How To

Emergency (Call 999):

This is an immediate response from the ambulance services – this service is for acutely urgent life-threatening injury or illnesses.

Examples may include:

• Suspected stroke or heart attacks
• Chest pain
• breathing difficulties or choking
• severe injuries after an accident
• heavy bleeding you cannot stop
• being unconscious
• severe allergic reactions
• severe burns
• any acutely life-threatening condition

GP practice: Your GP practice offers a wide range of urgent and non-urgent services.

They will help you with urgent medical problems like:

• high fever (temperature)
• Rashes
• Chest / Urine / other infections
• Pain

please contact 111 when your surgery is closed and your problem cannot wait but not so urgent as an emergency. You can use this service also if you are not sure.

If your surgery is closed and your problems cannot wait until you could use the nearest walk in centre to Thanet which is the Estuary View Medical Centre, Boorman Way, Whitstable, CT5 3SE.

It is open every day from 8am to 8pm. They also can help with minor injuries like Cuts, burns, bites, minor head injuries, sprains and suspected broken bones.

For these you still can attend the enhanced ART or Estuary View Medical Centre

Your GP practice will be able to deal with all your routine medical needs. They offer a plethora of services and are your first port of call for all your non-urgent medical needs.

A lot of services also offer a range of their services online, like booking appointments, order repeat prescriptions and see parts of your medical record.

There are multiple ways of getting advice. Your community pharmacy can help you with a wide range of conditions, and being experts in medicines, will help you with any questions about your medication and self-help remedies. They should be able to help you with conditions like:

• Sore throats
• mouth ulcers
• coughs and colds

You may also find a lot of health related information on the NHS websites: www.nhs.uk, www.111.nhs.uk or under www.patient.info.

For these conditions you should contact your dentist if you are registered with one.

In Thanet there are our of hours services available, which also help people who are not registered with a local dentist and need urgent care.

The numbers to call are

• Dentaline: 01634 890300
• Ramsgate Dental access centre: 01843 255200
• Broadstairs Dental access centre: 01843 255311

111 can help you find the nearest NHS dentist to register with, should you need to do so in a less urgent situation.