Emergency Department

What is an Emergency Department?

Emergency Department is the modern term for the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E). The staff in the emergency department are doctors and nurses who are specially trained in assessing and managing emergencies: life or limb threatening illness or injuries, and minor injuries. The Emergency Department is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day all year. The department at Macclesfield sees 52,000 new patients each year.
 

When to attend the Emergency Department.

Sometimes your problem can be better sorted by other services that work within the health service. The doctors in the A&E Department are not GP’s, and so if your illness is minor, long standing and not life threatening, it would be beneficial for you to see your own GP.
 
You can access the following services for advice before you decide whether you need to come to the emergency department:

• NHS direct
• GP surgery
• Pharmacist
• Dentist
• Out of hours GP
• Walk in centres and minor injury departments

If however, after considering these options you are still unsure, then you should attend the Emergency Department.
 
If you have any of the following illnesses, injuries or symptoms, you should come to the Emergency Department:

• Asthma
• Bleeding heavily from nose, mouth, bottom, vagina or a wound.
• Burns which are severe
• Breathing problems
• Chest pain that you may suspect to be a “ heart attack “.
• Collapse with unconsciousness.
• Diabetic problems eg hypo.
• Headache - sudden and severe.
• Meningitis - suspected from a non blanching rash.
• Pain that is not relieved by simple over the counter pain killers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen.
• Trips and falls - suspected broken bone or inability to use a limb after a fall.
• Wounds that are deep or bleeding heavily.

Minor injuries service

We also have a minor injuries service staffed by specially trained emergency nurse practitioners who will see the following types of problems:

• Minor burns
• Minor wounds
• Sprains
• Simple fractures ( break) of a bone
• Removal of splinters
• Minor head injuries

What happens when I arrive at the Emergency Department?

You will be seen by an experienced Emergency Department nurse who will quickly make an assessment of you “TRIAGE” and decide who will be best to see you. (We aim to do this within 15 minutes of your arrival in the department.) You will be given a “priority” category according to your signs and symptoms.This is why sometimes you may see another patient be called before you, even though you might have been waiting longer.
You will give your details to a receptionist and then you be asked to sit and wait in the waiting room. You will then be called to see a doctor or an emergency nurse practitioner depending on how you were prioritised at triage.
 
If you are bringing a child to the department, you will be asked to wait in a separate waiting area with toys, books and a DVD player after they have been assessed by the triage nurse.

Who will I see in the department?

All staff in the department have an ID badge stating their name and position. If you are not sure who they are, please feel free to ask them. It can be confusing sometimes!
 
The Emergency Department consists of a team of different people all working together to provide you with a high quality of care.

These might be :

• The Emegency Department Consultant (generally in their own clothes, but will have an ID badge with them).
• Middle grade doctor: These doctors provide a senior input to the care of emergency patients and support the junior doctors. They also wear their own clothes, and sometimes scrubs.
• Foundation stage two doctors (senior house officer). These doctors rotate to the Emergency Department for 4 months as part of their training and career development. They are competent doctors who already have a lot of experience in the hospital. They wear either their own clothes or hospital scrubs.
• Matron: Our matron wears a dark grey uniform with stripes. She is the senior nurse in the department.
• Sisters: The sisters manage the shift that they work on. They wear a navy blue uniform.
• Staff nurse: These nurses are registered nurses and wear a white tunic top with blue piping.
• Health care assistant: These nurses support the trained nurses. They wear a white tunic top with yellow piping.
• Emergency nurse practitioners: These are emergency department nurses who have undertaken extra training to see patients with minor injuries without them needing to wait for a doctor. They wear a turquoise tunic top.
• We are also supported by a team of clerical staff, domestic staff and porters.

View our who's who section

What tests might I need in the Emergency Department?

The doctor or nurse practitioner will listen to you telling them about why you have come to the department. They will then examine you to gain a better understanding of what may be wrong. They will then decide whether you need to have further tests done to help them make a decision about your illness/ injury and how they can help you. The types of tests you may be given are:

• Blood tests
• X-rays
• Ultrasound scan
• CT scan

Sometimes after these tests, the doctor may decide he or she needs to ask a more specialised doctor to see you, this doctor then may send you home with a management plan or ask you to stay in hospital for treatment and/or further investigations. If you are ever unsure why someone is doing a test on you, please ask, we would like you to feel happy about what we are doing.

What is in the department?

The department is made up of different areas to help us provide the best and safest care to you. Each area is staffed with an experienced Staff nurse and is overseen by a sister.

• Minor injuries- Staffed by emergency nurse practitioners and a doctor.
• Majors-  You may go here if you need some tests or you are too unwell to wait in a seated area.
• Resus- This area is for patients who are unwell and require close observation and monitoring.
• Critical care- this is where patients will be cared for with life threatening illness or injuries, or if they require a treatment which requires sedation.
• Observation ward- This is an inpatient area where we admit patients who are too unwell to go home, but may be better later, and patients who are admitted under the emergency department consultants.
• Clinics- Your injury may need to be reviewed by a consultant to ensure you have the best management plan possible. The clinic appointment will be given to you before you leave the department on your initial visit.

Children in the Emergency Department

A visit to the Emergency Department can be frightening for a child. We endeavour to allow your child to be seen in an individual cubicle with access to the childrens waiting area. This area has toys and books, and also has a DVD player to help your child feel more relaxed. The staff in the department all have training in various aspects of care of the child, and we are supported by registered childrens nurses on many shifts. If your child is unwell and needs more specialist care, they will be seen by a paediatrician on the children’s ward. This will be arranged by the emergency doctor seeing your child.
 
If you have time before to come to the department it would be beneficial to bring a favourite toy, book, pacifier, such as a dummy or a favourite drink or snack. Please always check your child is OK to eat or drink though before letting them!

We aim to see children as quickly as possible, although on some occasions it may not be possible if the department is extremely busy. We have access to play specialists to assist us if your child requires a treatment that they might not find fun!
 
The children's waiting area has a changing area for babies and a private room for breastfeeding mothers.