Health campaign has reduced A&E pressure, says report
Health chiefs believe that a campaign directing people to the best service for their needs has helped to reduce A&E admissions.
NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin launched their ‘Think Which Service’ campaign in January last year in a bid to reduce the demand on A&E departments.
The health authority believed that prior to the campaign around half of people who visited A&E ‘could have been treated by another service’ – for example a Minor Injuries Unit or Urgent Treatment Centre.
Health chiefs said that the campaign launched at the same time they faced their ‘worst ever months for lost hours’.
They said that from September until December 2022 they lost a total of 30,000 ambulance hours at Telford and Shrewsbury hospitals.
Following the launch of the campaign, from January until April 2023, they state that they saw an ‘immediate reduction’ in lost hours, dropping to 10,246 lost hours.
