Some patients are going to A&E units in the UK more than 50 times a year, a BBC investigation shows.
Data from 183 sites obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed nearly 12,000 people made more than 10 visits to the same unit in 2012-13.
A small number of those - just over 150 - attended more than 50 times.
Doctors warned that the issue, while confined to a minority of patients, was adding to the mounting pressures on the system this winter.
Many hospitals are already struggling to hit their waiting-time targets.
In England, the four-hour target was missed overall in the fortnight leading up to Christmas.
Figures for the festive period will be released later on Tuesday.
Continue reading the main storyDr Cliff Mann, of the College of Emergency Medicine, said the BBC's findings raised some worrying questions as hospitals struggled to cope.
He said there were a variety of issues which led patients to become frequent visitors, including mental health and problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, which suggested that with better support in the community, particularly from social care, repeat visits could be prevented.
But he also said others were using A&E simply because they had had good experiences in the past, while those who struggled with the language may be using A&E units as a default because they found it hard to navigate their way round the system.
"At a time when emergency departments are very busy, it is clear that repeat non-emergency attendees are adding to the pressures," he added.
As part of the investigation, the BBC asked 175 hospital trusts and boards across the UK for information on repeat attendances during 2012-13. A total of 106 responded, covering 183 units.
Among the worst cases identified was a patient at Luton and Dunstable Hospital who attended 234 times in the year, while one person went to Sheffield's Northern General 223 times.
'Great concern'Patients Association chief executive Katherine Murphy said: "These figures are of great concern and provide yet more proof that our already overstretched A&E services are being put under increasingly severe strain.
"It needs to be recognised that every inappropriate attendance at the A&E would detract health professionals from attending to the genuine and often life-threatening emergencies," she added.
She said improving access to GPs could make a big difference - before Christmas, official NHS data showed the number of people waiting longer than a week to be seen by a GP was growing.
A spokeswoman for NHS England said the figures should be seen in context - in England alone there were more than 21 million visits to A&E units last year.
"The figures presented here suggest that the number of people attending A&E frequently is relatively small when considered against the big picture.
"Our A&E departments are trusted by the public and it is really important that people know the NHS will be there for them if they need treatment and care."
But she added: "It is also important that patients and the public know about and use the full range of health services in their local area. The NHS works hard to ensure people know where to go to get the best care and can use services appropriately."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
A&Es see some people 50 times a year
Dengan url
https://sarapanoatmeal.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-see-some-people-50-times-year.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
A&Es see some people 50 times a year
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
A&Es see some people 50 times a year
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar