For out of hours when the surgery is closed please contact NHS 111
Monday to Friday: before 08.00am and after 18.30pm
Saturday and Sunday: 24 hours
Bank Holidays: 24 hours
NHS 111 is here to help you when your own surgery is closed and you cannot wait until your surgery opens to seek medical attention.
All calls to and from NHS 111 are voice recorded. A Call Handler will take your details including telephone number, name, current location (usually your home address) and your registered GP details. They will also take some basic details about the reason for your call so that all calls can be prioritised if there are a number of callers to telephone back.
If you are assessed as needing to see a doctor you will be invited to see a clinician in a local Cumbria Health on Call Treatment Centre.
Home Visiting Guidelines
There are conditions for which you would not usually receive a home visit.
In Children: Common symptoms such as fevers, colds, cough, sore throat, earache, diarrhoea, vomiting and most cases of abdominal pain.
In Adults: Common problems such as cough, sore throat, influenza, generally feeling unwell, back pain and abdominal pain.
In these circumstances patients are usually well enough to travel and should be able to make their way to one of the treatment centres.
Home visit recommended
Home visiting makes clinical sense and is recognised as the best way of responding in cases involving:
- A terminally ill patient.
- A truly housebound patient for whom travel to a centre by car would cause deterioration in their medical condition.
Why is it better for a clinician to see me at the centre?
- More accurate diagnosis can be made with all the examination facilities and equipment available at the centre.
- Should you need to be admitted to hospital, this can be quickly arranged from the centre.
- Clinicians can see 4 – 6 patients at the centre in the time it takes to do one home visit. This means patients can be seen promptly and the most urgent cases will be seen quickly.
Appointments
Patients should telephone NHS 111 rather than attend a centre without an appointment.
This is because:
- Patients who walk in/arrive at the centre without first telephoning may not be seen for some time as other patients may require to be seen more urgently.
- There may not be a clinician present – they may be out on home visits.
- There may be a delay in seeing a clinician if they are busy with patients who have been given an appointment and have previously been assessed over the telephone.
- It may be that telephone advice is all that you require and the travel to a centre has been unnecessary.
Please telephone first – you may save yourself time and avoid a lengthy wait. If you need to be seen in a centre an appointment will be arranged.
Protection and Use of Patient Information
The details you provide to the out of hours service are held securely for medical purposes.
Some of the information is also used for clinical auditing purposes to evaluate performance against NHS standards.
