The Department of Emergency Medicine is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Priority is given to patients with life threatening injuries or illnesses.
There is open access for all adult emergencies i.e. patients over 16 years of age.

Functions

• Access all patients attending.
• Institute emergency resuscitation and treatment.
• Refer patients to appropriate speciality either on or off site.
• Treat as indicated non-admitted and after suitable treatment/advice refer to their GP.
• The Department also has a GP Liaison Nurse who provides the following services:
  • Inform GPs when their patients have been admitted or have died
  • Assisting GPs when they are sending seriously ill patients to the Department
  • Responding to GPs requests for diagnostic test results, information and advice

Access to Service

By Ambulance as a result of a 999 emergency call

• Referral by a GP
• By direct access to the Department

Reception

On arrival, patients are registered by clerical staff onto the computer system.
Essential details are collated and a set of medical records is prepared.

Triage
Patients are assessed by the Triage Nurse and given a priority rating which will determine the urgency with which they are seen.
The Triage Categories are outlined below:

• Category 1 - Needs to be seen immediately
• Category 2 - Needs to be seen within 15 minutes
• Category 3 - To be seen within 1 hour
• Category 4 - To be seen within 2 hours
• Category 5 - More appropriate to attend GP

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I go to the A&E department?
If you have an injury that you believe will require stitches or an x-ray, or if you have sudden chest pain, breathlessness or severe pain elsewhere in your body, then it is appropriate for you to come to A&E.
If you have a condition which has been present for 2 or 3 days, or which is a minor nuisance only, then it may be more appropriate to go to your GP. Patients are assessed on arrival and given a priority, and so if you attend with a problem that does not need urgent treatment, you may be allocated a low priority and may wait some time to see a doctor.

How long will I wait?
It is very difficult to predict how long you will wait; the situation in the department may change suddenly if a severely injured or seriously ill patient is brought in. If the waiting time is long, you will be told and you may be given advice on alternative health care providers you may try. For instance, the nurse may recommend that you see your doctor.

Where should I go?
The A&E department is on situated to the right of the main entrance and can be identified by the glass canopies over the entrance. If you are brought by ambulance, you will be taken to the clinical area and have an assessment made there.

Where can I park?
There are a limited number of parking spaces in the Hospital car park. Please do not park in areas designated for ambulances and hospital staff as these areas are constantly in use and access is required at all times. There is also pay parking on the main road directly outside the hospital grounds.

How do I get home?
We will only arrange an ambulance in exceptional circumstances i.e. Transfer to another Hospital. Patients will have to arrange their own transport home from the Department. There is a list of Taxi numbers available at the Reception.