Accident & Emergency

Emergency department

Yeovil Hospital’s Emergency Department (also known as ED, Accident and Emergency or A&E) provides 24 hour emergency care for people in and around the Yeovil area.

Is the Emergency Department the best place for you? We care for patients with serious injuries or life threatening emergencies. If it is not an emergency please telephone 111 who will help direct you to the right service. Many conditions can be more appropriately treated elsewhere. You can discover the alternative care options by clicking here before coming to A&E to ensure you are treated as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Opening Times: The department is located in the main hospital and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Help us to help you - urgent and emergency care

With the prevalence of COVID-19 in Somerset remaining high, combined with usual winter pressures, healthcare services across the country are incredibly busy.

The main areas impacted by these are our urgent and emergency services. Colleagues in both Musgrove Park and Yeovil District Emergency departments are working really hard to ensure patients receive the care they need.

We went ‘behind-the-scenes’ and in this video, our colleagues talk about how busy it is in ED at the moment, how the team works with the rest of the hospital, and they give examples of when the ED might not be the right choice for you, and the alternative healthcare services that can help you to receive the care you need.

Click the image below to watch:

Opening Times: The department is located in the main hospital and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Quick stats

Consistently ranks in the top 10 trusts for 4-hour target performance.
Ranked 8th nationally (February 2022).

Rated by CQC as Good overall for safe, effective, caring and well led service, an outstanding as a responsive service.

Was awarded the Best International Recruitment Experience at the 2019 Nursing Times Workforce Awards.

Yeovil Hospital was rated best in the region for Staff Engagement, Morale and Line management.

Yeovil Hospital ED was ranked the best performing major trauma unit, 2019 through 2021 in the South West by TARN.

FFP3 masks in all clinical areas since day 1 of the pandemic.

What we can help with

We have a highly experience team of doctors, nurses and healthcare staff who are here to help. We can help with:

Our A&E department is open: 24 hours 7 days per week

Click here for a guide to the healthcare options for Yeovil and the surrounding areas.

When to attend A & E

The Emergency Department and 999 are for life-threating emergencies only. Attending the Emergency Department if you do not need to could delay treatment for someone more seriously ill. Our emergency department is open 24 hours, seven days a week. Click here for a guide to the healthcare options for Yeovil and surrounding areas.

What to expect

We are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - the department incorporates a minor injuries area, 11 majors bays (including a dedicated mental health room), and a fully equipped three-bedded resuscitation bay. There is also a dedicated children and young persons (CYP) area.

For those attending the Emergency Department, we will only allow the patient to enter the hospital building unless you are accompanying a child or someone with disabilities who cannot attend independently. Please inform the department reception of any exceptional circumstances when you arrive.

Once you have booked in at reception, our staff will call you through to the Triage Room for your initial assessment usually within 15 minutes of arrival. The Triage Nurse will assess you to ensure you are at no immediate clinical risk. Patients will be prioritised depending on how unwell they are. Following this you may be asked to return to the waiting room and will be called back in priority order depending on your condition.

Please be aware that we also run clinics in the Emergency Department so others may arrive after you but be called in before.

Following your initial assessment you will be seen in order of priority. Others may go in before you but this does not mean they are ‘jumping the queue’. They may have potentially more serious conditions or be waiting for a clinic appointment.

If you arrive by ambulance, you will be assessed by a member of the nursing team and/or a senior doctor. If your condition is stable you may be asked to wait in the main waiting room.

After you have been triaged, you will be seen by either a:

Emergency Nurse Practitioner
Advanced Clinical Practitioner
Doctor - depending on your condition

Our team

Yeovil Hospital Emergency Department has 10 Consultants, 15 Specialty Doctors, 8 Trust Fellows, 7 Doctors in
Training, Physician Associates, 3 Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners and 8 Emergency Nurse Practitioners along with a Nursing and Administrative team.

