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Patients & Visitors

Accident & Emergency Department (A&E)

A&E

About  |  Contact Us  |  Care Team  |  Visitor Information  |  Patient Information Leaflets

Our A&E department is really busy at the moment. If your injury is urgent but not life threatening you may want to consider attending a minor injuries unit instead.
Paulton is open 8am – 7pm (read more here), and Chippenham and Trowbridge are open 8am – 8pm (read more here) .
Need more advice? Visit 111.nhs.uk or call 111.

About the Department

The department consists of four areas:

Minor Injuries Unit (MIU)

A separate unit for treatment of minor injuries, run by senior nurses who specialise in minor injuries (4 trolleys)

Major's Area

For emergency admissions, but not immediately life threatening illnesses or injuries (13 trolleys)

Resuscitation Area

For patients arriving by ambulance, with life threatening illness or injury (3 bays)

Observation Unit

Where patients remain under the emergency doctors for 24 hours of observation (8 beds and 3 trolleys)

The unit also has a Procedures Room and two Relatives Rooms.

The department covers a population of 500,000 over three counties - Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire and sees around 55,000 new patients each year.

Meals and Drinks

Hot meals and drinks are provided in the Observation Unit as follows:

  • Breakfast 7.00am
  • Lunch 12.00noon
  • Supper 5.00pm

Hot meals, sandwiches and drinks are available in the major's area upon request - please do not hesitate to ask.

Personal Belongings

A patient's stay in the emergency department will be brief. Belongings should be given to the patient's named nurse and valuables should be sent home with family.

Belongings can be stored in a locked cupboard and retrieved on discharge or on transfer to another ward.

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Contact the Department

General Enquiries:

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The Care Team

The team of staff patients will meet in the emergency department include doctors and nurses based in the department to treat emergencies, as well as doctors from specialties such as medicine, surgery and orthopaedics to whom they may have been referred by their GP. Patients will be allocated a named nurse to care for them.

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Leaflets for Children's conditions

Bronchiolitis

Croup in young children

Febrile Convulsions

First Fit - Information and advice for families

Gastroenteritis in children

Irritable Hip in Children

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