Minister for Health reduces Injury Unit charge to €75
HSE Media Release: 23 December 2019
Since Minister for Health Simon Harris signed a statutory instrument, the charge for attending a minor injury unit has been reduced from €100 to €75 as of today, 23rd December 2019.
If you have a full medical card or valid medical/GP referral letter there is no charge for attending an Injury Unit. For non-medical cardholders, the fee is now €75.
There are 11 Injury Units across the country in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Dundalk, Ennis, Mallow, Bantry, Nenagh, Monaghan and Roscommon that can treat a wide range of injuries in adults and children such as broken bones, dislocations, sprain and strains, minor burns and scalds. All units have access to x-ray and basic diagnostic services.
Instead of going to the Emergency Department where patients with non-serious and non-life threatening injuries may endure long waiting times, Injury Units are a much more practical and faster alternative for many minor injuries.
GPs regularly refer their patients to Injury Units and people can walk-in and self- present directly to any Injury Unit for treatment. The time it takes to complete treatment in an injury unit is on average 2 hours, though even less in some units.
For children, the new Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) Children’s Urgent Care Centre at Connolly in Blanchardstown provides treatment of minor injury and illness to children, young people and their families in the local area as well as those in Dublin north city and county, surrounding areas in Kildare and Meath, and people from further afield if they so wish. They treat children with minor injuries such as fractures, sprains, minor burns, small cuts and illnesses such as vomiting, diarrhoea and mild asthma at the Centre. The urgent care centre is a walk-in service and initial opening hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday. For more information, please visit childrenshealthireland.ie/connolly.
Injury Units do not treat children under the age of five, serious head injuries, abdominal (stomach) pain, medical illnesses or mental health problems. Check out the list of treatments available on www.hse.ie/injuryunits.
For more information on Injury Units and the opening times visit www.hse.ie/injuryunits.