Emergency Department

Our hospitals provide emergency medical services for our local communities across Nottingham and further afield.

You should only come to our Emergency Department (ED) at the Queen's Medical Centre, for life-threatening conditions that need immediate medical attention including: Persistent severe chest pain, loss of consciousness, acute confused state, severe blood loss, serious burns, suspected stroke.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the latest results of the 2022 Urgent and Emergency Care Survey. More details about this can be found here.

You should only call 999 or visit the ED in a real emergency.

This includes a serious injury or life-threatening problem such as loss of consciousness, severe breathing difficulty, heavy bleeding, severe chest pain, suspected broken bones, deep wounds (e.g. stab wounds), swallowing something harmful or poisonous or a drug overdose. 

Need urgent help but it isn't an emergency?

If you don't need emergency care but it is urgent, please consider one of the alternatives below.

These services are available to you and will be able to help you much quicker than ED which can be busy and subject to long waits.

The Emergency Department will soon be carrying out a survey to find out what patients think about their care here. This is part of a CQC (Care Quality Commission) national programme to improve patients’ experience.
Taking part in the survey is voluntary and all answers are confidential.
Participants will be selected from suitable patients who attended the Emergency Department in August 2022
If you are selected to take part, your contact details (name and postal address) will be used by researchers to send you a questionnaire in the post.
If you have been treated at our Emergency Department and do not want to be considered to receive a questionnaire, please contact PALS by telephone 0800 183 02 04 or email PALS@nuh.nhs.uk. 

If you need help fast but don’t think it’s a 999 emergency, you can call NHS 111. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is free to call from landlines and mobile phones.

It can signpost you to a range of local health services, including doctors, community nurses, emergency dental care and late opening chemists.

The 111 service can also put you in contact with the GP out-of-hours service, which can arrange for you to see a doctor or nurse during evenings and weekends if needed.

Call 111

NHS111 may also direct you to the Nottingham Urgent Treatment Centre: Seaton House, 
City Link, Nottingham, NG2 4LA,  (next to the BBC building).

It is open every day from 7am to 9pm and deals with non life threatening injuries (it has X-ray facilities) and health problems. You don’t need an appointment to attend. 

The service is a real alternative to visiting the Emergency Department (ED) for non-life threatening injury and illness that needs treating straight away. You should have a shorter waiting time than if you visit ED /the hospital.

The centre offers assessment and treatment for urgent health conditions such as:

• Minor burns or scalds
• Minor head injuries with no loss of consciousness
• Skin infections or animal bites
• Suspected broken bones, sprains and strains (X-ray facilities are available) - if you have a fracture, the Urgent Care Centre will provide appropriate treatment on site and arrange for you to have follow-up care at the fracture clinic
• Eye infections or minor eye injuries
• Open wounds or cuts that may require suturing (stitches).

Click here for more information

If you need advice for minor health problems you can speak to your pharmacist for on-the-spot advice and remedies for a wide range of problems such as stomach upsets, coughs and colds, cystitis and emergency contraception. 

Details of Nottingham City pharmacies that are open on bank holidays can be found here.

If you or your family need urgent medical care when your GP surgery is closed (Monday to Friday 6.30pm-8.00am; Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 24 hours) phone the usual surgery number and your call will be re-directed to the GP out-of-hours service. 

You can find a list of GPs in Nottingham here.

The NHS website provides an award-winning, comprehensive health information service with thousands of articles, videos and tools, helping you to make the best choices about your health and lifestyle, but also about making the most of NHS and social care services in England.

Click here to visit the NHS website