Urgent and emergency healthcare: the differences explained

What is the difference between urgent and emergency healthcare?

Urgent care: Is for an illness or injury that needs attention quickly but is not a life-threatening situation. Although some urgent care is provided in hospitals, much is also provided by services outside hospital.

Emergency care: This is help for life-threatening conditions. If someone is in immediate danger because of an injury or a severe health problem, they need emergency care quickly. This is available at emergency departments (EDs), also known as Accident and Emergency (A&E) or casualty.

The role of EDs: EDs have specialist staff and equipment to handle serious health emergencies. However, with rising demands, EDs are becoming very busy. To help, we’re guiding people with non-emergency conditions to urgent care services.

Making the right choice: It can be tough to decide where to go for help when you’re hurt or feel very ill. To help, we have NHS 111: a 24-hour service where trained staff assess your condition and direct you to the best service to meet your need.

For guidance on when to seek urgent or emergency care, visit these helpful pages:

When to visit urgent treatment centres or other urgent care services

When to call 999