A snapshot of a shift in accident and emergency is to be relayed on the internet.

Doctors and nurses at Leicester Royal Infirmary A&E will tweet about the real emergencies they treat throughout the day.

They will also provide information on the non-urgent cases that come through the doors and highlight the delays and inconvenience these can cause, as well as giving advice on where the patient could have gone for treatment.

They will be updating on Twitter and Facebook between 8am and 6pm today.

David Anderson, manager of the department, said: "For us, it is just another day at work.

"But sharing what we face in a busy city centre emergency department might change people's attitudes and perceptions.

"What we want to do is make sure people only use us when they need to, in an emergency, and that they are aware of other health services available.

"We have never taken to social networks before to give people an insight into what we do."

The 10-hour event is part of the Choose Better campaign being run by the primary care trusts (PCTs) NHS Leicester City and NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland.

Its aim is to let people know when to use walk-in centres, GPs, pharmacies and NHS Direct.

Rachna Vyas, urgent care lead for the PCTs, said: "We thought it was time for a different approach to telling people where they can get health care help.

"We want to target a younger audience who are using social networking sites.

"It is another potential avenue to let people know there is always a service open, not just A&E, and where that is.

"We won't be compromising patient confidentiality and no personal information will be used in the messages that staff post on Twitter.

"They will also only be tweeting as and when they can – it will not be detracting from their clinical work."

Catherine Griffiths, chief executive of the PCTs, said: "This will give the public an excellent chance to see the pressure that hard-working A&E staff come under on a daily basis.

"Obviously, we do not know what kind of challenge will walk through the door on the day but it promises to provide people with a fascinating and informative insight."

People can follow activity via #choosebetterllr on Twitter or by going to the Facebook link on:

here

Follow Mercury health correspondent Cathy Buss on Twitter - @CathyBuss