Alternative Clinical Services

Please see below alternative services that are available and may help when the practice has reached capacity:

• Local Pharmacies
• NHS 111 telephone service or NHS 111 website for medical advice/signposting
• Minor Injury Clinic – Gravesham Hospital Tel: 01474 360500
• Urgent Care Centres – Medway Maritime Hospital and Darent Valley Hospital

The minor injury units in Gravesend, Sittingbourne and Sheppey are open at weekends, and patients can walk in between 8am-8pm. GP-led walk-in centres are also open at weekends in Northfleet and Gillingham . (Full details and opening times below).

Other pharmacies may be open voluntarily over the bank holiday period. Opening hours are correct at time of publishing but patients are always advised to check by phone if the pharmacy is open before travelling.

NHS 111

If you don’t have internet access or a smartphone, and need health help when it’s not an emergency, NHS 111 can give you free health advice, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can also seek advice from pharmacists and take advantage of NHS walk-in centres and minor injury units which are open most days except Christmas day.

Minor injury units and walk-in centres

Urgent treatment | Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (kentcht.nhs.uk)

Trained nurses at minor injury units (MIUs) can assess and treat cuts, sprains, minor burns, minor dislocation of the fingers and toes, minor eye injuries and remove foreign bodies from, for example, ears and noses.

MIUs cannot treat babies under one year old. MIUs are open every day of the year.

• Gravesham Community Hospital Bath Street, Gravesend, DA11 0DG. Phone: 01474 360816. Open 8am-8pm, every day of the year.

• Sittingbourne Memorial Hospital: Bell Road, Sittingbourne, ME10 4DT. Phone 01795 879100. Open 9am-9pm, every day of the year.

• Sheppey Community Hospital: Plover Road, ME12 3LT. Phone: 01795 879100. Open 9am-9pm, every day of the year.

GP-led walk-in centres

Walk-in centres are staffed by health professionals that will see you without an appointment if you have an urgent concern.

Open from 8am-8pm and you don’t need an appointment to see a GP or a nurse

•  GP-led urgent care walk-in centre service: From 1 July 2019 the GP Led Walk in Centre will relocate to the integrated GP-led urgent care treatment centre (UTC) at the front door of Medway Maritime Hospital’s emergency department.  Patients should present to the Emergency Department, where they are triaged by a senior nurse.  If their clinical needs are appropriate to be seen by a MedOCC clinician, then patients are directed to MedOCC where they are then seen.
• Sheppey NHS GP Walk-in Centre: Sheppey Community Hospital, Plover Road, Minster-On-Sea, Sheerness, ME12 3LT. Phone: 01795 879199. Open 365 days of the year.

Dentists

For emergency dental care, contact your own dentist first. At evenings, weekends and bank holidays (8.30am-1.25pm) you can call DentaLine on 01634 890300

Mental Health Support

Free confidential emotional advice and guidance is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the Mental Health Matters helpline on 0800 107 0160. The Samaritans are also there to listen at any time of day or night and can be reached by dialing 116 123.

Health Improvement Support 

Medway Public Health Teams offer free health improvement support. A Better Medway brand has been running for several years now and has a website listing a multitude of local health and wellbeing support for children and adults.

This service can be accessed via the following link: www.abettermedway.co.uk