Haslar'S accident and treatment centre is under-used because people don't know what it does.

That's the conclusion of campaigners battling to keep the centre open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Now the Save Haslar Taskforce wants people living within easy travelling distance of the Gosport hospital to be absolutely sure what nurse practitioners can and cannot do there.

They say this will help ease pressure on the overstretched accident and emergency unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

At the same time they hope it will stop people with life-threatening conditions turning up at Haslar.

Last month alone, 72 patients opted to take themselves to Haslar when they had potentially life-threatening complaints and had to be transferred to Queen Alexandra Hospital for treatment.

Penny Daniels, accident and treatment centre manager, said: "We are keen to see an increase in the number of injured patients we see here, but we are not an illness unit.

"If it is an injury we can treat it here.

"If it is an illness patients should go to the A&E unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

"In any life -threatening situation people should dial 999.

"Similarly, if a patient is suffering from chest pain, is out of breath or is suffering from abdominal pain they should dial 999 and they will be taken to the A&E unit at Queen Alexandra."

Since it opened in August 2000 the centre has seen approximately 15,000 patients each year.

This is 5,000 fewer than the accident and emergency unit it replaced.

Health bosses at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust have pointed out that the centre suffers from low usage during the night and have made no decision either way about future staffing levels.

At present, during the day two nurse practitioners and a nurse run the centre while at night there is one nurse practitioner and one nurse.

Taskforce spokesman Peter Edgar said: "With 25,000 homes due to be built from Portsmouth to Southampton, 400 homes in Royal Clarence Yard and 300 homes in St George's Bar-racks in Gosport, demand for the hospital will continue to increase in years to come.

"The accident treatment centre is a tremendous facility."

HASLAR'S ACCIDENT TREATMENT CENTRE:

You can go with:

wounds

minor burns,

sprained joints

broken bones

cuts and bruises

You should go to the A&E unit at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham if you:

have a life-threatening condition

suffer chest pains

have abdominal pains

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