We are listening – when your GP surgery is closed

Tom Bryce,

The Out of Hours Service is for patients who need urgent medical care and cannot wait until their GP surgery is open.

All of NHS Lanarkshire's out-of-hours calls are handled by NHS24, the free telephone health advice, clinical assessment and referral service. You can contact them directly on Tel No: 111.

An NHS 24 nurse advisor will assess your symptoms and advise you what to do next. If you need to see a doctor or other health professional, this will be arranged for you at one of the NHS Lanarkshire Out of Hours Centres.

NHS Lanarkshire conducted a full public consultation to review service provision during 2015. This resulted in two Out of Hours Centres operating in Lanarkshire at:

Airdrie Health Centre in Airdrie             Douglas Street Clinic in Hamilton

               

We have encouraged patients and carers to provide us with feedback about our service and have conducted two staff and patient surveys during the past 10 months. Whilst we received positive feedback about the service you also told us there were some things that could be better. The main issues identified were:

Information – you wanted more information about the revised service, so we have reviewed and updated the information on the NHS Lanarkshire website to provide clear information including parking arrangements at both sites. Visit the “Our Services” section of the NHS Lanarkshire website via this link http://www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk/Services/OutofHours/Pages/default.aspx

Directions – you told us that you found it difficult to find Douglas Street Clinic. We have worked with South Lanarkshire Council to plan and agree additional road signs throughout Hamilton directing people to the Douglas Street Clinic.

Communication – you told us that you were frustrated when trying to contact the Douglas Street Clinic by telephone. We have reviewed and updated the messages on the answer phone service with additional information.

The service continues to develop and we are currently working with Paediatric and Mental Health Services to ensure patients can access the right care at the right time.

If you have an experience of Out of Hours Service you would like to share, please speak to a member of staff, respond on Patient Opinion, or visit the “Your Feedback” Section of the NHS Lanarkshire website to see the other ways to get in touch www.nhslanarkshire.org.uk