NHS England and NHS Improvement has launched the next phase of the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign which focuses on the NHS 111 service

[TracyAdmin]

If you have an urgent but not life-threatening medical need, make sure you contact NHS 111 first rather than going straight to A&E. If you do need urgent care, then NHS 111 can now book you in to be seen quickly and safely in A&E. As well as this, NHS 111 is also able to direct you to or book an appointment at Urgent Treatment Centres, GP surgeries, pharmacies, emergency dental services and walk in clinics.

Contacting 111 first will also help to keep you safe by maintaining social distancing and ensure that you receive the right care in the right place, in a more timely and safe way.

[Buffafly]

My husband (85) was taken ill with abdominal pain while we were away for the weekend. When we returned he was still in pain and off food (very rare) so having called 999 in February because he had severe abdominal pain and nothing found amiss, this time I called 111. The drill used to be ‘fill in a virtual form then we’ll pass you to someone qualified to help’ but this time I spoke straight away to a kindly health assistant who decided that an ambulance should be sent to assess my husband ‘in about 18 minutes’. It was a bit longer than that but the ambulance crew were very pleasant, patient and thorough but couldn’t find an obvious cause so offered to take my husband to hospital. He didn’t want to go so they left us with some advice and told me to call back 999 immediately if his condition worsened. A little later I had a call from the ambulance service supervisor with further advice and reassurance that it was right to call because at my husbands age symptoms should be taken seriously.

I’m sure many people won’t have such a positive experience but ours couldn’t have been better so I felt I’d like to share.

[TracyAdmin Partner in reply to Buffafly]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, it is important to highlight and raise awareness of the variety of medical providers that are available to us in times of need. I hope your husband is recovering well? Take care, Tracy

[Buffafly in reply to TracyAdmin]

Improving, thank you 💜

[Frodo]

What emergency dental services are these? They certainly don't operate at the weekend, as I discovered. I was told there was nothing.

[TracyAdmin Partner in reply to Frodo]

Thank you for your message. I hope you are now feeling better and you have since been able to access dental care? the 111 service is available for all to contact and seek non urgent medical advice for the above emergency services on a regional basis. Kind regards, Tracy

[Frodo in reply to TracyAdmin]

Thank you, Tracy.

This was pre-covid. I called 111 and was told there is NO NHS URGENT DENTAL CARE AT WEEKENDS in this county. I was told that if you have your teeth knocked out in a car accident, for example, you can go to hospital, but not for anything else.

111 then put me through to an urgent care dental service in the next county, who refused to see me as I was not living in their county.They had no other advice to give me apart from using painkillers - but I had a very severe infection.