Dr. Colm Henry:

Part of what emergency departments do is see people with infectious illness who are acutely ill. Through our winter plan, we encourage people to be aware that there are other ways people can access emergency care. For example, more than 1.1 million consultations take place in out-of-hours general practices. Local injury units will also be expanding this winter so there are many ways in which people can access out-of-hours care, that do not have to be funnelled through ambulances coming into hospitals.