Hospital emergency department plea

Hospital bosses have renewed their plea for people to use NHS services wisely as they deal with huge numbers of people seeking emergency treatment.

The first week of the New Year saw demand soar with hospitalsacrosstheregionand theambulanceservicenowunder severe pressure.

While many people have been seriously ill and required an emergency ambulance and emergency admission to hospital,thousandsofothershave attended hospital emergency departments for minor problems when other, more appropriate services are available and should be used.

Examples include sort throats, cold sores, stomach upsets and other common winter ailments which can effectively be managed by getting advice from a pharmacy and over-the-counter medicines or, if required, a visit or phonecall with their GP.

In December alone, there wereover100,000attendances across the region’s emergency departments and 81.7% of patients were still seen and treatedwithinfourhoursorarrival.

This is above the national average for England which was 79.8%.

People are again being urged to use NHS 111 which is available 24/7 for urgent medicaladvicebeforeattendingany frontline services.

This can be done online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111.

Dr Stewart Findlay, cochair of the North East and North Cumbria’s Urgent and Emergency Care Network, said: “The system is currently under extreme pressure. If people are in immediate need of critical or lifesaving care, then ringing 999 for an ambulanceorgoingstraighttoahospitalemergencydepartmentis absolutely the right thing to do but,ifyou’renot,pleaseseekalternatives.”