2500 patients seen by nedoc over festive season

Over 4,000 patients contacted the North-East Doctor on Call (NEDoC) service over the Christmas and New Year period.
Of those calls, over 2,500 were seen in one of the four treatment centres in the region.
Arlene Fitzsimons, operations manager at NEDoC, said it was inevitable that there would be a concentrated demand on NEDOC at this time of year as GPs’ surgeries close for four days over Christmas. “This does lead to some longer waiting times for patients, but we manage that demand by increasing the number of doctors on duty,” she said.
Navan was the busiest centre over the season, seeing 36 per cent of the total number of patients in treatment centres. “Over 880 patients were seen in the Navan centre over the Christmas and New Year period, while 100 were seen in their homes,” Ms Fitzsimons said.
Over Christmas weekend, 2,100 patients contacted NEDoC, of whom 1,413 were seen in one of the four treatment centres, and 161 patients were seen at home.
Some 73 per cent of all patients who contacted the service were seen by a doctor. Another 23 per cent were advised by a nurse and four per cent were advised by a doctor on the phone.
“The New Year also saw big spike in demand for the service. From 31st December until 5th January, 1,626 patients contacted the out-of-hours GP service, of whom 1,130 were seen by a doctor (999 in the treatment centres and 131 at home). 
“Some 69 per cent of patients who contacted the service were seen by a doctor, while 28 per cent received advice by a nurse and three per cent were advised by a doctor,” she added.
Ms Fitzsimons explained that the highest level of demand on the service is during the core hours of 8am to 10pm.
The busiest day for NEDoC over Christmas was Sunday 27th December with a total of 631 contacts to the service between those hours. Doctors saw 72 per cent of patients (456) on this day.
“It is commendable that the GPs and staff in the centres did such a great job managing the workload and ensuring patients were seen as quickly as possible”, she added.  “Patients were extremely understanding when they had to wait and we greatly appreciate their patience.”
Patients who need a doctor out of hours can telephone NEDoC on 1850 777 911 any time after 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 24 hours at the weekends.