I need out of hours help
What does ‘out of hours’ mean?
In common with most other surgeries, we have our doors and normal phone lines open from 8.30am to 6.00pm, Monday to Friday.
We also take urgent phone calls from our patients for the marginally longer period of 8.00am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Any other period, i.e. weekday nights and all day at weekends and on bank holidays, is known as ‘out of hours’.
Out of hours GP service
Call 0845 408 8000 to contact the Out of Hours GP service
The Out of Hours GP service in Somerset is run by Westcountry Ambulance Services NHS Trust and a leaflet with more detail on the service offered can be found here. It’s worth printing the leaflet out and keeping it handy, just in case.
Up to 11pm on weekdays and all day at the weekends, there is a GP in attendance at the Minor Injuries Unit at Minehead Hospital. If you contact the Out of Hours GP service on 0845 408 8000, then a GP can call you back and advise you further on your problem. The GP may then suggest further treatment, that you come to visit him or her at Minehead Hospital, may come out to visit you, or may even call an ambulance on your behalf if the situation appears serious enough.
After 11pm, the nearest visiting doctor in the Somerset Out of Hours GP service is in Taunton. For those in Dulverton and the Southern half of our practice area, it is worth noting, however, that the Devon Out of Hours service, known as Devon Doctors, maintains a 24 hour GP base at the Minor Injuries Unit at Tiverton Hospital. Although all the Dulverton surgery patients (whether they live in Devon or Somerset) are officially covered by the Somerset service, anyone can simply turn up to the Minor Injuries Unit in Tiverton and be seen by the nurses and doctors based there.
NHS Direct
Call 0845 4647 or visit www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk for health advice
NHS Direct is a free service, available 24 hours a day to anyone who requires health advice.
Specially trained, registered nurses answer the phone on 0845 4647 and will give advice on any medical condition. Should the situation require it, they will also call an ambulance or pass your details on to the Somerset Out of Hours GP service and ask them to phone you back to give further advice.
Their website has lots of useful information on it too.
Out of hours pharmacies
Here is our dedicated Out of Hours Pharmacies page.