Your decisions, not your conditions, will shape your life as we go into probably the most disturbing year since 1939.

But before we even get close to 2024, we must get over the year’s next six days.

Will you clap the NHS like we did every Wednesday, or has that passed now?

Will all the nurses and doctors who are under an enormous workload and distress still be dancing?

Again, will the Government be drumming up a frenzy to get yet another generation boosted, so they don’t spread any new buzzword to the ones they would not be associated with under normal circumstances?

I guess people will still be waiting in hospital corridors on Christmas day this year, in spite of the efforts we all made in clapping and the injections people had in the dirty car parks throughout Great Britain.

But don’t despair. Christmas Day is the least busy day in A&E during the holidays.

Christmas is a time for families and friends to come together, relax, and enjoy (pity Boris didn’t know that others had families as well a couple of years ago).

It’s a time of giving, receiving, and feasting – perhaps, for some, a celebratory tipple. But sometimes, yuletide plans can go awry. And some of these purported pleasures might lead to a visit to the local emergency department.

The holiday season is often one of the busiest times in A&E departments in the UK and worldwide. But not Christmas day.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the Christmas season sees a surge in attendance – the number of these Christmas attendances in the UK is rising by around 4% each year.

Overindulgence from gluttony, alcohol, and drugs is often taken to excess at Christmas.

Alcohol is a common reason for attendance during public holidays worldwide. Even on regular weekends, up to 70% of A&E attendances in the UK are alcohol-related.

Alcohol intoxication is a significant burden on emergency departments. Unruly drunken patients may cause disruption, Patients who are rendered unconscious by alcohol require careful monitoring to ensure they don’t fill their airways with vomit.

Gluttony can also bring someone to the emergency department. Eating and drinking too much can cause acid reflux, which in severe cases can mimic the symptoms of a heart attack.

Accidents: Christmas presents can sometimes be a significant threat to safety.

Recently, electric scooters have become a significant threat due to collisions and lithium battery-related fires.

Christmas is said to be the season of goodwill. Sadly, this is not always the case. The Christmas period sees an increase in the incidence of assaults.

There’s also an increase in sexual assault and domestic violence at Christmas. Much of this comes to the emergency department.

Poor mental health: Loneliness is rife in old and young alike. Christmas sees an increase in those feeling desperate – and, in some cases, harming themselves.

Psychiatric services come under particular pressure at this time. The number of these attendances at Christmas is no higher than the rest of the year, but services are less well-staffed, so that patients may be waiting longer for support.

Elder abuse: One of the most egregious things we see in emergency departments is the abandonment of elderly relatives by families wishing to rid themselves of them for a quieter time at home or perhaps make their holiday celebrations easier. Known as “granny dumping,” this involves people bringing a relative to A&E in the days before Christmas, claiming they require care and need to be admitted to hospital for monitoring. Figures on this are hard to come by, but it’s seen widely in emergency departments.

Emergency departments continue to function over the festive season. Patients present with all manner of emergencies that require immediate treatment.

I want to thank the front-line NHS workers for being so considerate to others and suggesting a bit more thought by all of us to risk assessment well before doing self-inflicted harm to ourselves and others in the coming days.

If this all happens just because a baby was born, it’s not surprising that so many couples have made the decision not to have children under these conditions.

If you have gotten this far, I wish you all a fantastic Christmas.