Yeovil Hospital ED provides 24-hour emergency service to a population in excess of 600,000 and West Dorset. The ED has a diverse patient mix of nearly 60,000 attendances per year both adult and children.

Yeovil Hospital ED is a major trauma unit with the major trauma centre located in Bristol, which is approximately 90 minutes away.

How are we performing?

The four hour performance is a national target set for all Trusts. This is a percentage of all A&E attendances where the patient is in the department for four hours or less from their time of arrival to ward transfer, admission or discharge. In October 2021 our four hour target was 85.1%.

Our 2019 CQC report ranked our ED department as: Good for Safe, Effective, Caring, Well-led and Overall rated as Outstanding for Responsive.

NHS 111

NHS 111 is a new service that’s makes it easier for you to access local NHS healthcare services in
England. You can call 111 when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency. NHS 111 is a fast and easy way to get the right help, whatever the time.

NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

When to use it

You should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation.

Call 111 if:

you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency
you think you need to go to A&E or need another NHS urgent care service
you don’t know who to call or you don’t have a GP to call
you need health information or reassurance about what to do next

For less urgent health needs, contact your GP or local pharmacist in the usual way.

If a health professional has given you a specific phone number to call when you are concerned about your condition, continue to use that number.

For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, continue to call 999.

How does it work?

The NHS 111 service is staffed by a team of fully trained advisers, supported by experienced nurses and paramedics. They will ask you questions to assess your symptoms, then give you the healthcare advice you need or direct you straight away to the local service that can help you best. That could be A&E, an out-of-hours doctor, an urgent care centre or a walk-in centre, a community nurse, an emergency dentist or a late-opening chemist.

Where possible, the NHS 111 team will book you an appointment or transfer you directly to the people you need to speak to.

If NHS 111 advisers think you need an ambulance, they will immediately arrange for one to be sent to you.

Calls to 111 are recorded. All calls and the records created are maintained securely, and will only be shared with others directly involved with your care.

What you should keep in your medicine cabinet

Even minor illnesses and ailments – such as colds, headaches and diarrhoea – can disrupt your life. Be prepared for most common ailments by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home.

Pain relief

Painkillers such as aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen are highly effective at relieving most minor aches and pains, such as headaches and menstrual pain. Aspirin must not be given to children under 16. These medicines also help with some minor ailments, such as the common cold, by reducing aches and pains and high temperatures. These three medicines also help to reduce the inflammation in arthritis and sprains.

Antihistamines

These are useful for dealing with allergies and insect bites. They’re also helpful if you have hay fever. Antihistamines can come in the form of creams that you apply to the skin (topical antihistamine), or tablets that you swallow (oral antihistamine). Antihistamine creams soothe insect stings and bites, and rashes and itching from stinging nettles. Antihistamine tablets help to control hay fever symptoms, and calm minor allergic reactions to food. They can also help to calm itchiness during chickenpox. Some antihistamines may cause drowsiness. Ask your pharmacist about this: pharmacists may have antihistamines that don’t cause drowsiness.

Oral rehydration salts

Fever, diarrhoea and vomiting make us lose water and essential minerals, and can lead to dehydration. If you have these symptoms and can’t continue your normal diet, oral rehydration salts can help to restore your body’s natural balance of minerals and fluid, and relieve discomfort and tiredness. But they don’t fight the underlying cause of your illness, such as a virus or bacteria. Rehydration salts, available at your local pharmacy, are an easy way to take in minerals and fluid, and help your recovery.

Anti-diarrhoea tablets

Diarrhoea is caused by a range of things, such as food poisoning or a stomach virus, and can happen without warning. It’s a good idea to keep an anti-diarrhoea medicine at home. Anti-diarrhoeal remedies can quickly control the unpleasant symptoms of diarrhoea, although they don’t deal with the underlying cause. The most common anti-diarrhoeal is loperamide (sold under the names Imodium, Arret and Diasorb, among others). It works by slowing down the action of your gut. Don’t give anti-diarrhoeals to children under 12 because they may have undesirable side effects. Speak to your GP or pharmacist for advice about a child with these symptoms.

