Within this department, patients are seen on a priority basis.
Emergency Department - How it Works
During the day, we use the ‘See and Treat’ policy set up by the Government in order to ensure patients, particularly those with less serious injuries or complaints, are seen just as efficiently as those more seriously ill or injured.
Traditionally, patients attending with less serious complaints often had to wait until the more serious patients had been seen first, as their conditions warrant immediate attention.
Under the new Government policy, during the day, patients who are less serious are ‘streamed’ into a flow where they see either an Emergency Nurse Practitioner or a doctor. Within this policy, all patients should be greeted as they enter the department, and directed to the appropriate area to be seen by the appropriate person. This system replaces the traditional Triage system with which you may be familiar. The idea is to ensure these patients are not constantly left waiting in favour of more serious patients. Obviously, if there is a major accident or critical patient who requires the attention of a lot of staff, there may still be some delays in being seen, but these should not be as long as the previous Triage system.
Out-of-hours and overnight, the department reverts back to the Triage system, where all patients are categorised according to priority of need. This is a result of less staff being on duty at these times, and also the capacity for needing to implement ‘See and Treat’ is not the same as during the day.
On occasions during the day, there may be the need for the department to revert back to Triage and not follow ‘See and Treat’. These occasions would usually be as a result of a lack of staff on duty, a serious incident, or multiple critical patients who require intensive staff assessment and care.
The Greeting Nurse, along with the Triage Nurse, (out-of-hours), is an experienced nurse and will be able to help and direct you as necessary, and should be your point of contact if you are waiting in the waiting area.
The priority categories and aimed waiting times for when ‘See and Treat’ is not in place, are as follows:
Priority One – here patients must be seen immediately in the resuscitation area due to life threatening conditions. (Immediate)
Priority Two – very urgent, for example severe chest pain, unconscious, burns. (Within 10 minutes)
Priority Three – urgent, for example serious eye injuries, abdominal pain. (Within 60 minutes)
Priority Four – this is the standard category for all patients whose injury/complaint is not threatening to life or limb. (Within 120 minutes)
Priority Five – non-urgent, for example long-standing problems, over a week old, with no exacerbation. (Within 240 minutes)
Within the department we also offer an Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) service. These nurses are a senior level and fully qualified to assess and treat certain patients without reference to a doctor. You may find that some patients may be called before you if they can be seen by an ENP, and you need to wait to see a doctor. By working together, the ENPs and doctors are able to provide a much more efficient service. Please ask if you are in doubt or have any concerns.
The ‘See and Treat’ system is a relatively new concept from the Department of Health and we are trying to provide the service as best we can. Please feel free to let us know if there is anything we can improve on, in order to make your attendance to the department as safe and efficient as possible.
Thank you for your co-operation and we hope you did not have to wait too long, or that we attended to your needs if unable to speed up your assessment in any way.
Share this...
Were you prepared for the visit today?
Did you feel you were prepared for your hospital visit today? Not many people do. The focus of getting there, whether it is in an emergency or for an appointment, can easily end up with you in a muddle.
Am I Prepared?Related Information
The Work Life Balance
A greater demand from the modern day work culture is increasingly having a detrimental impact on our mental wellbeing. Facing this ever increasing pressure is a…
Read More
Exercise in the home
Everyone should aim to achieve 150 minutes of exercise a week, but for some it may not be so easy. Here are some tips for exercise…
Read More
Was this information useful?
How easy to understand and how useful was the information for you. All feedback is anonymous. If you would like a possible response, please include your email.
How was your visit today?
How well did our staff do today in helping you with your condition. Please note All feedback is anonymous. If you would like a possible response, please include your email.
Treatment Feedback - Tools for Hospitals
Coming soon – order physical products, and new categories, review your documents and much more.
You must have a valid NHS Email to use this service.
Find Out More
