Unnecessary visits to A&E cost region’s hospitals £79.25 million a year

NHS Choose Well campaign

Released figures show the toll that unnecessary visits to our region’s hospitals are taking. One out of every four people who go to A&E don’t need to be there, at a cost of £79.25 million a year – and the cost is rising. NHS staff throughout the region are giving their backing to the "Choose Well" campaign, that aims to tackle the rise in A&E attendances.

Dr Anton Sinniah, consultant physician and clinical director of unscheduled care for Rochdale Infirmary, said: "As winter approaches our emergency departments get busier. It is really important, therefore, that patients think carefully about where they should access emergency medical care.”

The number of people using A&E – and 999 services – is going up year on year in the North West. New services have been introduced, such as walk-in centres, minor injuries units and urgent care centres in many areas, and have helped to ease some of the pressure; but the numbers of people using emergency services continues to rise.

"Analysis of the overnight arrangements changes which have been put in place at Rochdale Infirmary recently has shown that 50% of patients who called an ambulance were discharged from hospital within 4 to 6 hours,” said Dr Sinniah. “This would suggest that they did not have a life threatening illness which would have needed an ambulance. The result of this is that someone who does need that ambulance is not getting it as quickly as they should.”

A&E teams are faced with having to deal with cases such as coughs and colds, backache and upset stomachs on a daily basis – conditions that could be dealt with through a trip to the high-street chemist.

"I am particularly mindful, however, about the elderly who often choose not to seek appropriate help as my experience is they often 'do not want to bother' anyone” adds Dr Sinniah. “Health care is not straight forward but by all of us working together, the public and the NHS, we should be able to reduce the unnecessary attendance to A&E departments and actually improve care and access to it, whilst reducing costs in the current economic climate. Through the Choose Well campaign we want re-educate people about using the right service to get the right treatment."