Urgent health care and treatment in mid Essex
The GP Out-of-hours Service is available outside your surgery opening hours.
The Out-of-hours service is available to you when your GP surgery is closed and you need urgent health care and treatment at night, weekends and on public holidays.
If you have an urgent need for healthcare because someone is unwell or injured, you can:
- Call your GP practice - your call will go through to the out-of-hours on-call service; or there will be an answer phone message with the telephone number of the out of hour service for you to ring. Patients will be offered telephone advice or an appointment to attend your nearest out of hours facility. For GP services you can now visit the new North Chelmsford NHS Healthcare Centre, without an appointment, between 8am and 8pm - 7 days a week. This is located at the Sainsbury's site in Springfield.
Or
- Call NHS Direct on 0845 4647
Trained clinicians are available to give you advice on the phone; or they will put you in touch with your local urgent care service who will offer you telephone advice or an appointment to attend your nearest out of hours facility..
Where a situation is life threatening, for example if the patient is having difficulty breathing, has a serious injury, major blood loss or is unconscious, you should dial 999 for an immediate emergency response.
When is the Out-of-hours Service available?
Weekdays: between 6.30 pm and 8.00am
Weekends and public holidays: 24 hours
What to expect
Our call taker will ask you for details of your problem. Depending on the nature of your illness you will then speak to a doctor, nurse or other clinician who will assess you.
They will either:
- Give you advice over the telephone on how to treat yourself at home or suggest you visit a local pharmacy
- Ask you to attend the primary care centre where you may be treated by either a doctor, nurse, or an emergency care practitioner
- Arrange for you to have a home visit from either a doctor, nurse or an emergency care practitioner
- In some cases, for example at very busy times, a doctor, nurse or an emergency care practitioner may ask to call you back as quickly as possible.
Other options for health care
The North Chelmsford NHS Healthcare Centre
For GP services you can now visit the new North Chelmsford NHS Healthcare Centre, without an appointment, between 8am and 8pm - 7 days a week. This is located at the Sainsbury's site in Springfield.
Pharmacy
Ask a pharmacist for advice about the most useful items to keep in your home medicine cabinet so that you are able to treat minor illness or injury yourself. For more information about pharmacy services please click For more information about pharmacy services click here.
NHS Direct
Not sure if you need a doctor, or just want information and advice about health problems? Call NHS Direct on 0845 4647 0845 4647, available 24 hours a day. You can also visit the NHS Direct web site at: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
General Information about the Out-of-hours Service
Please do not call for routine matters
The Out-of-hours GP service is only for urgent health care and treatment. We cannot provide you with repeat prescriptions, or make an appointment for you with your GP or practice nurse. For these and other routine matters you will need to contact your GP surgery during normal opening hours.
Paying for prescriptions
If you usually pay for medicines prescribed by your GP you will be asked to pay the current prescription charge for each item dispensed. This will not be charged at the time of treatment, as our primary care treatment centre does not handle money. A request for payment will be sent to your home address.
Dental Emergencies
We cannot deal with dental emergencies. Please call your dentist and listen to their out-of-hours answer phone message or, if you do not have a dentist, contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647 0845 4647 for advice on pain relief or an urgent dental appointment.
Comments, compliments, concerns or complaints
It is our aim to make sure that every patient has a good experience of using the Out-of-hours GP service and it is helpful to know when we get things right as well as if you are unhappy about any aspect of the care you receive.
If you have any commendations, concerns or complaints about the Out-of-hours GP service please follow the link below:
Comments, compliments, concerns and complaints