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THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AT THE ULSTER HOSPITAL WILL MOVE TO A NEW PART OF THE SITE AT 00.01AM WEDNESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.

Emergency Departments treat and care for people with a serious injury or life-threatening condition.

If you or someone near you has a life-threatening medical emergency, call 999 immediately or go to your nearest emergency department.

Ulster Hospital Emergency Department

Open 24 hours every day.

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

An Urgent Care Centre is a consultant led service equipped to diagnose and deal with many of the most common ailments people attend an Emergency Department for. 

There are two Urgent Care Centre’s in the South Eastern Trust.

Both services are PHONE FIRST.

Those contacting the service will be triaged and offered an appointment within the urgent care service or directed to the most appropriate service.

Downe Hospital
8am- 6pm, Monday – Friday (The Downe operates a Minor Injury Service at the weekend. You can find out more below)
(028) 4483 8091

Lagan Valley Hospital
Monday – Friday 8.00 am-6.00 pm
(028) 9260 4643

A Minor Injury Unit can treat injuries that are not critical or life-threatening. You should attend a Minor Injuries Unit if it is suitable for the type of injury that you have.

What can be treated at a Minor Injuries Unit

Types of injuries treated can include:

• 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

You should telephone the Minor Injury Unit first. If your injury is assessed as appropriate for attendance you will be given an appointment.

Alternatively you may be given advice by phone or referred to another service.

There are also minor injury facilities in the Ulster Hospital (Phone First or walk in), Lagan Valley Urgent Care Centre (Phone First) and the Downe Urgent Care Centre (Phone First).

*GP Out of Hours will be available on 12 July for urgent medical care only.

The GP out of hours service is for people who need urgent medical treatment that cannot wait until their doctor’s practice opens.

When you mustn’t use the out of hours service

Don’t use the GP out of hours service for:

• repeat prescriptions
• dental problems
• minor ailments that a pharmacist can treat

Using the out of hours service

GP out of hours is available if you need urgent medical care when your GP surgery is closed.

GP out of hours services are:

• 6.00 pm on week days until your GP surgery opens the next morning
• 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday
• 24 hours on public holidays

You should telephone the out of hours service first. The doctor or nurse will assess you and:

• give you advice by telephone
• decide if you need to see a doctor
• refer you to another service

Pharmacists are qualified experts in medicines who can help you with minor health concerns. Qualified pharmacists can also offer clinical advice and over the counter medicines for a range of minor illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, ear infections and much more.

Before going to your GP, it is worth speaking to your pharmacist.

A pharmacist will be able to advise you if you need to see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional.

To find your nearest open pharmacy click here. 

Many common conditions, such as cold and flu, are often short-lived and can normally be treated well at home with rest and over-the-counter medicine to help treat and ease the symptoms. Click here for advice on caring for yourself at home.

If you were or are being treated for a mental illness, you should have a care plan. If you have a care plan, it will have names and numbers you contact in an emergency.

If you don’t have a care plan, or can’t find it, you can contact your mental health worker or seek help and support from the following agencies:

Lifeline

If you or someone you know needs help, you can telephone Lifeline  free at any time. Lifeline is a crisis response helpline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to people in Northern Ireland. It offers immediate help over the telephone if you, or someone you know, is in distress or despair.

Telephone: 0808 808 8000
Lifeline freephone helpline

The Samaritans

The Samaritans offer a 24-hour telephone helpline:

Telephone: 028 9066 4422 (local call charges apply)
National telephone: 116 123 (this number is free to call)
textphone: 08457 90 91 92

Childline

If you’re under 19, you can contact Childline:

Telephone: 0800 1111

The new Regional Out of Hours Social Work Service (RESWS) provides an emergency social work response across Northern Ireland on an out of hour’s basis:

• 5.00 pm to 9.00 am weekdays
• 24 hours at weekends and bank holidays

This is an emergency service to be used only when you need a Social Worker urgently, after hours.

The RESWS will provide services for the following groups:

• Children and young people
• Older people
• People with mental health problems
• People with learning difficulties
• People with physical disabilities
• Families and carers of all these groups

The service is also responsible for emergency homelessness for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) and emergency financial issues for the Social Security Agency outside normal working hours.

As a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Emergency Dental Clinics are no longer seeing walk in patients and have been replaced by Urgent Dental Care Clinics.

All patients with urgent or emergency conditions should contact their local dentist by phone, Monday – Sunday. Patients who do not have a dentist can call a local dentist and will be given instructions over the phone. For more information click here.