Willow Street Medical Centre

Weekend and night cover is the responsibility of Shropshire County Primary Care Trust. They have contracted with SHROPDOC to provide the service. Should you require urgent attention outside of normal hours, please telephone SHROPDOC on 0844 406 8888.

NHS DIRECT

NHS Direct can be contacted on 0845 4647 or by visiting www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

EMERGENCIES

General practice is not an emergency service and can only be expected to respond within two to four hours. For a patient to arrive at an already fully booked clinic expecting immediate help from his or her GP may well be counter-productive: safe and effective assessment and treatment requires time and concentration. The most appropriate resource for acute emergencies is the ambulance service/hospital A&E. See below for what to do in an ‘illness emergency’.

EXAMPLES WHERE AN AMBULANCE IS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY (PHONE 999)

Loss of Consciousness
Convulsions: in patient not known to be epileptic, OR anyone not resolving after a few minutes.

Chest Pain or Severe Discomfort

Angina Attack - not responding to usual medication within 15 minutes.

Palpitations or heart disturbance causing chest pain/severe breathlessness for more than a few minutes.

Severe Breathlessness

Major Accident or Injury

Heavy Bleeding (other than menstrual)

Severe Continuous Abdominal Pain of abrupt onset

In cases such as the above, paramedics can assess the severity of the condition and administer oxygen, pain relief and other drugs, provide resuscitation and, if necessary, transport the patient to hospital.

Immediate hospital treatment for heart attack can prevent damage to the heart muscle and save life. Otherwise, for advice or appointment telephone the surgery.

Please realise the practice cannot allocate appointments simply for your convenience, but we can provide a service intended to deal with genuine urgent need within two to four hours. Other cases must wait for an available 10-minute appointment.