NEDOC arrangements for Christmas
The North East Doctor on-call Service has published its arrangements for Christmas 2018 and the public is being urged to use it properly.
Operations Manager with NEDOC, Arlene Fitzsimons, stresses that the service provides urgent out of hours GP care when your own surgery closes in the evening, and advises people not to call for routine matters that can wait until your doctor is back in his/her surgery.
"We’re asking people not to use the out-of-hours service as their regular GP service. We understand that people are very busy with huge time pressures but it is important that the doctor on call is used only for urgent care.
“Remember NEDOC is not a walk-in service. Please ring first and an appointment will be arranged for you, if necessary.”
"Nor is the doctor on call service a replacement for the emergency services. Anyone requiring emergency treatment should contact the emergency services on 999 or go straight to their nearest Emergency Department."
Ms Fitzsimons is urging people to make the necessary arrangements by ensuring that they get prescriptions filled so that they have enough medication to carry them over the holiday season and to have their medicine cabinets or first aid boxes stocked to treat minor ailments at home.
She points out the call centre handled 2,534 calls on St Stephens Day alone last year.
NEDOC’s arrangements for Christmas 2018 are as follows:
· 6pm Monday 24th December - 8am Thursday 27th December
· 6pm Thursday 27th December - 8am Friday 28th December
· 6pm Friday 28th December - 8am Monday 31st December
· 6pm Monday 31st December - 8am Wednesday 2nd January
When someone rings the NEDOC service, a trained telephonist takes their details, including name, address, date of birth, telephone number and the brief symptoms of illness/complaint, the name of the patient's own GP, medical card details, if applicable. All this detail is necessary as it enables the service to treat the patient according to medical need. Each morning, GPs receive an electronic report on the treatment of their patients who attended NEDOC overnight or over a weekend.
Over the Christmas period, the call centre is exceptionally busy especially during early morning times. Callers may experience delays in getting through or getting their call answered but are asked to be patient. TThe patient will receive a call back from an experienced triage nurse usually within one hour. Emergency cases are passed directly to the nurse for immediate attention. Following a telephone assessment, the Nurse will decide the most appropriate level of care. This may conclude with advice over the telephone, a request to attend a treatment centre to see a doctor or arrange a house call or advice to attend the Emergency Department. Where an emergency arises, the nurse will arrange ambulance transport.
Every Christmas the service is getting busier, receiving thousands of calls and Ms Fitzsimons is asking people to be patient if they are experiencing delays getting through to the service or if there is a delay in the service calling back. GP surgeries are open on non-bank holiday days, including Christmas Eve, Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and again on New Year’s Eve.