Visits to accident and emergency units at Glasgow hospitals have plummeted since the country went into lockdown last month.

Trips to the children’s A&E department have seen a huge reduction of more than 1000 a week.

Concerns over not wanting to burden the NHS, fears about coronavirus in hospitals and fewer emergencies with fewer people at work, children off school and spending most of the time indoors under supervision and less activity that could cause accidents taking place are likely to have contributed to the decrease.

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However, medics and the Government have said that people should continue to seek assistance should they need it for serious and urgent cases.

Two of the busiest A&E departments in Scotland are in Glasgow at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Infirmary.

The casualty at the Royal Hospital for Children, also normally busy, has seen the biggest decrease as attendances dropped dramatically in the last four weeks.

At the Queen Elizabeth in the week ending April 5 there were 911 attendances. Four weeks earlier, before the lockdown for week ending March 8, there 1902 attendances.

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The Royal Infirmary has seen an even bigger drop, falling from 1822 attendances to 663.

And at the Royal Hospital for Children where typically around1200 children are seen in a week it was down to under 300.

The fall at the hospital has been the largest in the city down from 1346 to 297 over the same four weeks.

The same week last year saw 1150 attendances at the children’s hospital.

At the Queen Elizabeth Hospital the reduction has led to more people being seen within the four hour waiting target.

The latest figures show 88% were seen with in four hours.

Four weeks earlier there were just 71.3% seen within the four hours.

Jeane Freeman, Health Secretary, said: “While members of the public are continuing to listen to advice and only going to A&E if illnesses are immediate or life threatening, I would like to remind people not to ignore early warning signs of serious conditions.

“If you have new symptoms then it’s vital you get this checked out either by contacting your GP, or if symptoms are urgent by attending A&E.

“We are working closely with health boards and partnerships to ensure robust plans are in place to strengthen capacity and minimise the impact of COVID-19 across the health system.”

Glasgow Times: Jeane Freeman Jeane Freeman

The A&E figures come after, last week Gregor Smith, interim chief medical officer urged people to seek medical help if they had symptoms they normally would go to the doctors with.

He said that the heath service was “eerily quiet” when it comes to non-coronavirus symptoms.

Across Scotland the number of people attending hospital accident and emergency departments dropped to 11,263 in the week ending April 5, compared to 26,710 in the week ending March 8.

Ms Freeman added: “The A&E waiting times figures for the week ending April 5 show that 92.7% of people were seen and treated within four hours. T

“This is due to the continued hard work and dedication of staff in our NHS who are providing an exceptional level of care during these extraordinary times.

“Each and every one of you has my very grateful thanks.”

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