There were 68,217 attendances at Emergency departments in Northern Ireland
Date published:
New official statistics in development published 28/08/2025 by NISRA statisticians in the Department of Health reveal that there were 68,217 attendances at Emergency Departments in Northern Ireland from April to June 2025.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, urgent and emergency care services in Northern Ireland were under increased pressure with more patients spending longer periods of time in overcrowded emergency departments (EDs).
To help combat these issues, the Department of Health established the "No More Silos" action plan which sought to improve urgent and emergency care services. Two new urgent care services were created as a result of this namely "PhoneFirst" and "Urgent Care Centres".
"PhoneFirst" is a telephone triage service for patients considering travelling to an ED, to access alternative assessments, advice, and information and receive appropriate care promptly.
"Urgent Care" is defined as an illness or injury that requires urgent attention but is not a life-threatening situation.
Key Figures:
Median waiting time for patients to be triaged was 14 minutes from time of arrival
Median waiting time from triage to start of treatment was 1 hour 26 minutes
6.5% of attendances left ED before their treatment was complete
Median waiting time for patients admitted to hospital was 14 hours 0 minute
Median waiting time for patients discharged home was 3 hours 52 minutes
8.4% of attendances had been referred by a GP
44.7% treated and discharged or admitted within 4 hours.
11,131 waited more than 12 hours
About this Publication:
This publication presents information on the time spent waiting in emergency care departments (ED) in Northern Ireland.
It also includes information on: time to triage, time of day ED attendances, GP referrals, emergency admissions, patients leaving before treatment is complete, time to start of treatment, time waited for patients admitted and not admitted.
Further Information:
For the full HTML report please visit: Urgent and Emergency Care Waiting Time Statistics for Northern Ireland
Publication page and associated documents and tables: Northern Ireland waiting time statistics: emergency care waiting times April - June 2025 | Department of Health