16th January 2024
Belfast Trust and the Ulster site of the South Eastern Trust launched their Phone First services in early January. The service is to encourage people who have a minor injury or urgent, non-life threatening condition to phone the provided numbers.
Phone First number for Royal Victoria and Mater Hospitals in Belfast
The new service covers the Royal Victoria, Mater and Ulster Hospitals, with separate numbers for each Trust.
This allows calls to be triaged by an appropriate clinician and patients to be directed to the right service, without having to endure lengthy waits in busy emergency departments.
Patients can be given an appointment for a minor injury unit or urgent care services, directed to their GP or asked to attend the Emergency Department.
Phone First numbers for Ulster, Lagan Valley and Downe hospitals in South Eastern Trust
Phone First number for Ulster, Lagan Valley and Downe hospitals in South Eastern Trust.
The Phone First service has been in use in Northern, Western, Southern and other parts of South Eastern Trusts for up to two years. With this roll out, the service is now available across Northern Ireland.
Roger Kennedy, Programme Director, SPPG, who has been supporting the Trusts with the launch of the service said, “The longer term idea behind the Phone First service is to move to a single HSC number so that people across Northern Ireland can ring and be given advice and directed to the right place, first time.”
For more information about Phone First, see Urgent and Emergency Care – DOH/HSCNI Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG)