feels unwell, if not, then ask for an urgent GP appointment who will possibly anti-coagulate, arrange ECG and refer to his cardiologist.

I could name a hospital that doesnt have 24hr doctor cover, where the nurses arent allowed to administer anything via a drip and there is no ecg machine.

I’m at work tonight ton, if you bring 9 10 inch pizzas, 2 litres of diet coke, 2 boxes of Cadburys chocolate fingers and 20 B&H I’ll do you an ecg.

Oh, and a salad for me…

Hopefully Ton has gone to get it checked out at hospital by now and will report later.

I don’t know any GP surgeries which do not have at least one ECG machine. I haven’t heard of anyone being sent up to a hospital by a GP for an ECG for about 20 years

Proper LOL – obviously you’re not in NE England stoatsbrother. 😆

I’m in a nice place but just north of a deprived downwardly-mobile town with a fair amount of drug abuse and refugees. Ten years ago I was the bloke who put in the bid which got the Sussex Cardiac Collaborative later the local Cardiac network going.. At that stage we surveyed equipment and there were a couple of very small practices who did not have ECGs, so we bought them for them.

It beggars belief that any GP would not have a decent ECG machine these days. The NICE guidelines on angina make it clear you MUST do an ECG immediately when you see a patient with a new presentAion of chest pain.

I am totally embarassed to hear any GP does not have one.

stoatsbrother and everyone else, thanks for the advice.

i emailed the consultant not long after posting this thread.
i did not want to, but the good lady insisted.
he emailed back straight away, and he asked me a few questions.
the outcome was to keep taking my warfarin amd beta blockers, and to go to the doctors in the morning and ask for the duty nurse to do a ecg reading.

I would have thought it should be a minimum requirement and standard eqipment in a GP surgery.

Unfortunately It’s something I come across fairly regularly, as well as patients sitting in the waiting room (and on one memorable occasion, sitting on a wall outside as the surgery was closing) who are having a suspected MI 😯

Ton result mate.

Woody must be that you are responding too slowly 😉

It beggars belief that any GP would not have a decent ECG machine these days. The NICE guidelines on angina make it clear you MUST do an ECG immediately when you see a patient with a new presentAion of chest pain.

I’m saying nothing.

Woody must be that you are responding too slowly

Yup – I should ask the surgery for some tips as they had managed to call 999, usher the patient outside and emptied the car park, all in the 4 minutes it took to get there 🙂

Thats p1sspoor…

I know but there was a bit of traffic otherwise it would have been <3mins 😉

my Gp’s fairly handy has his own modern practice but i dont believe he has an ecg ( i owuld have had a go by now believe me)
our local hospital has no facilities for anything that might be considered 999
if you turn up you are reffered to the ambulance service recently during a routine angio gram the patient had a heart attack and the hosptital staff had to call an ambulance for the resus gear.

It beggars belief that any GP would not have a decent ECG machine these days. The NICE guidelines on angina make it clear you MUST do an ECG immediately when you see a patient with a new presentAion of chest pain.

But in the eyes of lots of GP’s it’s far cheaper and easier to call 999 and get the big yellow taxi to come and do your job for you!

Unfortunately It’s something I come across fairly regularly, as well as patients sitting in the waiting room (and on one memorable occasion, sitting on a wall outside as the surgery was closing) who are having a suspected MI

Things like that are regular occurrence’s down here in London. I’ve seen countless suspected MI’s or CVA’s sitting in waiting rooms while the GP has seemingly vanished when they try to find him for a handover. I’d best not mention the one who was attempting CPR on the patient while the patient was virtually trying to fight him off 😯

That is just awful. Totally unacceptable.

Ok for the record – and we are not exceptional locally

8000 patients
4.5 GPs
3 ECGs
1 Defib
5 Spirometers
8 Pulse Oximeters
2 Event monitors
3 CABP Machines

etc etc etc

And we need this stuff to work well and in an upto date fashion.

Did find out the laryngoscope was u/s last week though 😳

Stoats brother – do you actually have a laryngoscope at your practice? Thats a pretty brave GP to be tubing somebody!

I work in Wales and we are usually pretty backward and I too am shocked that there are Gp practices without an ECG machine!

I’m more shocked – excuse the pun – that there exists a GP surgery without an AED and oxygen therapy. Christ I work in a paper machinery factory and we have an AED!

Did a year of gassing back in the day. Had to intubation a couple in the past 20 years, one lived, one didn’t
‘Now we’d use a laryngeal mask. Put one down 4 days ago in anger. But only get involved in a resus every 2 years or so now.

I’d certainly step aside for a paramedic to take charge.

Derek. Agreed that those are needed too.

But in the eyes of lots of GP’s it’s far cheaper and easier to call 999 and get the big yellow taxi to come and do your job for you!

Still saying nothing.

Things like that are regular occurrence’s down here in London. I’ve seen countless suspected MI’s or CVA’s sitting in waiting rooms while the GP has seemingly vanished when they try to find him for a handover

Or yet.

our local hospital has no facilities for anything that might be considered 999
if you turn up you are reffered to the ambulance service recently during a routine angio gram the patient had a heart attack and the hosptital staff had to call an ambulance for the resus gear.

Ok now I will. That’s not the only hospital by a long way.

Woody – “obviously you’re not in NE England stoatsbrother.”

I was thinking exactly the same thing…..

Loads of GPs ’round here send their punters up to us for an ECG, loads of them have been sitting in the waiting room with a ‘suspected MI’ and no treatment, loads of really good GPs too I’m sure but they look after their patients so we never get to hear about them up at the big house…

Did find out the laryngoscope was u/s last week though

I bet you found that hard to swallow.