One in five people attended A&E unnecessarily in last six months

Tuesday 05 December 2023

From colds to pre-holiday check-ups... one in five patients who attended Accident and Emergency in the last six months could have accessed healthcare elsewhere – while three in every 100 actually “required no treatment at all”.

Health shared the statistics as it launched new signage outside A&E aiming to remind people to only attend if there is a genuine emergency.

Around 40,000 people are treated at the Emergency Department every year.

"Last year we had lots of people attending the Emergency Department for non-essential reasons. We treated the most minor issues ranging from a cold to patients stopping by the Emergency Department to get a check-up before they go on holidays," explained Emergency Medicine Consultant Dr Masha Finn.

The new signage outside the department urges people to only come in if they have a "serious or life-threatening illness or injury".

Pictured: The new signage.

For any other issues, it's recommended that islanders try the pharmacy, their GP or the out-of-hours GP service.

It's not the first time islanders have been given such a reminder.

In August, islanders not experiencing a genuine emergency were told to keep away, as the hospital dealt with another spike in bed blocking.

Then in September, the Ambulance Service reported "significant strain" on their emergency response system due to a large volume of calls, which they said could potentially lead to "delays in attending to life-threatening situations".

"By restricting non-emergency calls, we can ensure that our resources are fully dedicated to those in urgent need of medical attention," the service said. "For non-urgent medical advice, contact your healthcare provider/GP surgery or pharmacist. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation."