Contact details

Contact details appear across the HSE website.

The Contact the HSE page gives users of the HSE website the information they need to contact HSE Live for general queries.

Elsewhere, users need contact details, location and opening hours for services such as:

• urgent and emergency care
• hospitals
• clinics

Users also need contact details when they are applying for:

• schemes
• allowances
• cards

The 2 main ways contact details appear across the website are:

• within the content of a web page - added manually by a content designer or publisher
• in a Service Finder listing - added via a database and presented on the website as content

For services, we are moving towards presenting all contact details in Service Finder databases.

The guidance below outlines our contact information style for both web pages and Service Finder listings.

For addresses, use:

• the full word for ‘County’, ‘Road’ and ‘Street’
• ‘St’ (no dot) instead of ‘Saint’

We try to avoid abbreviations in addresses.

An exception is when referring to the name of a place that is commonly known by an abbreviated form - usually ‘St’ for Saint. For example, St James’s Hospital.

Format of addresses

Addresses will either be written:

• on one line (horizontal) - for example, in the Service Finder
• across several lines (vertical)

In vertical addresses, use:

• commas at the end of each line
• line breaks for each line - do not have white space between the lines
  
  

Good examples

Tallaght University Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, D24 TN3C

or

Tallaght University Hospital,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24,
D24 TN3C

Bad example - no line breaks

Tallaght University Hospital,

Tallaght,

Dublin 24,

Eircodes

Always add an Eircode to an address. If you do not know it, ask the stakeholder for the correct Eircode.

The style to use is:

• 3 characters, a space, 4 characters
• capital letters

Before publishing, make sure there are no half sentences on a new line, or half Eircodes. Check to ensure the Eircode is not split across two lines.

Example

HSE Services, St Canice’s Hospital, Dublin Road, Kilkenny, R95 P231

Dublin postcodes

When using a Dublin postcode, use the relevant postcode (for example, Dublin 8) without repeating ‘Dublin’ underneath.

Example

St James's Hospital,
James's Street,
Dublin 8,
D08 W9RT

The exception to this is where the Dublin address doesn’t have a Dublin postcode. For example, Swords and Dún Laoghaire.

Example

St Michael’s Hospital,
George’s Street Lower,
Dún Laoghaire,
County Dublin,
A96 TN26

Other cities or towns

When referring to another city or town with the same name as the county, do not follow it with the name of the county.

Good example

HSE Services,
St Canice’s Hospital,
Dublin Road,
Kilkenny,
R95 P231

Bad example

HSE Services,

St Canice’s Hospital,

Dublin Road,

Kilkenny,

County Kilkenny,

R95 P231

Fadas in addresses

The fada is a slanting line that appears over vowels in the Irish language. It turns a short vowel (a, e, i, o, u) into a long vowel (á, é, í, ó, ú). This changes the meaning and the pronunciation of words.

The fada appears regularly in Irish names and addresses and we must always include it.

We sometimes link to Google Maps when we're providing directions. For example, to a clinic.

The standard wording we use for the hyperlinked text is:

Location and directions - Google Maps

Usually, we will only need to use titles for medical professionals. Sometimes, we may be asked to use general titles also.

We use abbreviations for common titles such as:

• Mr
• Mrs
• Ms
• Dr
• Prof

Do not use full stops in these abbreviations.

Do write out ‘freephone’ and ‘phone’ to clarify the difference.

We format phone numbers, fax numbers and WhatsApp numbers the same way.

The format is:

• area code or prefix
• 3 numbers
• remaining numbers

This number structure is easier to read.

Good examples

• Phone: 041 685 0300
• Phone: 022 233 88
• Phone: 01 809 3000
• Phone: 0402 405 00
• Fax: 046 928 2744
• WhatsApp message: 087 685 0300

There is an exception to this rule. If a number is formatted so it is easy to remember, keep the layout.

Example

1800 45 45 55

Emergency phone numbers

112 and 999 are the emergency numbers. Always mention both. Always mention 112 first.

Example

Call 112 or 999 if you or someone you know needs immediate medical help.

Hyperlinking numbers

Do not hyperlink fax numbers or WhatsApp numbers.

Do not hyperlink emergency numbers (112 or 999).

Add hyperlinks (phone links) for all other phone numbers.

Phone line opening hours

Users need to know when the phone line or service is open and closed, for example:

• Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm
• Saturday and Sunday, closed

Multiple phone numbers

Try not to use multiple phone numbers. But, sometimes there will be multiple phone numbers to contact a service or department. Display them in a list.

Examples

• Phone: 049 437 8918
• Phone: 041 685 0301
• Phone: 041 685 0302

or

• Freephone: 1800 45 45 45
• Phone: 041 685 0300
• Phone: 041 685 0301
• Fax: 041 685 0400

When you add an email address or website address as contact details:

• add 'Email:' or 'Website:' before it
• use lowercase letters
• hyperlink the address
• do not include www. in the website address

Examples

Website: hpra.ie

Email: info@hpra.ie

Use this format to give users contact information.

Opening hours

We say ‘opening hours’ and ‘visiting hours’.

For instances where live times are displayed in the Service Finder, we say ‘open now’ or ‘closed now’. For example, on Emergency Department (ED) or GP out-of-hours service pages.

24 hours

When the opening hours for a specific location is all day, seven days a week:

Open 24 hours every day.

Full week

Use this guide when the opening hours for a specific location are the same for Monday to Sunday:

Monday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm

Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Sometimes weekend opening hours are different to weekday hours.

But the opening hours are the same for:

• Monday to Friday
• Saturday and Sunday

If this happens follow the format below:

Good examples

• Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm
• Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 2pm

Bad examples

• 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday
• 10am to 2pm, Saturday to Sunday
• Weekdays, 10am to 4pm
• Weekends, 10am to 2pm

Sometimes there are different opening hours on weekdays, on Saturdays, and on Sundays.

If this happens follow these examples as a guideline:

Examples

• Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
• Saturday, 9am to 4pm
• Sunday, 10am to 2pm

Varying opening hours

When the opening hours for a specific location vary throughout the week, and don’t fit into the above categories, we list out each day.

If a service is closed on a given day, we list the day and say ‘closed’.

Examples:

• Monday, 8am to 4pm
• Tuesday, 8am to 4pm
• Wednesday, 9am to 5pm
• Thursday, 7am to 3pm
• Friday, 7am to 3pm
• Saturday, 9am to 10pm
• Sunday, closed

A location may have multiple openings and closings within a day.

In the Service Finder, this will be displayed on one line, next to the specific day.

Example

Monday, 9am to 12.30pm, 1.30pm to 5pm

or

Monday to Sunday, 10am to 12.30pm, 2.45pm to 6pm