Patients are being urged to only dial 999 in a genuine emergency, to ease pressure on Torbay Hospital’s “extremely busy” emergency department.

The hospital is urging people to choose the right service for their needs if they feel unwell or are injured, as its emergency department continues to be inundated with sick patients needing urgent care.

Sourcing the right service is “incredibly important,” says the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, to make sure everyone receives the right advice or treatment while ensuring the emergency department is able to see and treat those people who are most in need.

Ian Currie, the trust’s medical director, said: “Our emergency department remains very busy and colleagues have been extremely working hard to care for our patients.

“We are asking for your help to make sure we can continue to care for those most in need.

“You can do this by choosing the right service for your needs.

 “And please be patient – colleagues in all services across health and social care are working very hard to treat and care for people as safely and quickly as they can.

“Thank you for your support and understanding.”

Many conditions can be treated with self-care at home using first aid kits including grazes, scrapes and hangovers, says the trust.

Local pharmacies can provide health advice and help with minor illnesses like colds, rashes, sunburn, hay fever and diarrhoea – no appointment is needed and pharmacists can even provide people with the correct medicines at the same time.

Before contacting their GPs’, patients can look up their symptoms online using the NHS App, the NHS website or 111 online which may reveal steps patients can take to help themselves before needing to contact a healthcare professional, adds the trust.

The NHS 111 service is available 24/7 to provide advice, treatment and care.

Just ring 111 or visit 111.nhs.uk and the service will provide advice and refer patients to another service if need, or if a patient needs to be seen in person, the service can book a time slot.

Anyone struggling with mental wellbeing can phone the NHS’s 24/7 mental health line on 0808 196 8708.

Or for suspected sexual infections, advice or information as well as emergency contraception and support with unplanned pregnancy phone the Devon Sexual Health service on 0300 303 3989.