Emergency Department

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Emergency Department

Coronavirus guidance

We remain open to provide emergency care to all children – whether or not they have suspected COVID-19. Please note that only one adult should attend with a child.

The latest information on symptoms of Coronavirus infection can be found here.

NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do. Only call NHS 111 if you cannot get help online.

Stay at home if you or your child has coronavirus symptoms – but if your child gets significantly worse e.g. very breathless, please call 999 or bring them to the Emergency Department immediately.

If it is an emergency or if you feel your child is too unwell to stay at home or may have another condition (particularly if under six months of age), you may still need to seek help. Our emergency department is still open for all patients with illnesses and injuries which need emergency care.

Most children who have coronavirus can be kept at home and will get better.

Stay at home if the symptoms are either:

a high temperature – this means they feel hot to touch on the chest or back (you do not need to measure temperature)
a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if they usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

We recommend your child:

Has plenty to drink
Is allowed plenty of rest
Is given paracetamol – in most cases this will make them feel better and reduce any fevers they may have

To protect others, do not go to places like a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Stay at home.

Please see here for information about young children with a high temperature.

Stay at home advice can be found here.

Please visit the www.gov.uk/coronavirus for up to date information on the national response and guidance.

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 52,000 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.