Home Visiting your hospitals Our services Our care & support Get involved Charity Get in touch Home » Visiting your hospitals » Visiting » Emergency and urgent care Emergency and urgent care Access the right help quickly depending on your condition. Find out where to get treatment and what to do in an emergency. If it’s not life threatening, please consider other options before dialling 999 or coming to Accident & Emergency. It means our emergency staff can concentrate on people whose lives are at serious risk and save you an unnecessarily long wait. If someone’s seriously ill, injured or their life’s at risk Call 999 immediately – they’ll send an ambulance. Serious illnesses, injuries and life threatening emergencies include: severe trauma including head injuries, road traffic accidents, stabbings or shootings severe bleeding that won’t stop severe chest pains breathing difficulties severe fractures loss of consciousness overdose/poisoning severe burns or scalds serious allergic reactions sudden confusion fits (seizures) that won’t stop child head injuries if you think someone’s having a stroke. Paramedics and the ambulance team will take the patient to our Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. If you have a minor injury If your injury isn’t serious you can go to our Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at Wycombe Hospital between 8am and 8pm, 7 days a week. They’ll see you if you have: sprains and strains suspected broken limbs minor adult head injuries cuts and grazes bites and stings minor scalds and burns ear and throat infections skin infections and rashes eye problems coughs and colds a feverish illness abdominal pain vomiting and diarrhoea. If you need an x-ray outside of x-ray department hours (8am to 10pm), you may need to go to A&E at Stoke Mandeville Hospital or come back to UTC the next day. You can also visit UTC if you need emergency contraception. If you or someone needs medical help that’s not serious or life threatening Call 111 free from your mobile phone or landline. They can help if: you need help but it’s not one of emergencies listed above you need to contact a GP out of hours (before 8am, after 6.30pm or over the weekend) you don’t have a GP you’re unsure who to call or what to do next. If you have an illness that won’t go away Call your GP who can assess you, prescribe treatment or refer you to a specialist. If you don’t have a GP, or you have recently moved to a new area and need a GP, find out how to register with a GP surgery If you have a short term, minor illness You won’t usually need to see a GP for short-term coughs, colds, headaches, sore throats, aches and pains and stomach upsets. They usually go away with rest and medicines that you can buy over the counter from your local pharmacy. Your pharmacy can also give you advice on non-serious complaints such; cystitis (bladder infection) conjunctivitis earache skin rashes teething. Find out more about how your pharmacy can help you. If you have an urgent problem with your teeth Call your dentist. If you need out of hours advice or treatment, your dental surgery will usually have an answering machine with instructions on what you need to do in an emergency. If you don’t have a dentist, please call 111. They’ll put you in touch with a local emergency dental service. Go to A&E only if your problem is serious, such as: severe pain heavy bleeding injuries to your face, mouth or teeth. If someone is having a mental health crisis Call 999 if you or someone you know: is close to acting on suicidal thoughts is worried about your/their safety in a life threatening situation has seriously self harmed and needs urgent help. Call your GP for an emergency appointment if you: experience a mental health problem for the first time have an existing mental health condition that suddenly gets worse have self harmed but don’t have a life threatening injury know someone who shows signs of early onset dementia experience, or know someone who suffers from domestic violence or physical, sexual or emotional abuse. You can also call 111 out of GP surgery hours or Samaritans if you need confidential help immediately. In this section Emergency and urgent care Amersham Hospital Buckingham Community Hospital Chalfonts and Gerrards Cross Hospital Marlow Hospital Stoke Mandeville Hospital Thame Community Hospital Wycombe Hospital National Spinal Injuries Centre Contact 01296 315000 for all hospitals and services 01296 316042 for our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) (9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. Email bht.pals@nhs.net) facebook-square- Bedford twitter-square- Bedford Useful information Our organisation Work with us Publications Get involved Accessibility Terms and conditions Press and media Privacy notice Contact us Our charity Birth choices Children and young people Research & innovation Publications © 2021 | Site by Phew Close COVID-19 safety measures remain in place Safety measures remain in place in our Trust – Visitor restrictions still apply and everyone in our hospitals is required to wear a facemask, maintain social distancing and follow NHS safety measures. 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