Over 2 million unnecessary A&E visits “wasted”

If you become unwell or are injured make sure you choose the right NHS service to make sure you get the best treatment

With more than one out of every ten people admitting to have used A&E when they knew they didn’t need to, hospital doctors and nurses are asking the public to think twice before they dial 999 this winter. A&E attendance from June 2011 to May 2012 was over 17. 6 million – so that’s a staggering 2,112,000 attendances that were “wasted”.

Mike Cheshire is regional medical director for the North West and said: “We know that over the winter, the number of serious and life-threatening cases will go up if temperatures fall below 12 degrees Celsius. That’s more people with breathing problems, strokes and heart-attacks. What we don’t need at such a busy time, are people calling 999, turning up at A&E or going to their GP when they don’t need to be there.

“It’s not just A&E and 999 teams who feel the pressure over winter. GPs and community nursing teams are a vital part of the care needed by people who return home after having suffering a life-threatening emergency.”

The Choose Well campaign aims to educate and inform people about the different NHS services available to them. It promotes self-care and the use of local high-street pharmacy for common complaints such as coughs and colds, flu, stomach upsets and general aches and pains. The campaign has been developed by NHS teams and has been growing in the past couple of years. Over the winter months information will be distributed by NHS teams throughout the community and promoted via Twitter and Facebook.

Mike added: “Most common complaints will begin to get better within a couple of days. We know that people can sometimes get confused about which NHS service to use. You should not be going to A&E because your toe-nails need cutting, calling 999 because of period pain or going to your GP with a common cold.

“We carried out a quick on-line survey over the summer and 94 per cent of those who answered said that people should do more to self-care for common complaints, such as coughs, colds and so on.

“We are kicking off a winter campaign and are working with the National Self Care Forum, the Royal College of GPs and the National Pharmacy Association to try and get this important message across”.