Bottom line is that our whole system is based on trust. We trust that the general public understand the difference between acute and chronic; those who have an immediate proplem that needs immediate attention and those who have a problem which can wait until Monday morning when they can visit their GP. Assuming that there is no greater increase in acute illness, the year on year increase in our workload therefore comes from an unwillingness to wait until patients can see a GP or are prepared to make their own way to A&E. We live in a 24 hour socieity. We want attention and we want it now. What we do about that is the question