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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, 7 days a week.

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

Our PHONE FIRST Urgent Care Centres are Consultant Led, equipped to diagnose and treat with many of the most common ailments that affect people who may attend an Emergency Department.

Anyone contacting the service will be assessed over the phone and offered an appointment either in the Urgent Care Centre or directed to the most appropriate service.

If you have an Emergency you should dial 999.

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

Lagan Valley Hospital
Monday – Friday, 8am-6pm
(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 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

The GP Out of Hours Service (Urgent Primary Care) is available if you need urgent medical care that cannot wait until your daytime GP surgery is open again.

The out of hours service operates From 6pm until 8am on week days, 24 hours on Saturdays and Sundays and 24 hours on public holidays.  It is not a walk in service. It is by appointment only and you are required to place a telephone call initially.

Your call will be answered by a call handler who will take your details and the reason for your call to the service. This information is passed to a healthcare professional who will then contact you and will either give you advice by telephone, ask you to attend for a clinic visit, or in some cases a home visit will be arranged. As this is a multi-professional team you may be seen by a doctor, nurse, mental health practitioner or a pharmacist.

GP Out of Hours (Urgent Primary Care) is NOT for repeat prescriptions, dental problems, minor ailments that your pharmacist can treat, or any other non-urgent medical condition that should be dealt with by your own GP.

It is for those urgent conditions that cannot wait until your GP surgery reopens.

Please note that the GP Out of Hours service (Urgent Primary Care) operates across 3 bases in South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust. If required to attend a base it may be to any of the 3 bases within the service; this will be specified by the healthcare professional when arranging the visit.

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.

• How to register as a health service dental patient – Registering as a Health Service dental patient – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG)
• Information about the Dental Access Scheme (for unregistered patients) Dental Access Scheme – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG)
• Emergency dental treatment Emergency Dental Treatment – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG)

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.