When you, or your family, need urgent health advice but it’s not an emergency or if you’re not sure where to go, NHS 111 can help with urgent health advice around the clock.
NHS 111 provides advice and can link you up with the service you need — which could include a pharmacy, out of hours GP appointments, minor injuries unit, urgent treatment centre or walk-in-centre.
To get help from NHS 111, you can:
- go to www.111.nhs.uk (for people aged five and over)
- call 111
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Calls are free from landlines and mobiles.
If you have difficulties communicating or hearing, you can:
- call 18001 111 on a text phone
- use the NHS 111 British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter service if you are deaf and want to
- use the phone service
How NHS 111 works
You answer questions about your symptoms on the website or by speaking to a fully trained adviser on the phone. You can also ask for a translator if you need one.
Depending on the situation, you will:
- Find out what local services can help
- Be connected to a nurse, emergency dentist, pharmacist, or GP
- Get a face-to-face appointment if you need one
- Be told how to get any medicine you need
- Get self-care advice
Easy-to-read information on the NHS 111 service can be downloaded from the NHS 111 assets website.
NHS 111 does not replace 999 or A&E for medical emergencies — when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.
We strongly encourage patients to call NHS 111 before walking into the local A&E. This is to ensure that patients can access the clinical service they need the first time.
You will be spoken to by a trained professional and a clinician if needed. If you decide to go to A&E, you will be given a suitable time to attend and staff at the hospital will be expecting you. That means less waiting around and faster treatment.
The service aims to meet most healthcare needs on the first call — including a consultation with a doctor, nurse, dentist, pharmacist or mental health specialist if needed and appointments booked with many local services.