These trips are estimated to cost up to £100 million a year
Being unable to remove false nails and seeking treatment for a sick dog are just some of the 'inappropriate' reasons why people attend A&E, new research has revealed.
A new campaign is urging people not to go to A&E unless their condition is a genuine emergency, after figures suggesting as many as a quarter of people who go to A&E could care for themselves or use alternative treatment.
Other bizarre examples include a woman asking for help after a hair dye disaster, another wanting someone to cut her toenails because she could not get a chiropody appointment and a man who dialled 999 because he was suffering from constipation.
You'll be surprised to know that one mother took her child to A&E because they had stepped in dog poo and she wanted staff to clean it off.
Dr Mike Chesire, medical director at NHS North West, which is co-ordinating the national campaign, says: "The tales told in the videos are very funny and they are extreme cases, but there are serious issues behind them."
A further woman asked staff to remove paint stuck in her hair while another said her hand had turned blue - it turned out to be the dye from her jeans.
Across England, unnecessary A&E attendances are estimated to cost at least £80 million to £100 million a year. Every attendance costs a minimum of £59.
Dr Chesire says unnecessary attendances "put an enormous and unnecessary strain on the NHS, and not just in financial terms. Every minute that an A&E doctor or nurse spends treating very minor problems reduces the time they can spend attending to those who have suffered heart attacks, strokes and life-threatening injuries."