Emergency Care
If there’s a life-threatening situation, call 112. If someone’s life is in danger or if you need urgent help, our hospital in Utrecht is open 24/7. This page tells you when you can go to our emergency care centre, and how A&E works.
Accident & Emergency (A&E)
Is there a life threatening situation?
Call 112.
Do you need urgent medical help, but the situation is not life threatening?
Call your GP. If your GP is closed you can contact our out-of-hours medical services.
- Utrecht: 088 130 9670
- Zeist, De Bilt, Bunnik, Wijk bij Duurstede en de Utrechtse Heuvelrug: 088 130 9610
- Houten en Nieuwegein: 088 130 9680
When to go to A&E
The emergency care centre in Utrecht has an A&E and out-of-hours medical and pharmacy services. This page tells you when you can go to our emergency care centre, and how A&E works.
You should go to A&E if:
- Your GP or the out-of-hours medical service tells you to go to A&E.
- The X-ray department refers you to A&E.
- You were taken to the hospital by ambulance.
- A doctor asks you to go to A&E.
How A&E works
When you get to A&E, please go to the reception desk. Tell the receptionist your name and other personal information, and say why you’ve come to A&E. You will need a valid ID, your health insurance card and a referral from your GP (if you have one).
The receptionist will ask you some questions about your health. This is to make sure you don’t have an MRSA infection. She will ask if:
- You live or work with live pigs or calves, or if you have lived or worked with these animals in the past.
- You were treated in a hospital outside the Netherlands in the past two months.
After you have registered, the receptionist will ask you to go to the waiting room. She will also give you a questionnaire to fill in. If you can’t answer some of the questions, you can leave them blank. Please give the form to the nurse or doctor who comes to pick you up. You will get the treatment you need as soon as possible. We use a system called ‘triage’ to work out when a doctor will see you.
Sedation during treatment
If a treatment is painful, you or your child can have ‘sedation’. This means that you go into a light sleep. Our doctors know the right way to give you this sedation. Sedation helps you to relax, reduces your pain and makes it easier for the doctors to treat you.