Innovative ‘time tool’ marks end of guessing game

by Pharmacy Life - Published on 19 October 2015

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A new web resource to enable people to access average waiting time information for local Emergency Departments has been launched in Northern Ireland.

The Emergency Department (ED) Waiting Times Information Page is an online tool that allows the public to check the average ED waiting times at hospitals across Northern Ireland.

The online facility is hosted at www.nidirect.gov.uk/emergency-department-average-waiting-times on the NI Direct website, the official Government website for Northern Ireland, which provides a single point of access to public sector information and services.

The Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), Public Health Agency (PHA), Patient and Client Council (PCC) and Business Services Organisation have developed this useful facility working with representatives of patients and service users from the Patient and Client Council User Group.

‘The waiting time information is updated hourly and shows the average waiting time to be treated by a doctor or nurse,’ said Mary Hinds, Director of Nursing with the PHA. ‘All patients will already have been triaged by staff on arrival, so the time shown is for treatment not assessment. Also, it is important for the public to be aware that waiting times at emergency departments can change significantly and quickly without warning, and therefore the times given here are not a guarantee of how long you will actually wait.

‘On attendance at the ED normal assessment protocol applies. Patients who have been assessed by medical staff and considered most in need, ie, those patients who are most sick or seriously injured, will be given priority over those people with less serious conditions or injuries.’

The Permanent Secretary from the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, said the information page will help support people in making appropriate choices about the care and treatment they require.

‘It provides signposts to the Choose Well public information campaign, which gives advice on the various care and treatment alternatives available and encourages people to ‘think where and choose well, he said. ‘By choosing the service most appropriate to their symptoms, people can get the right treatment in the right place, thereby helping staff in our Emergency Services concentrate on the people who are the most sick or most seriously injured.’