Emergency Department

Our Emergency Department (ED) is also known as Accident and Emergency (A&E).

We are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We provide emergency care for more than 65,000 children every year, up to the age of 16, with a range of illnesses and injuries.

There are a limited number of parking spaces on Western Bank for families attending the Emergency Department only. You must collect a permit from the Emergency Department reception to display in your car window while parked here.

Treating injury and illness

Our doctors and nurses specialise in the resuscitation and treatment of seriously injured or ill children and we are a designated Major Trauma Centre for children.

We also treat less serious conditions but there are usually better settings for your child to be seen in if they are not seriously unwell.

Consider self care, consulting a pharmacist, seeing your own GP, calling 111, or going to the Walk-in Centre on Broad Lane.

These details are in Choose Well on page 23 of your child’s Red Book. If you are seriously concerned about your child and these options are not open to you, come to the Emergency Department or call 999.

What happens in the Emergency Department

On arriving at the Emergency Department, children are booked in by our reception staff. Children are then evaluated by our triage nurse, who will assess your child’s condition and decide on the urgency of their condition.

Children are then assessed by doctors or emergency nurse practitioners in order of medical priority. Waiting times can be significant in the late evenings and at weekends and it is worth bearing this in mind when you make choices about where to seek healthcare advice.

Most children are discharged home after assessment in the ED. Sometimes we need to admit children to a ward for ongoing treatment and sometimes we arrange clinic appointments, such as fracture clinic or eye clinic.

We have ten consultants who lead a team of doctors within the ED. Our team includes junior doctors, nurses and emergency nurse practitioners who can treat children with minor injuries.

Medical students are often in the ED and may see you or your child as part of your visit.

Roma translations

Advice about a range of common childhood problems has been translated into Roma Slovak and is available as sound recordings and PDFs.

Assistance for people with learning disabilities and autism

The Emergency Department can be a very busy and noisy place and we know this can be difficult for many children, especially if they are autistic or have a learning disability.

Please let us know if your child is likely to struggle with this and we will try our best to find you somewhere quieter to wait. We have fidget and sensory toys available if needed and can lend out ear defenders to help with the noise.

Please also let us know if your child needs help with communication, such as using symbols or Makaton, or if there is anything else that would make your visit easier, and we will do our best to help with this too.

If you have a Hospital Passport or Paediatric Pain Profile for your child, please bring it along and show it to the triage nurse so we can do our best to support you and your child.