It depends on whether people think GPs can manage the sort of problem they have, and also how much money it would cost, especially after hours.
Dr Sage (pictured) said staff had recently seen people for constipation, itchy eyes, sore throats, colds, irritating coughs, high blood pressure, simple ankle sprains, diarrhoea, joint pain, back pain and some who had just run out of their medications.
"These are not emergencies. If you have these symptoms, your first thought should be to contact your GP."
Additional staff had been required to cope with the recent spike in demand.
"We cannot do that every day of the week." Dr Sage said.
Tauranga GP Tony Farrell believed patient perception and cost were the main reasons people chose to wait in ED rather than see a general practitioner.
"It depends on whether people think GPs can manage the sort of problem they have, and also how much money it would cost, especially after hours," Dr Farrell said.
Dr Farrell encouraged people to visit a local GP, rather than add to high ED numbers.
However, GPs were also under pressure themselves.
"It would be much better for them to visit their GP, but then again we do have very high utilisation rates and our books are full daily. There is a pressure on medical services at this present time," Dr Farrell said.
