NHS North East is using twitter to urge people across the region to 'choose well' this winter during a five day tweeting marathon.

Starting next Monday 10 December, several NHS organisations from across the region will take part in the tweet-a-thon using the #tweetwell hashtag.

This will give a snapshot of incidents that emergency care services deal with every day, and highlight where an incident could have been resolved via another NHS service.

Dr Tricia Cresswell, deputy medical director of NHS North East said: "Christmas can be a very busy time of year for the region's doctors and nurses with cold weather and seasonal viruses such as winter vomiting illness and flu doing the rounds.

"Due to this increased pressure, it's important to remember that 999 and A&E services are only for seriously ill people and life-threatening emergencies.

"By highlighting examples of both appropriate and inappropriate use of emergency services, and making people aware of the alternatives, we hope that the tweet-a-thon will help people to choose the right service if they're unwell."

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as well as providing community health services, will be taking part along with the North East Ambulance Service.

NHS North East will be reminding everyone of the importance of good self care for minor ailments, the telephone advice available from NHS Direct and highlighting which illnesses their local pharmacy, GP surgery or urgent care centre will be best placed to help with.

If you need further medical advice you can use the NHS Direct online symptom checker or call 0845 4647. People in County Durham or Darlington can call the free NHS 111 number if they need medical help fast but it's not a 999 emergency.

Trust websites will carry details of how to follow tweets.