Out-of-hours Emergencies
You may need to see a doctor when the surgery is closed. Most surgeries are open six days a week: typically between eight in the morning and seven in the evening, Monday to Friday, and between eight in the morning and one in the afternoon on Saturday. However, you may become ill during the evening and need assistance at night, or become ill on a Sunday and decide that you need to see a doctor immediately.
If you need to see a doctor when the surgery is closed, you can seek assistance from the out-of-hours emergency service. This service provides healthcare and medical assistance for patients when the surgery is closed: during surgery hours, the service is unavailable.
It is a good idea to ask for the telephone number of the out-of-hours service when you register at a new practice. Make a note of the number and keep it in a safe place: you do not want to spend hours looking for a telephone number when you feel unwell! If you do not know the telephone number of the emergency service, call your surgery; most practices will have an answering machine which tells callers the number to call in case of emergencies.
If you cannot find the number of your surgery, there are several NHS helplines you can contact for assistance. NHS Direct is available in England and Wales: they are available to take your call twenty-four hours a day, on 0845 46 47. In Scotland, NHS 24 on 08454 24 24 24 offers advice throughout the day and night. There is currently no NHS helpline for Northern Ireland, but directory enquiries should be able to help.
The way in which the emergency service is operated differs between surgeries. Some practices will share the out-of-hours service among their doctors, with a different doctor 'on call' each night of the week. Other practices will use a community service which shares the on call service between doctors from several local surgeries.
The emergency service may offer every patient a home visit, or may separate patients into two categories: those who can attend an emergency surgery, for example at a local hospital, and those who need a home visit. It is important to remember that you should only contact the out-of-hours emergency service if it is a medical emergency. If you start feeling unwell but your symptoms are not severe, you can wait until the surgery reopens and request an urgent appointment for that day. If you need medical advice you can contact NHS Direct or NHS 24 via telephone, or search their detailed websites.
If you are involved in an accident or suddenly feel seriously unwell, it may be best to go straight to your nearest Accident and Emergency department, or call for an ambulance on 999 or 112.
