Warning as party-goers flock to A&E

A PATIENT was treated in accident and emergency every three minutes on Black Friday in the Lothians, it has emerged.

The stark figures have prompted a warning from health chiefs to revellers to drink in moderation over the festive season.

While the 468 people treated at the ERI and St John’s Hospital casualty wards last Friday was not a record, it still places a significant strain on staff and those patients whose admission is not sparked by drugs or alcohol.

Many of those attending, bosses added, could easily be treated at less crowded facilities like the minor injuries unit at the Western General.

Dr Dave Caesar, clinical director for emergency medicine at NHS Lothian, said: “We would ask people to think twice before they turn up and question whether their ailment really is an emergency.”