In normal surgery hours if you have an emergency, telephone the normal surgery number and you will be put through to speak to a doctor, if available, or the receptionist will take a message and the doctor will be contacted as soon as possible.
In a life-threatening emergency eg suspected heart attack or stroke, you should dial 999. Out of hours, you should ring NHS 111 by dialling 111 free. The out-of-hours service is for urgent medical problems only.
A receptionist at NHS 111 will record the details and you may speak to a doctor on the telephone, have a home visit, or be asked to attend at the Base depending upon the nature of the problem you have.
The doctors take part in the local out-of-hours service and the doctor on duty is not always a partner of the practice. Often the on-call doctor will ask you to travel to the minor injuries department at QEQM Hospital, Buckland Hospital or Deal Hospital rather than visit you at home.
Calls to the on-call service are recorded. The NHS 111 service is available both in and out of normal surgery hours and can be used to advise patients on where to go and which service to access with a particular problem.