Almost half of the 5,003 patients who attended the Altnagelvin Emergency Department (ED) in September were triaged as needing to be seen ‘immediately’ or ‘very urgently’ – that is within ten minutes.

The Derry A&E had the highest proportion triaged at Level 1 or 2 of any Type 1 facility in the North last month at 43.5 per cent.

A Red Level 1 status means a patient should not have to wait at all to be seen. An Orange Level 2 means they should be seen in 10 minutes.

According to the Department of Health’s latest emergency care statistics a further 42.8 per cent of patients attending the Altnagelvin ED were considered ‘urgent’ which means the target is that they should have a maximum wait time of one hour.

This means 86.3 per cent (4,318) of all (5,003) patients attending the Derry ED in September were triaged as ‘immediate’, ‘very urgent’ or ‘urgent’.

Year-on-year there was a five per cent (223 patients) increase with 4,780 people seen in September 2025 compared with 5,003 in September 2026.

The figures show that last month a total of 1,288 people waited over 12 hours in the Derry A&E from arrival to discharge; 2,295 waited four to 12 hours; and 1,268 waited under four hours.

During September 2026 the median waiting time from triage to the start of treatment at the Altnagelvin A&E was 1 hour 45 minutes, with 95 percent of patients receiving treatment within 10 hours 29 minutes of being triaged.

The median time patients who were discharged home spent in the Altnagelvin ED was 5 hours 43 minutes in September 2026, six minutes less than the time taken during the same month last year (5 hours 49 minutes).

The median time patients who were admitted to hospital spent in the Derry ED was 19 hours 21 minutes in September 2026, 1 hour 32 minutes more than the same month last year (17 hours 49 minutes).

The statistical bulletin newly published by DoH presented information on all new and unplanned review attendances across emergency care departments in the North during the July, August and September period in 2026.