Emergencies

Out of Hours

A doctor is contactable during opening hours by telephoning the surgery telephone number:  02476552531.

When the practice is closed your call will be diverted to an NHS answering service, who will be able to give you the health care advice that you need or direct you to the most appropriate local health care service available.

111

The NHS have introduced NHS 111, which replaces the out of hours service and NHS direct.

If you need medical assistance when the practice is closed you should dial 111, which is free from all landlines and mobiles.

When a patient calls NHS 111, their call will be answered by a highly trained call handler (CH). The CH will record their details and lead the patient through an assessment, using the NHS Pathways clinical assessment tool. At the end of this assessment, the NHS Pathways system will identify the nature and urgency of their problem in order to enable the CH to direct the caller to the most appropriate locally available service. These indicate where the patient should be directed to and when they should access this service.

Dispositions range from self-care advice for colds and flu symptoms, through to 999 ambulance emergencies. Many dispositions direct patients to primary care locations. For example, their General Practice.

This service is for urgent help and advice only. It is not designed for the request of repeat prescriptions, test results or for making appointments. Please contact the surgery during opening hours to arrange these. Remember to arrange repeat prescriptions with your GP in good time, particularly if you are planning a holiday.

If you have a life threatening medical emergency please dial 999.

A&E or 999

Emergency services are very busy. They should only be used in very serious or life threatening situations.

See this page for more information on Local Emergency Departments.

When is it an emergency?

When it comes to your health or the health of someone in your family, it is often very obvious if the person is seriously ill and needs urgent care. You should seek medical attention by either taking the casualty to A&E or by phoning 999 for an emergency ambulance.

If the emergency is a critical or life-threatening situation like the following examples and in any of these instances, you should seek urgent medical attention by dialling 999:

  • Suspected heart attack
  • Chest pain
  • Unconsciousness
  • Severe breathing difficulties
  • Head injury
  • Stroke symptoms (slurring of speech, unstable on feet)

Remember to remain calm, do everything you can to help the person, but don't put yourself in danger and don't give the person anything to eat, drink or smoke.

People with signs of a heart attack, which might include crushing central chest pain often accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating and vomiting, need urgent medical help and an ambulance should be called immediately by dialling 999.

For conditions like heavy blood loss, suspected broken bones, deep wounds such (as stab wounds) and foreign body in eyes or ears which are not life-threatening (and where the patient can travel), they should be taken to the nearest A & E Department.