TOOTHACHE, earache and three-year-old knee pain were just some of the maladies recorded in a "day in the life" of the emergency department at East Surrey Hospital.
As part of a nationwide "tweetathon", staff at the Canada Avenue hospital used Twitter to record the types of incidents they had to deal with and show how stretched hospital resources get.
Last year, more than half of the 74,354 patients who attended the emergency department were discharged requiring no treatment or follow-up appointment.
Hospital chief executive Michael Wilson said: "The aim of the tweetathon is to raise awareness about the healthcare services available.
"The 999 ambulance service and the Emergency Department at East Surrey Hospital are for urgent and life-threatening conditions. There are lots of alternative health services that are often more appropriate for patients with minor illnesses or injuries, leaving the ambulance service and the emergency department ready to respond to real emergencies."
It was clear from the first tweet on Friday that staff were faced with less than life-threatening injuries.
"Earache? Seriously! Why come to the Emergency Department? See pharmacist for advice. If symptoms don't improve talk to your GP, " tweeted one member of staff.
But they were not the only patients who had no need to be there.
Another member of staff wrote: "Someone with knee pain in emergency dept – had it two to three years! Why couldn't it wait another day for a GP appointment?"
While yet another said: "Toothache? Our Emergency Dept does not have a dentist, call the Emergency Dental Line on 0845 2712040."
As the day got busier, waiting times for a doctor increased to more than one hour and eventually staff took to tweeting that patients should go to minor injury units in Horsham and Caterham and an urgent treatment centre in Crawley.
Some patients, however, actually did need to be in hospital.
"Trauma patient in, hit by a car. This is what our Emergency Dept is for. This person is in the right place and in safe hands," tweeted one hospital worker.
Managers at East Surrey hope promoting care in the community and alternate – and more appropriate – places to go for treatment will lessen the burden on its over-stretched resources.
