Local Services

GP Out-of Hours Service

Southern Area Urgent Care Services (SAUCS) are provided by the Southern Health Social Care Trust (SHSCT).

For more information about the Out of Hours Service in your area click on the relevant link below:

Armagh and Dungannon
Craigavon and Banbridge
Newry and Mourne

When should I contact the service?

You should contact the service if you are ill and can not wait to see your own GP during normal surgery hours. We are not in a position to treat injuries such as cuts, abrasions or broken bones.

How do I contact a GP Out of Hours?

If you need a doctor at night or at weekends you can telephone the out of hours service on 0870 600 6009.

What can I expect when I make a call?

When you phone, you will not speak to a doctor straight away. A specially trained receptionist will ask you for your telephone number, date of birth, name and address and the name of your doctor. If you are the patient you will be asked for details about your medical problem. If you are phoning on behalf of someone else, you will be asked to give details of the patient's condition. This information is passed to the doctor who will call you back as soon as possible.

How long will it be before a Doctor phones me back?

In an emergency, (e.g. if a patient is suffering chest pain) the doctor will ring back straight away. All calls will be returned as soon as possible. The doctor will deal with the most urgent first so for non-urgent cases there may be a little wait. If the patient gets worse it is very important that you phone back and let us know. In the event that you are not called back within one hour of phoning the Out of Hours Service please contact us again.

All telephone calls plus subsequent follow up calls are recorded for training, monitoring and audit purposes.

What will the Doctor ask me?

The doctor will ask you about the medical problem. S/he will decide to do 1 of 5 things:

Give telephone advice which may include asking you to go directly to an Accident and Emergency Department or a Nurse Treatment Centre.
Ask you to come to the centre.
Visit you at home.
Call an ambulance for you if necessary.
Arrange for another Health Professional such as a member of the Community Mental Health Team to contact you.

If the doctor needs to see you and thinks you are fit to travel you will be asked to come to the centre. In the time it takes a doctor to do 1 home visit s/he can see 6 or 7 patients in the medical centre. If you come to the centre when you are able to travel, it enables our emergency car to visit very urgent and house-bound patients. The centre has a wide range of medical equipment. Often the best way to sort out your medical problem is to come to the centre. Home visits are for house-bound patients and very urgent cases only.

Why is it important to phone first?

Please do not come to the centre without phoning first.

This is important because:

Many problems can be sorted out over the phone
Patients often come to the centre when they need to go to casualty instead.
Patients who 'drop in' may have to wait longer. Those who have been asked to come to the centre will usually be seen first.

Home Visits

The service uses recognised guidelines which outline when a home visit is and is not appropriate.

Home visits are recommended for the terminally ill or bed-bound patients who cannot travel because it would cause pain or make their condition worse. A doctor may visit a seriously ill patient (e.g. with a heart attack, severe shortness of breath or severe bleeding) to help prepare them for hospital if s/he can get there before the ambulance.

It is not usually harmful for a child with a fever or a common childhood illness to travel to see the doctor. It is better to have the child examined and treated at an out of hours centre.

Adults with common problems such as a cough, sore throat, flu, back pain and abdominal pain will normally be asked to attend the centre.

It is best for elderly patient with problems like poor mobility or joint pain or who are feeling generally unwell to come to the centre to be treated unless they are bed-bound.

Please remember that the doctor cannot arrange transport to the centre.

What can I do if I am unhappy with the service?

We try our best to provide a high quality service. However, if for any reason you are unhappy with the care you receive you can make a complaint at either of the following:-

Southern Area Urgent Care Services
Craigavon Area Hospital
68 Lurgan Road
Portadown
CRAIGAVON
Co Armagh BT63 5QQ

Tel:028 3861 4150 between 9am and 5pm

Email:centralpoint.st@southerntrust.hscni.net

We will acknowledge your complaint with 2 working days and try to investigate the matter fully within 20 working days. We will:

Find out what happened
Tell you how we will improve our service if something went wrong
Make sure that you get an apology where appropriate

We will respond to all written complaints in writing.

If you would like more information or help to make your complaint you can contact the Health and Social Services Council in your area. The Council represent the interests of patients and the help they offer is independent, confidential and free:

Southern Health & Social Services Council – Tel 028 3834 9900

If you are unhappy with the response, you can contact an Independent Convenor at the local Health Board.

Southern Health & Social Services Board – Tel 028 3741 4603

CONFIDENTIALITY

Your medical records are held in confidence. It is a legal requirement that all staff maintain confidentiality of patients' records. The Out of Hours Service is computerised and is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998.

No information is passed on without your consent, unless within the confines of the NHS, or by legal requirement, or it is in the public interest.

We welcome any comments you might have on how we could improve our service.

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