Northern Ireland's A&Es can get very busy with some people having to wait more than 12 hours to be treated in some cases.
But the truth of when they are at their most hectic might surprise you.
Many people avoid Emergency Departments over the weekend because of the perception that they will be over run.
But that's not when they are busiest at all.
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New information revealed by the Department of Health shows that our emergency doctors and nurses are most in demand on Monday mornings.
And after that, you're talking between 11am and noon every other week day.
The details come just as health chiefs have apologised over their continuing failure to tackle long waits for treatment at Northern Ireland's emergency departments (EDs).
Every one of the A&Es providing care in emergency situations, failed to meet their four-hour targets again in January, February and March this year.
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And just one hospital ED - Belfast Royal Victoria - managed to treat, admit or discharge every patient who walked through its doors within 12 hours.
A Department for Health spokesperson said: “Clearly, too many patients are waiting too long in our EDs.
“We apologise to those patients.”
The new figures, released by the Department of Health yesterday, also show how more and more people are turning to EDs for treatment with a huge rise on the number of over 95s attending.
A DoH spokesperson said: “Emergency Departments across Northern Ireland are continuing to experience serious pressures.
“There were 204,170 attendances at EDs during the first three months of 2019 - a 6.2% increase on the same period in 2018. A 13% increase was recorded in attendances by people aged 95 years and older.”
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The DoH added that “colleagues across the Health and Social Care system are working very hard to deal with the growing ED pressures and to identify areas where improvements can be made”.
It also said an urgent review of emergency care is being carried out and that a new model of care will be put forward at a June health summit planned to examine their findings.
“Key priorities in the review include establishing the best way to meet the needs of the rising number of older people in our population,” it added.
Dr Paschal McKeown, Charity Director, Age NI, said: “At Age NI we believe older people should receive the treatment they require when they need it and in a place that provides quality, effective and safe care.
“It is vital we address the inadequacies in our health care system and deliver safe care to those most in need.
“It’s time to plan for our ageing population and involve older people and others in designing a health and social care system that is fit for purpose, intervenes as early as possible and can meet the needs of all of us as we age.”
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Ulster Unionist health spokesperson Roy Beggs MLA has drawn comparison between the 88% of patients treated in England within four hours, and Northern Ireland’s 62.3%.
He said: “I have repeatedly said that our local hospital waiting times would cause outrage and be a scandal if they occurred anywhere else in the United Kingdom, yet absolutely nothing is being done to tackle them.
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“We still don’t have enough beds, we still don’t have enough staff and we still don’t have enough adequate care packages in the community.
“Someone, either here or at Westminster, ultimately needs to take urgent decisions for the benefit of patients.”
MANY LEAVE BEFORE TREATMENT
Almost one in 10 people who asked for help at Belfast Royal Victoria and Mater Hospital EDs in February left before their treatment was complete.
The shocking statistics, show that across Northern Ireland around 1 in 20 patients left EDs before being treated.
But this number jumped massively at RVH and the Mater, where respectively, 8.8% and 9.2% of those who asked for treatment walked away before they got that help.
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This number fell in March, but in February overall ‘walk-outs’ were at their highest level since 2014.
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NOT ENOUGH BEDS
Patients who need to be admitted to hospital for ongoing treatment are suffering much longer waits in our EDs than those treated and discharged home.
During March, the median time patients needing a hospital bed waited was 6 hours and 33mins - 4 hours and 11 mins longer than patients well enough to go home.
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They were treated and discharged within an average time of 2 hrs 22 mins from when they arrived at the ED.
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