Indigestion treatment

If you have stomach ache, heartburn or trapped wind, a simple antacid will reduce stomach acidity and bring relief. It’s ideal after a celebration or party. Antacids come as chewable tablets, or tablets that dissolve in water, or in liquid form.

Sunscreen

Keep a lotion of at least factor 15. Even brief exposure to the sun can cause sunburn and increase your risk of skin cancer. Ensure that your suncreen provides UVA protection. You can protect yourself further against the sun by wearing a hat and sunglasses, and by avoiding the sun during the hottest part of the day, between 11am and 3pm.

First aid

As well as the medicines discussed above, keep a well-prepared first aid kit. This can help to treat minor cuts, sprains and bruises, and it can reduce the risk of cuts becoming infected. It should contain the following items:

Bandages: these can support injured limbs, such as fractures or sprains. They also apply direct pressure to larger cuts before getting them treated in hospital.
Plasters: a range of sizes, waterproof if possible.
Thermometer: digital thermometers that you put in your mouth produce very accurate readings. A thermometer placed under the arm is a good way to read a baby’s temperature.
Antiseptic: this can be used to clean cuts before they’re dressed (bandaged). Most can treat a range of conditions, including insect stings, ulcers and pimples. Alcohol-free antiseptic wipes are useful to clean cuts.
Eyewash solution: this will help to wash out grit or dirt in the eyes.
Sterile dressings: larger injuries should be covered with a sterile dressing to prevent infection until treatment can be given by a health professional.
Medical tape: this is used to secure dressings. It can also be used to tape an injured finger to an uninjured one, creating a makeshift splint.
Tweezers: for taking out splinters. If splinters are left in, they can cause discomfort and become infected.

For more information see the Red Cross interactive guide.

Your pharmacist can help

Don’t forget that your local pharmacist can help with many minor ailments such as coughs and colds, asthma and eczema, hay fever and period pain. They can give advice or, where appropriate, medicines that can help to clear up the problem. Instead of booking an appointment with your GP, you can see your local pharmacist any time: just walk in.

Always follow the directions on medicine packets and information leaflets, and never exceed the stated dose. If you have further questions about any of these medicines or you want to buy them, ask your local pharmacist. Always keep medicines out of the sight and reach of children. A high and lockable cupboard in a cool, dry place is ideal. Regularly check the expiry dates. If a medicine is past its use-by date, don’t use it or throw it away. Take it to your pharmacy, where it can be disposed of safely.

Ambulatory Emergency Care

You may have been referred directly to Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC). This department is adjacent to the Emergency Department and you may receive a follow up appointment for AEC after your Emergency Department visit.

Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC)

Patient information for key conditions:

Abscess

Anaemia

Asthma

Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

Blood in urine (haematuria)

Cellulitis

Chest pain

DVT/PE

Epileptic Seizure

Heart Attack / Acute Coronary Disease

Influenza / Flu

Lower abdominal pain

Pneumonia

Renal colic and kidney stones

Temporal arteritis

Upper GI bleed

Warfarin

Domestic abuse - help in Somerset

Domestic abuse is when one person hurts or bullies another person who is or was their partner, or someone from the same family. It can happen between people who are boyfriend and girlfriend or a married couple. Domestic abuse is about controlling people and can happen to anyone.

What can you do?

Don’t suffer in silence – there’s help available
There are services that offer help, support and advice to anyone
Remember that it’s not your fault and it happens in many families – your are not alone

It’s happening to a friend – how can I help?

Tell them you believe them and that they’re not alone
Don’t judge or blame them
Advise them to contact support agencies

Services to contact

If you come into A&E and are living with any form of domestic abuse (physical or emotional), please talk to a member of staff who will be able to support you.

Somerset Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (SIDAS):