Quick Advice

When to call 999

In all emergency and life-threatening situations call 999.

Dial 999 immediately for emergencies such as:

chest pain
difficulty in breathing
loss of consciousness
severe loss of blood
severe burns and scalds
choking
fitting/convulsions
drowning
severe allergic reactions

When to call 111

You can call 111 when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency. When you call 111, a trained adviser will ask you questions to find out what’s wrong, give you medical advice and direct you to someone who can help you, like an out-of-hour doctor or a community nurse.

NHS 111 uses Type Talk for people who are hard of hearing, and has interpreters available for callers who do not speak English.

You can call 111 from anywhere in England.

When to use this service:
You should use the NHS 111 service if you urgently need medical help or advice but it’s not a life-threatening situation. Call 111 if

you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergency
you think you need to go to A&E or need another NHS urgent care service
you don’t know who to call or you don’t have a GP to call
you need health information or reassurance about what to do next

For less urgent health needs, contact us at the surgery or your local pharmacist in the usual way.
If a health professional has given you a specific phone number to call when you are concerned about your condition, continue to use that number.

NHS Choices

NHS Choices is the primary public facing website of the NHS. Its pages include directories of local health services (a Directory of Services), information on a wide range of conditions, treatments, self-help guides and accessible public health information. The site also provides comparative data about healthcare providers, to help people make informed choices about their healthcare and allows patients to provide online feedback on services.