A&E treats 3,500 patients over the holiday period
A total of 3,568 people were treated in the accident and emergency department at Leicester Royal Infirmary between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.
The figure was slightly up on the 2011-12 total of 3,542 .
New Year's Eve was the quietest day, with 358 attending – compared with a daily average of about 430.
Health campaigners said they hoped it meant people were beginning to get the message A&E was for life-threatening emergencies.
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Ket Chudasama, from West Leicestershire clinical commissioning group, said: "Although all the figures are not yet in for A&E and the urgent care and walk-in centres, there is reason to believe people are thinking carefully about where to go for the right treatment."
Health campaigner Zuffar Haq, a member of the Leicester Mercury Patients' Panel, paid for a newspaper advertisement to promote walk-in centres.
He said: "I think the mild weather may have helped and that GP surgeries were open in between the holiday days.
"I hope it also means people are gradually beginning to realise there are alternatives when their GP surgery is shut or they cannot get an appointment.
"This campaign must continue to take the pressure off A&E services at the infirmary, especially as the winter goes on."
The number of patients seen at the urgent care centre at Leicester Royal Infirmary over the holiday period was up from 1,446 last year to 1,510 this year.
Medics at Oadby and Wigston walk-in centre saw 63 patients on Christmas Day – double the number in 2011-12.
Mark Williams, consultant in emergency medicine at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said: "The overall number of people attending the department over the festive period remains fairly consistent with the previous year.
"However, those we have seen have been particularly sick older people."
Comments
by oldhenry
Saturday, January 05 2013, 5:24PM
“The lack of snow and ice must have helped considerably as you do not get many drowning cases turning up at A&E, they cannot swim that far.
Perhaps people are finding getting sloshed is just too expensive? Good for them I say, less tax for the theiving Treasury.”
by rhino
Saturday, January 05 2013, 5:06PM
“I bet this was all caused by smokers.”