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Keeping urgent NHS services safe and available for everyone who needs them is something that affects every potential patient, and a new appointment system via NHS 111 is now available to help.
NHS 111 can already make booked appointments with GP surgeries and pharmacies, or divert a call to the ambulance service if necessary. Callers can also get directly through to a specialist mental health team. The addition is that from 1 December, NHS 111 will be able to make somebody a booked appointment at an Emergency Department or Urgent Treatment Centre too.
Please remember though that you should always call 999 if someone is seriously ill or injured, or if their life is at risk.
Dr Vishen Ramkisson, the GP leading on the introduction of this new approach to urgent care for Hertfordshire and west Essex said: “Waiting for hours in an emergency department to be seen for a minor injury or illness is not in anyone’s interests. By picking up the phone and dialling 111 or going online to 111.nhs.uk before making the decision to travel, patients can be assured that the right clinician is expecting to see them, when an appointment is necessary.
“An appointment system will help to ensure that everyone who needs urgent care help can be seen safely and comfortably. This way of working will help our residents to get the help they need without spending time in a waiting room where the likelihood of contracting COVID-19, flu or other viruses is increased.”
This new approach has been agreed as a result of successful partnership working between staff from our three acute hospitals in Watford, Stevenage and Harlow, GP-led clinical commissioning groups and the local NHS 111 service.
A video featuring local Emergency Department staff highlights the new ways of working, and you can watch it here.
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