Our Department

For as long as there have been humans, there have been emergencies; ailments or accidents that have befallen our people. It is a mark of society as to how it supports its people when such calamities occur. Generations who went before us required clinicians who could help them when struck down by infection, or in the fields of battle, or having been mauled by an animal. Society today is challenged by a somewhat different range of illnesses and traumas but the principles of kind, compassionate, expert emergency care delivered seamlessly by a multidisciplinary team of professional people is the core principle to which the team at CUH aspire every day. Sometimes situations conspire against the outcomes we seek for our patients. Every frontline staff member holds images of certain patients and their families emblazoned in their minds eye; situations and stories that cannot be forgotten; these influence how they care for the patient in front of them every day. 

Cork University Hospital’s Emergency Department (CUH ED) is now the busiest in the country seeing almost 70,000 patients per year. Each year, a growing number of people attend our Emergency Department, of which ~20% are children and over a quarter are above the age of 65. This service is provided by a very dedicated, hard working and experienced group of doctors, nurses and allied health care staff who are there when you need them 24/7 for your emergency. Our consultants in Emergency Medicine also provide a commitment to the Mercy University Hospital as well as governance of the Local Injury Units in the Network.

Cork University Hospital is the flagship Model 4 hospital for the region, meaning it provides 24/7 acute medical, surgical, critical and tertiary care – providing high calibre care to all adult and paediatric emergencies.

CUH is the designated Major Trauma Centre for the South Trauma Network. As part of the Trauma System for Ireland reconfiguration, CUH will have an Inpatient Trauma Service (IPTS) which is a multidisciplinary team of Doctors, Trauma Co-ordinators, Nurses, Health and Social Care Professionals/Allied Health professionals and a Project Manager led by a Consultant who will manage, co-ordinate and support the delivery of inpatient major trauma inpatient care and rehabilitation across 7 days to the multiply injured patient.

We offer core and higher specialist training in Emergency Medicine (EM), and are a training site for Undergraduate Medicine and Nursing, Emergency Nursing, Paramedicine and Military Medicine.