42% of people who go to A&E don't need to be there, they cost hospitals £4.5 million a year and that cost is rising.
As a result, NHS staff throughout Central and Eastern Cheshire are giving their backing to the local Choose Well campaign, which aims to tackle the rise in A&E attendances.
Dr Bill Forsyth, Medical Director for Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT said: "The figures have shown for some time now that A&E is being used inappropriately for conditions which could easily be treated by over the counter medicines or with advice from a GP. The number of people using A&E, and 999 services, is going up year on year across the UK.
"I think that we need to get back to the message that A&E departments are for life-threatening and emergency conditions, such as heart attacks, strokes, breathing problems and serious accidents. We need to make sure we can concentrate on helping these emergency cases."
A&E teams are faced with having to deal with cases such as coughs and colds, backache and upset stomachs on a daily basis, conditions that could be dealt with through a trip to the high-street chemist or, if really necessary, via local GP surgeries.
Dr Bill Forsyth added: "Through Choose Well we want to re-educate people about using the right service to get the right treatment. We've introduced a "traffic light" system to highlight the appropriate services to use. The NHS is everyone's business and we need use our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible to ensure services are there for those who need them most, the elderly and the very young. Everyone can play their part by passing the Choose Well message on."
