But A&E departments tell us that around 4 in every 10 people who go to A&E don't need to - wasting valuable time and resources needed for real emergencies.

An emergency is 'a critical or life- threatening situation' and includes things like:

Unconsciousness
Losing a lot of blood
Difficulty in breathing
Severe chest pain
Suspected broken bones.

Out of Hours

Out of normal surgery hours, all GPs have an emergency service. This service is only for urgent medical problems that cannot wait to be treated until normal surgery hours. To access this service call your normal GP's surgery number.

Emergency Dental Treatment

If you need emergency dental treatment out of hours, call your own dentist and you will be directed to an on-call service. If you don't have a dentist, call NHS Direct who will be able to direct you to a dentist who can help.