A SCOTS NHS board has revealed the not-so-cheery side of Christmas – in a list of gruesome A&E attendances on Christmas day.
There was little peace on Earth for staff at NHS Ayrshire and Arran as they had to deal with animal bites, painful burns and horrific boils while the rest of the country was celebrating.
Instead of spending time with family, doctors and nurses on duty saw to 214 patients who turned up to accident and emergency departments at the health board’s ten hospitals.
And the injuries they had to deal with would be enough to turn many off their Christmas dinner.
Some of the grisly ailments include a person whose middle finger had been bitten by another person – perhaps in a brawl over who got the last roast potato.
Another came in after an animal, maybe a new Christmas puppy, had bitten their thumb.
Several people turned up with “flap wounds” to their fingers and toes – a possible turkey carving gone wrong.
It would appear that one person, who decided to partake in some festive DIY, had managed to hit their own hand and had to be treated for “mallet middle finger”.
Another incident lists a “foreign object in throat” – potentially a stubborn sprout.
One person also turned up drunk – though that is to be expected on the day of celebration on merriment.
The list, which was revealed through a Freedom of Information request, highlights the never-ending workload for short-staffed A&E departments throughout the country.
Recent reports suggest that the departments are being overwhelmed, with as many as 58 patients lying on trolleys waiting for space on the wards in one large West of Scotland hospital.
Some people have had to wait more than 12 hours in casualty to be admitted and others have been directed away from their nearest hospital as it was too busy.
Over the festive period, there were some reports of a 10% increase in patient numbers at certain hospitals.
