Whilst I completely understand what u are saying, there is a generic reply to this age old question.
People respond differently to pain/illness. Not all people in pain or not need of urgent care present with the typical symptoms. So the laughing smiling talkative patient could actually have a serious bowel obstruction or foreign object lodged in their head- I have seen it.
Also, these patients could have psych issues and are been seen too by psych rather than medical staff.
At my hospital we have 'fast track' where non urgent cases are seen too quickly compared to more complex presentations that usually require an admission or lengthy assessment like fractures and abdominal complaints.
Fast track deal with thing like migraines, food poisoning, wound dressings etc.
Anyway. This may not be the case at the hospital ur referring to


Sent from my iPhone