Around four in 10 attendees of A&E and minor injury units leave without needing treatment, according to a report.

Data from the NHS Information Centre for England shows many people leave these departments having only received advice.

Of the 10.3 million visits in 2009/10 where details were recorded, around 3.9 million ended with the patient receiving guidance.

In addition, one eighth - 1.2 million - did not need advice or treatment, according to records.

The report, representing about 75% of emergency and unplanned activity in the NHS, covers 15.6 million records from A&E departments, minor injury clinics and walk-in centres.

The report, covering 172 of 263 providers of emergency services in England, shows around half a million patients leave A&E or injury units before being treated.

The busiest time in A&E is 10am on a Monday, with patients typically spending around nine minutes in the department before being assessed.

They tend to stay there for 55 minutes before being treated and just over two hours before they get to go home.

NHS Information Centre chief executive, Tim Straughan, said: "This report highlights the scale to which A&E staff offer advice and reassurance to patients, rather than give any medical treatment."

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2011

More than half of hospital patients with broken bones gained their injury by falling over, with women and the eldery most likely to trip, NHS figures have shown.

Falls accounted for 57% of hospital admissions for fractures - a total of 195,502 patients - and 79% of these were women. People aged over 80 made up a third of fall fracture patients.

Men were more likely to break their bones in traffic accidents, according to the NHS Information Centre for England data. Although only one in 12 fracture admissions were caused this way, 76% of them were men and 37% of patients were aged between 17 and 39.

People broke their femurs, or thigh bones, more than any other, with such fractures accounting for nearly 25% of the 343,536 hospital admissions for the injury in 2009-10.

Assault caused just 4% of admissions for breaks, with men making up the majority (91%) of cases. Again, there was a higher rate of these cases among young people, with almost three out of four aged 17 to 39.

Fractured bones made up 2.4% of all hospital admissions in 2009-10, which was a slight rise on the 2.3% recorded the previous year.

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010

A new report published has shown a large increase in avoidable emergency hospital admissions.

The study, carried out by the Nuffield Trust, an independent think-tank, revealed there were 12% more patients going to hospital in an emergency in 2008/09 compared with 2004/05.

The trust said many were held in for just one day, suggesting they did not need to be in hospital at all.

It added the increase of 1.35 million emergency admissions over the five-year period was unsustainable.

The study also highlighted the large variations between hospital admittance figures across the country.

The number of "costly and frequently preventable" emergency admissions, mostly through A&E, rose from 4.4 million in 2004/05 to 4.9 million in 2008/09, the study said.

Around one in three of all hospital admissions in England are emergencies, costing the NHS some £11 billion a year - one of the most expensive areas of the health service.

All the "extra" admissions highlighted in the report cost at least £330 million annually.

The study examined several reasons for the increase, including the fact people are living longer and older people are far more likely to be admitted to hospital as an emergency.

A pressing problem seems to be changes in medical practice, with more patients being admitted for a stay of 24 hours or less.

Advances in medical care and management reduced the length of time patients stay in hospital, which in turn freed up more available beds and saw doctors admitting more patients.

The report said the cycle would need to broken in the future through, creating better out-of-hospital care and preventing patients becoming sick in the first place.

Nuffield Trust director Dr Jennifer Dixon said: "Avoidable emergency admissions will continue to rise unless care is more integrated and hospitals and beds are closed. Otherwise the risk is that the NHS becomes unaffordable."

The College of Emergency Medicine said it did not accept that admissions for fewer than 24 hours were unnecessary.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "We are introducing changes to the tariff to cover re-ablement and post-discharge support, including social care. This creates real opportunities for hospitals to work with GPs and local authorities and requires the full engagement of the wider health and care economy before discharging patients."

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010

Home safety checks will be offered to parents of children under five in a bid to cut the number of young people visiting accident and emergency departments, a health watchdog has said.

In excess of two million children visit hospital each year because of accidents, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) revealed, and although most of the cases are minor, evidence suggests unintentional injuries are a prominent cause of deaths among under-15s.

A total of 208 children aged under 14 in England and Wales died because of unintentional injuries, Nice said. It has issued draft guidance asking for equipment in homes with children under five to be safety checked.

The equipment should meet British or European safety standards, while inspectors also need to consider the developmental age of the child, cultural and religious beliefs, disabilities, literacy levels, and whether English is the family`s first language when inspecting homes.

Nice public health excellence centre director Mike Kelly denied the watchdog is promoting a "nanny state".

Mr Kelly said: "It`s a normal part of growing up for children to sometimes hurt themselves in day-to-day life, but we also need to prevent serious injuries from happening.

"These can have a profound effect on a young child right through to adult life, as they may need lengthy treatment and could be permanently disabled or disfigured."

Copyright © Press Association 2010