Urgent and emergency care services
If you need medical treatment, help or advice urgently, it helps to know what is classed as an emergency, the types of services on offer and which one is best suited to your needs.
Emergency department
You should only go to a hospital emergency department if you, a friend or relative has a medical emergency.
Waiting times at emergency departments can change quickly without warning.
Waiting time can be dependent on triage priority category (your medical need and how critical or life-threatening it may be), with the most critically urgent patients requiring treatment first.
Information on where to find emergency departments in Northern Ireland and waiting times is available at:
Information on emergency departments for each Trust is available at the links below:
Deciding if you need an emergency service
It is often very obvious if someone is seriously ill and needs immediate emergency care.
An emergency, critical or life-threatening situation may involve:
- unconsciousness
- a suspected stroke
- heavy blood loss
- a deep wound such as a stab wound
- a suspected heart attack
- difficulty in breathing
- severe burns
- a severe allergic reaction
If you or someone else needs emergency treatment that is critical or immediately life-threatening, phone 999 and ask for the ambulance service.
'Phone First' service
If you think you need urgent or emergency care, whcih is not immediately life-threatening, use the Phone First service.
You will be medically assessed on the phone by a health professional and will be given advice and directed to the most suitable urgent or community service to meet your treatment or care needs.
This could include an appointment to go to:
- an Emergency Department
- an Urgent Care Centre
- a Minor Injuries Unit
- a GP
- a pharmacist
- another service
The service is available at all Health and Social Care Trusts:
Further information is available at:
Things to remember in an emergency
There are a few things that you should remember in any emergency to help you to deal with the situation quickly and efficiently.
They are:
- stay calm, shout for help
- you may need to get someone to telephone 999 - make sure they know where the ambulance has to come to and that they have some details about the person who is injured or ill
- don't put yourself in danger - if someone has been electrocuted, make sure you switch off the power supply before touching them
- do everything you can to help the person
- don't give the person anything to eat, drink or smoke
- don't stick anything in their mouth
- follow the instructions the ambulance service call handler may give you
The best way to help a person very often depends on what is wrong with them.
Sometimes, the quickest way to help is to take the person to the nearest Emergency Department (ED).
However, even if your hospital is fairly close, you should call an ambulance and not move the patient if you think they:
- may have hurt their back or neck
- have any other injury that may be made worse by moving them
- the person has severe chest pain or difficulty breathing
When it's not a life-threatening emergency
Minor Injury units or urgent care services offer medical help when it's not a life-threatening emergency and can help with many of the most common problems people go to Emergency Departments for.
These services can treat injuries that are not critical or life-threatening, such as:
- injuries to upper and lower limbs
- broken bones, sprains, bruises and wounds
- bites – human, animal and insect
- burns and scalds
- abscesses and wound infections
- minor head injuries
- broken noses and nosebleeds
- foreign bodies in the eyes and nose
Further information on where to find Minor Injuries units and Urgent Care centres and their contact details are available at the following links:
- Northern Trust - Minor Injuries Units
- South Eastern Trust – Minor Injuries Unit
- Southern Trust - Minor Injuries
- Western Trust – Urgent Care and Treatment Centre, Omagh Hospital
Each Emergency Department in the Belfast Trust has a minor injury stream which manages certain minor injuries from triage through the emergency nurse practitioners.
Remember:
- you should not go to an Emergency Department as an alternative to your GP
- calling 999 for an ambulance does not get you to the top of an ED queue - patients are seen based on medical need, not who gets to the hospital first
Other healthcare services
There are other healthcare services that give expert care to treat your medical condition.
Picking the most suitable service for your symptoms means you get the right treatment in the right place.