CorpComms Magazine

Leicester Royal Infirmary has taken to Twitter in an effort to raise awareness about the pressures placed on its accident and emergency (A&E) department on a given day.

The tweets include details about different ailments the staff encounter, and the delays caused by non-emergencies that end up in the A&E department.

Staff began tweeting from the A&E department at 8am this morning, and will continue to post updates until 6pm tonight.

Within the first few hours of activity the Twitter account reported that an urgent care centre nurse was diverting non-emergencies away from A&E.

Members of staff said they wanted to show that delays in the A&E department could be reduced if people go to the right place in the hospital. 

A spokesperson for the hospital said that the tweets would not violate patient confidentiality.

A 2011 YouGov Healthcare survey found that hospitals that are proficient in social media were more likely to have 'cutting edge' technology, equipment and clinical practice.

Leicester Royal Infirmary is not the first hospital to join in the social media action. University College London Hospital is one of a long list of hospitals on social media, and it has more than 1,200 followers on its @UCLH Twitter account.

Other hospitals on Twitter include Southampton Hospital, Nottingham University Hospitals, West Middlesex University Hospital and Birmingham Children's Hospital.

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