These are the main reasons people go to the Emergency Department

With 65,000 patients passing through its doors every year, Cork University Hospital’s Emergency Department is now the busiest in the country

The Emergency Department at the CUH. Picture Dan Linehan

Cork University Hospital’s Emergency Department (CUH ED) is now the busiest in the country seeing over 65,000 patients per year. CUH ED provides emergency care to adults and children and caters for all emergencies from major trauma, stroke, heart attack, sepsis to so-called ‘minor’ injuries, but the varying reasons many might make a visit aside from the above, can differ. Dr Gerard McCarthy, consultant in emergency medicine, CUH, outlines the various reasons.

“People come to the emergency department in three big ways: One is they are brought there, two is they present themselves there, and three is that they are referred there. Brought there can break down into by ambulance which makes up to 20-25% of attendances at CUH or a mixed emergency department of all ages, or anywhere outside of Dublin. The other is by a concerned carer or relative. In terms of people who are referred there, this would be by a general practitioner, although we would get referrals from optometrists, physiotherapists, other healthcare practitioners whereby people present to them for one reason, but the healthcare practitioner is concerned that emergency treatment may be necessary. Finally, we have people to self-present themselves in an emergency. And what is interesting is that there is far less difference between each of those groups than you might initially think.”