Where can you get medical help when GP surgeries are closed?

COUNCILLORS have expressed concern over widespread confusion about where to get urgent medical help after hours.

East Riding Council's Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee is calling on health bosses to make it clearer to patients where they can go for help once their doctor's surgery is closed.

Hull Royal Infirmary is facing increasing pressure as more and more people turn up at its Emergency Department (ED) when they could get help closer to home.

However, councillors on the committee have called on health organisations to give clearer and more consistent messages about the services available in the community after a presentation by Humber Foundation Trust (HFT) into East Riding's out-of-hours service.

Councillor Barbara Hall, chairman of the committee, said: "You have to make it very clear about what is available and what the process is.

"I still think a lot of people aren't clear on that. I really do think it needs making much clearer."

HFT provides GPs, nurse practitioners, community nurses and support staff to help patients from 6pm to 8am and on weekends and bank holidays.

The clinical staff respond to calls made by the public using the 111 telephone service for health issues, which are not emergencies but are urgent.

Kerry Brown, general manager for unscheduled care at HFT, said the 111 service is provided by Yorkshire Ambulance Service and callers are assessed over the phone by trained staff.

They use the information given to them by patients and scientific algorithms to calculate how they need to be treated.

Depending on the calculation, patients can get a home visit by either a doctor or a nurse, be directed to a minor injuries unit or out-of-hours centres in Beverley, Bridlington, Goole or Hedon, or will be asked to make an appointment with their GP the following day.

The 111 service is part of a plan to divert patients away from Hull Royal Infirmary's ED, which is already struggling to cope with the huge volume of people attending when they do not require emergency treatment.

Ms Brown said the 111 service was introduced in June last year and the number of calls had steadily increased to about 2,500 a month, with Saturday mornings being the busiest time and calls tailing off over night.

She said: "If you phone your GP surgery out of hours, they will divert you to 111 and that is the right intention. It removes all the ambiguity to a single point of access and it seems to have worked extremely well in this area."

However, Councillor Keith Moore, Labour member for Goole North, said: "Last week, we had the Health Secretary taking his kids to A&E, so something needs to be done in terms of getting that message out because everybody is confused.

"I also think there is a lack of confidence in the 111 service because when you ask to see a doctor, you're told to take an aspirin and see your GP and then you have to wait six weeks to get an appointment."

'People who need fast medical help'

NHS 111 is a telephone service for people who need fast medical help when their doctor's surgery is closed.

The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

People should call 111 if they need medical help fast, but it is not an emergency.

People who think they need another NHS urgent care service, don't know who to call or do not have a GP can also use the service.

Fully-trained staff, supported by clinicians and paramedics, will ask patients questions to assess their symptoms. Based on the answers, they then direct people to a service near them.

They can send an out-of-hours GP to see people at home or direct them to a walk-in centre, emergency dentist or late-opening chemist.

If they think people require an ambulance to go to A&E, they can arrange for one to be sent.