Is A&E busy on a Saturday afternoon?

[treesaregreen2]

Hi

think I might have to go to a&e this afternoon (about 99% sure I will, going to call nhs24 for advice first but I had to go to hospital for this before so I think it’ll be the same again)

am I correct in assuming a&e will be insanely busy on a Saturday afternoon? Obviously it doesn’t change whether I need to go or not, just for my own interest and to be sort of prepared, are Saturday afternoons usually really busy with other services eg GPs being closed at the weekend? I had to go on a Monday once which was insanely busy but was several years ago

TIA, doesn’t change anything but just to get an idea before going!

Have a look online, might give you the wait times

Our A&E is constantly busy at all times, call 111 see what they advise, depending on what the issue is they may be able to refer you to a specialist provision (SDEC for example) to avoid ED.

Not as busy as it will be later in the evening.

Best times I find are first thing in the morning, around 7.30 am.

Probably depends on your area. Ours is skeleton staff at the weekend so the wait times tend to build up. Also yesterday was carnage with the IT power out which heavily affected GP surgeries meaning lots of their patients were sent to us, not sure how much carry over into today that will cause. If you need to go make it sooner rather than later. You can mostly look up the wait times online prior to going now.

Just a little update- it was early evening by the time I got there and was absolutely mobbed solid- however I was actually taken for triage within 5 minutes of sitting down and then whisked straight through so barely even waited. Super grateful for all the help👍🏻