Urgent Problems and Out of Hours

Urgent Problems during Surgery Hours

We define urgent as you cannot wait for the next appointment and wish to be seen the same day.

We ask you to telephone 020 3474 6200 to speak to a duty doctor, during the following times:

• 8.30am to 10am
• 3pm to 4pm

The doctor will be able to:

• Offer brief advice on the telephone (and sometimes avoid you having to come at all e.g. prescriptions and some certificates)
• Agree you need to be seen urgently and book you a TIME to come during that session (avoiding a long wait for you), either at the local Extended Access Hub Clinic (based out of Bermondsey Spa Medical Centre, 50 Old Jamaica Road, SE16 4BN) or at Albion Street.
• Offer a routine appointment, perhaps after suggesting some advice or tests
• Offer a telephone conversation to discuss in more detail at a later time
• Agree a home visit is necessary for you.
  Please try and call in the morning if you think you might need a Home Visit as we tend to visit at lunch time. (We understand that this will not always be possible).

If you have difficulty using the telephone please come to the surgery and let the receptionist know you wish to be seen urgently. The doctor will speak to you briefly before offering you one of the above options. If you are offered an appointment that session you may have to wait or you can choose to return for it. Other than in these instances, we do not offer a walk in service.

Please note that we are unable to return telephone calls to phones that will not accept anonymous calls.

How to Get Help when the Surgery is Closed

If you have an urgent medical problem when we are closed, please call NHS 111.

NHS 111 is the number to call when you need medical help fast but it’s not a life-threatening emergency.

Calls to NHS111 may request you to attend the extended primary care service in Southwark.

You can also try your local pharmacist for advice.

In life threatening emergencies such as chest pain and severe shortness of breath, you should call 999

Accident and Emergency

Only visit your accident and emergency (A&E) department or call 999 for serious life-threatening injuries and illnesses. The emergency services are always very busy; only attend A&E if you have a life threatening problem or a serious illness.

It is very obvious when someone is seriously ill. They may be unconscious, appear to have had a heart attack, have a broken bone or be bleeding heavily.

There is an accident and emergency department at:

St Thomas’ Hospital Accident and emergency (A&E), Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7EH

Open: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

Download the map to the Emergency Department (PDF 41Kb)

Urgent Care Centre

The nearest urgent care centre is at Guy’s Hospital

Open 8am to 8pm every day

The urgent care centre at Guy’s Hospital offers an alternative to the Accident and Emergency department (A&E) for a range of minor injuries and urgent medical problems.

It is a walk in NHS service for patients whose condition is urgent enough that they cannot wait for the next GP appointment (usually within 48 hours) but who do not need emergency treatment at A&E. It is staffed by a GP working alongside emergency nurses.

They have facilities to xray limbs for suspected fractures and prescribe medicines, however the service is not set up to do blood tests, chest xrays or more complex imaging such as Computerised Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans. The unit will usually treat patients with less serious injuries more quickly than A&E.

Find out more about how the Urgent Care Centre can help.

About NHS 111

NHS 111 can help if you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do.

Get help online or on the telephone:

To get help from NHS 111, you can:

• go to 111.nhs.uk (for people aged 5 years and over only)
• call 111
• NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In life threatening emergencies such as chest pain and severe shortness of breath you should call 999