Call 999 for any of the following:
Signs of a heart attack: pain like a very tight band, heavy weight or squeezing in the centre of your chest.
Signs of a stroke: face drooping on one side, can’t hold both arms up, difficulty speaking.
Severe difficulty breathing: gasping, not being able to get words out, choking or lips turning blue.
Heavy bleeding: that won’t stop.
Severe injuries: or deep cuts after a serious accident.
Seizure (fit): someone is shaking or jerking because of a fit, or is unconscious (can’t be woken up).
Urgent Appointments at Our Surgeries
At our surgery, urgent appointments are managed by a skilled team of GPs and Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs). To ensure patients are seen by the most appropriate clinician, our trained reception staff will triage all appointment requests based on clinical need.
What Is an Urgent Appointment?
We define an urgent problem as a new symptom that has developed within the last 24 hours, or an existing issue that has significantly worsened within the same timeframe. Unlike some services where urgency is determined by the patient’s perception, we use clinical triage to assess the urgency and decide on the most appropriate course of action.
This means not all same-day concerns will be classified as urgent, but any issue meeting the above criteria will be prioritised accordingly.
Examples of Urgent Issues May Include:
– A sudden onset of pain or a significant increase in existing pain
– New infections or symptoms that may require prompt treatment
– Breathing difficulties or new chest pain
– High fever, particularly in vulnerable individuals or children
– