deal with children’s health issues. You may be asked to go straight to the children’s area where you can register and be assessed.

If you need special assistance because of a physical or mental disability then you should let the registrar know right away. The hospital may be able to call a Learning Disabilities Liaison, a member of theirliaison psychiatry team, or provide any other assistance you or your carer may need.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be asked to wait until you are called for your assessment.

2. Assessment – triage

Once you have registered you’ll generally be pre-assessed by a nurse or doctor before further actions are taken. This is called triage and will ensure people with the most serious conditions are seen first.

3. Treatment, transfer or discharge

What happens next depends on the results of your assessment. Sometimes further tests need to be arranged before a course of action can be decided.

If the nurse or doctor feels your situation is not a serious accident or emergency, you may be sent to a nearby urgent care centre,minor injuries unit or referred to a GP on site. This will reduce the waiting queue in A&E and at the same time allows you (the patient with the lesser injury) to be treated quickly too.

The waiting time target for patients in A&E is currently set to four hours from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. However, not all hospitals haveurgent care centre’sassociated which means people with minor injuries may have a longer wait until they are seen.

In some cases you may be sent home and asked to arrange for aGP referralor youmay be given a prescription and send home. Either way, the hospital will inform your GP that you have been to A&E.

If your situation is more complicated, you may be seen by an A&E doctor or referred to a specialist unit. For example, this could happen foreye problems,strokesor emergency gynaecology.

ST cLEMENTS SURGERY

Christmas & New Year Holiday Opening Times

If you need urgent treatment when we are closed please telephone:111 for advice

or 0121 411 0343 and we will put you straight through to a doctor.

Last day to order prescriptions for Christmas Tuesday 21.12.16

Last day to order prescriptions for New Year Tuesday 28.12.16

Wednesday21 12.16 08.30 – 18:30

Thursday22.12.1608.30 – 13:00

Friday23.12.1608.30 – 13:00

Saturday 24.12.16 Closed

Sunday25.12.16 Closed

Monday26.12.16Bank Holiday Closed

Tuesday27.12.16 Bank Holiday Closed

Wednesday28.12.16 08.30 - 18.30

Thursday29.12.1608.30 – 13.00

Friday30.12.16 08.30 - 18.30

Saturday 31.12.16Closed

Sunday 1.1.17 Closed

Monday2.1.17 Bank Holiday Closed

Tuesday 3.1.17 – Open as Usual

Please DO NOT GO TO HOSPITAL unless you really need to

An A&E department (also known as emergency departmentor casualty) deals with genuine life-threatening emergencies, such as:

  • loss of consciousness
  • acute confused state and fits that are not stopping
  • persistent,severe chest pain
  • breathing difficulties
  • severe bleedingthat cannot be stopped
  • severeallergic reactions
  • severeburns or scalds

Less severe injuries can be treated inurgent care centresor minor injuries units (MIUs). An A&E is not an alternative to a GP appointment. If your GP practice is closed you cancall NHS 111, which will direct you to the best local service to treat your injury. Alternatively, you can visit anNHS walk-in centre (WIC), which will also treat minor illnesses without an appointment.

How to find your nearest A&E?

Not all hospitals have an A&E department. You can use thefind services searchon this site to see if there is one near you. Alternatively, many hospitals have their own website and generally describe the urgent and emergency care services they offer.

If youdialled 999 for an ambulance and you have to be taken to hospital, then the ambulance team will take you to the most appropriate A&E – this may not be the closest. Find out more about making 999 emergency calls.

What happens at A&E?

A&E departments offer access 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A&E staff include paramedics, A&E nurses, diagnostic radiographers, A&E reception staff, porters, healthcare assistants and emergency medicine doctors. Medical staff are highly trained in all aspects of emergency medicine.

1. Register

If you arrive by ambulance, the ambulance crew will report to the hospital on arrival. If you are seriously ill, the staff will already know because the ambulance crew will have alerted them en route. If you’re not in a life-threatening or serious condition, you will be prioritised by the A&E hospital team along with other patients waiting to be seen – arriving by ambulance does not necessarily mean you will be seen sooner than if you had walked in to A&E.

If you go to A&E by yourself, you’ll need to register first. You’ll be asked a few questions such as name and address but also why you are visiting A&E. If you have been at the hospital before the registrar may also checkyour health records.

Some hospitals have a separate children’s A&E department where medical staffare specially trained to