ACT Health figures reveal emergency department visits have hit record highs as presentations surged by nearly 23,000 patients in a decade.

However, authorities do not believe the closure of a walk-in centre at Canberra Hospital is to blame for a recent spike in emergency department visits.

ED visits hit their highest levels in 2013-14, on the back of a busy 2012-13 when there were 118,945 emergency visits to the territory's public hospitals.

Presentations surged 24 per cent between 2002-03 and 2012-13 and increased from 106,820 in 2009-10 to 125,890 in the last financial year; a 6 per cent rise on the previous year's figure.

Emergency departments have struggled through their busiest ever month, with 11,395 ED visits in August.

The previous high of 11,321 visits was recorded in March this year.

The pressure on the territory's public hospitals was laid bare when ACT Health this week urged Canberrans to save emergency departments for genuine emergencies.

"This time of year is typically a busy time of year," a spokeswoman said.

She said there was no evidence to suggest the relocation of the Canberra Hospital walk-in centre had had an impact on recent ED visits.

"In fact, the combined average daily presentations at both the Tuggeranong and Belconnen walk-in centres is greater than the average daily presentations we used to see at Canberra Hospital," she said.

But just what is driving the huge increase in ED visits remains unclear.

"It is not possible to determine exactly why demand is particularly high at the moment," the spokeswoman said.

"What we do know is that the data indicates that more patients are presenting to Canberra Hospital ED than Calvary ED and, in some cases, patients are attending the ED rather than seeking treatment through their GP, the walk-in centres, or through after hours services such as CALMS and the National Home Doctor Service."

A leaked email has revealed Canberra Hospital is considering introducing an "overcapacity protocol" to deal with increasing patient numbers.

Under the plan, patients set to be discharged form wards with high capacity would be placed in areas not normally used to accommodate beds, reducing pressure on traditional ward space.

ACT Health director-general Peggy Brown on Wednesday revealed more than 200 people a day attended Canberra Hospital ED in the past week.

She warned ED visits were growing faster than Canberra's population growth, which was placing "enormous pressure" on resources primarily used to treat medical emergencies.

ACT Health has reminded people with non-life threatening or non-limb threatening injuries to use alternative services such as walk-in centres at the Tuggeranong or Belconnen community health centres, their GP, healthdirect or CALMS or the National Home Doctor Service for non-urgent after hours care.

A leaked email from the hospital's new executive director, Mark Dykgraaf, has revealed Canberra Hospital staff have had to deal with "particularly high presentations, high workloads and significant challenges with bed access inside the hospital" in recent weeks.

The email has outlined plans for an "overcapacity protocol" which suggests patients from certain wards who are expected to be discharged within 24 hours would be accommodated in areas "on the ward that is not a designated conventional ward bed space".

There would be a limit of one such "overcapacity" patient per ward. The proposal indicates this would free up to 10 beds across the hospital at times when the hospital was operating close to capacity.

Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has been asked to consider the new protocols and an accompanying communications strategy ahead of a required public consultation and possible introduction in late October or November.