Posted: 3 January 2020

Help us help you - stay well this winter

Our accident and emergency department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital is very busy at the moment. Please make use of the range of alternative options available for non-emergency situations to ensure you get the appropriate care you need and save yourself an unnecessary trip to A&E.

Alternative options for non-emergency situations:

• Call 111 for advice on symptoms, treatments and where to get help or visit 111.nhs.uk
  
• The Urgent Treatment Centre, based at Wycombe Hospital, is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is GP led and staffed by doctors and nurses.  You can go there if you need urgent medical attention but it’s not a life threatening situation. You can be treated for injuries like cuts, small burns or scalds, bites and stings, sprains and certain fractures, minor head injuries and foreign bodies in eyes. 
• Pharmacists can offer quick, early advice to patients who feel unwell and they can now provide some medicines usually only available on prescription. Many have private consulting rooms too.
• Ensure you have enough regular medication to cover you should you not be able to get out easily this winter and request repeat prescriptions well in advance if necessary.
• Medicine cabinet: stock up with over-the-counter remedies for ailments such as colds, sore throats, headaches, stomach upsets, cuts, grazes and indigestion, including remedies for children.

When to visit A&E

For life threatening conditions you must always phone 999 or go straight to accident and emergency. Go straight to A&E for conditions like:

• Unconsciousness or difficulty breathing
• Serious head injuries
• Heart attack, severe chest pain or stroke
• Obvious broken bones
• Deep cuts that won’t stop bleeding
• Accidentally swallowed medicines or dangerous liquids
• A rash that doesn’t disappear when pressed with a glass
• Severe burns and scalds
• Fitting or concussion
• Severe allergic reactions

For those with long term conditions

If you have a long-term health condition like: COPD; bronchitis, emphysema; diabetes; heart, kidney or liver disease or have suffered a stroke, a flu bug on top of health conditions like these can develop into something more serious.  If you start to feel unwell, at the first signs of symptoms of respiratory illness, even if it’s just a cough or cold, get advice from your pharmacist, before it gets more serious. You could save yourself a trip to A&E.

Please make sure you get the right help, in the right place for your medical needs.