Emergency Department

Every year, we care for over 50,000 children. It is important that children and young people with emergency conditions are seen quickly. We understand that it can be difficult to know where to seek support or advice. The Emergency Department is not always the quickest or most appropriate place to come and should only be used for emergency cases so that children who are seriously ill are seen quickly. There can be longer wait times for minor conditions.

For minor conditions that don’t require urgent treatment, help and support can be found in other places.

NHS 24

For urgent care that is not life-threatening, call NHS 24 by phoning 111, day or night. NHS 24 is available 24/7 and can help families find the most suitable treatment they need at a convenient location, which might include an out-of-hours appointment. Advice is also available online at NHS24.

Minor Injuries Service

If you have a baby or child with an injury that needs urgent attention but is not an emergency, you should call NHS 24 by dialling 111 to make an appointment with one of NHS Lothian’s Minor Injury Units.

The Minor Injuries team can help children aged 18 months and older, who have a recent minor injury (within the last seven days), including:

• strains and sprains
• wounds and minor burns
• minor bumps to head and face
• simple eye injuries
• insect bites and stings

Find out more about the minor injuries service.

Pharmacy First

Everyone can go to their pharmacist for advice or to buy medicine for a minor illness or ailment. Babies, children and young people under 16 – and their parents or adult carers – can access the Pharmacy First service, which gives advice and treatment from your pharmacist for a wide range of minor illnesses and conditions.

Dental care

The emergency department will see babies, children and young people with an injury to their face, mouth or jaw, including bleeding, cuts or wounds.

Dental care is not covered by the Emergency Department (e.g. toothache). If you have a dental problem, you should call the dental practice that you normally attend in the first instance.

Outside normal working hours, if you feel you have an urgent dental need, please contact NHS24 by dialing 111.

Your Family Doctor (GP)

During the day, call your own GP for an appointment. It can help to call the surgery early (from 8am in most cases).

Midwife

Your midwife will see your baby until 10 days old and be able to give advice and support.

Health visitor

Your Health Visitor offers help and support to babies from around 11 days old, giving support and advice as your baby grows. If you have non-urgent concerns about your child’s health, growth or development, speak to your Health Visitor.

Opticians

Opticians can provide urgent assessment and treatment for many common eye problems.

On arrival, patients are booked in by our reception staff. An assessment is made by an experienced triage nurse, who will assess each child’s condition and prioritize the most seriously-ill children. Triage can also be used to identify patients who do not need urgent care and who can safely wait. The triage nurse might do a set of observations, such as temperature, heart rate and they might give medication to make your child more comfortable. If a child has a condition best managed by the out-of-hours GP service, they may be offered an appointment with them instead.

Children are then assessed in order of medical priority, by a doctor, or sometimes an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. Other patients may be seen first, because children are seen in order of priority. Remember it’s not always obvious to you why someone else’s child has been taken first. Please be assured we aim to see all children in a timely manner. Sometimes a child might be infectious, immunosuppressed, or being seen by a medical student.

If further investigations or tests are needed, there could be a wait for the results. Most children are discharged home after assessment in the Emergency Department. Sometimes a child needs to be admitted to a ward for ongoing treatment, or follow-up clinic appointments might be arranged.

There is a team of specialist staff in the Emergency Department, all with experience of treating children. The team includes consultants and doctors, doctors-in-training, nurses, nurse practitioners and advanced nurse practitioners, as well as radiographers, physios and other specialists. Medical students and student nurses may see patients during their visit as the RHCYP is a teaching hospital.

Watch our helpful video to see what the Emergency Department is like.

Play specialist

Visiting the hospital can feel scary, especially if you are feeling unwell or sore. Douglas, our Play Specialist, can be found in the Emergency Department on weekdays (Monday-Friday).

Play can help relax and distract children who are unwell or upset, and Douglas might be asked to support children and young people during their treatment in the Emergency Department. Our play specialists use their experience to make a visit to the hospital as easy as possible and help parents and carers keep children calm and reassured.

If a baby or child has a cardiac arrest or a breathing emergency, Basic Life Support (also known as CPR) is an important skill for parents and carers to have. Knowing what to do in an emergency situation can make a real difference before additional help from the emergency services arrives. It is highly recommended that parents and carers looking after children should go on a first aid course, to help develop the skills and confidence needed to know what to do. Our videos show the technique to start Basic Life Support for infants and children, as well as what to do in the event of choking.  In an emergency, always dial 999.