When We Are Closed
For urgent medical advice outside surgery opening hours, please telephone NHS111. This is a free number.
NHS 111
What's the NHS 111 system?
NHS 111 is a free from landlines or mobiles, 24 hour service, introduced to make it easier to access all local NHS healthcare services when you need urgent medical help, but it isn't a 999 life-threatening emergency.
For example, you should use it if you think you may need to go to the emergency department or another NHS urgent care service, and you don't think your problem can wait until you can get a GP appointment, or if you don't know who to call for medical help. The advisors will assess if your problem does need an ambulance after all, in which case they'll organise one, then give you healthcare advice and direct you to the appropriate local service as quickly as possible. For example, this may be the:
- Out-of-hours GP service.
- Emergency dentist.
- Nurse-run walk-in centre community nurses.
- Late-opening chemist.
Out-of-hours services are generally busy so please think carefully before asking to see a doctor and only do so if you genuinely cannot wait until the surgery re-opens.
In a genuine emergency you should call 999. Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.