Kings Mill Hospital urges residents to use health services wisely over May bank holidays
Hospital staff are urging people to take extra precautions and plan ahead to prevent avoidable A&E visits.
Ensuring you have ordered any necessary repeat prescriptions and stocked up on over-the-counter treatments for minor conditions and injuries, or choosing to seek medical advice for non-emergency conditions through Urgent Treatment Centres, your GP, out-of-hours pharmacies, or NHS111, can help ease the strain on accident and emergency departments.
The warning comes ahead of the May bank holidays, after high levels of attendance at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s urgent and emergency care services after the recent Easter weekend.
It saw Kings Mill’s Hospital’s department treating double the number of patients it was designed to care for at any one time.
The trust’s executive chief nurse, Phil Bolton, said: "Demand for our services significantly increased immediately after the last Bank Holiday with attendances more usually associated with winter.
“This meant some patients with minor injuries and less urgent conditions having to wait longer to be seen than any of us would have liked.
“I would like to thank our patients for their understanding as our hard-working NHS staff worked to care for them as quickly as possible.”
Demand often increases after Bank Holidays with a high volume of people attending the emergency department with minor injuries and conditions that could have been dealt with sooner and reduced the risk of them needing urgent attention later.
Even if you are away for the holiday, you should not delay getting the help you need. You can access your nearest Urgent Treatment Centre, usually open at least 12 hours a day, by calling NHS 111.
Newark Urgent Treatment Centre is open every day from 8am to 10.30pm, with the last patient admitted 9.30pm, for non-life-threatening injuries and health problems. You don’t need an appointment to attend.
If you need medical care and it’s not an emergency, it’s best to avoid a long wait at A&E and seek help through your GP, out-of-hours pharmacies, or NHS111.
By calling 111 or visiting NHS 111 online, you can receive advice or be directed to the most appropriate service first time by a trained operator, who can also book appointments and timeslots.
Pharmacists can help by suggesting over-the-counter treatments for less serious conditions, an some pharmacies are also open out-of-hours, you can find out which ones on the NHS website.
If you experience a genuine life-threatening emergency such as severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, or abdominal pain do not hesitate to phone 999 or visit A&E.
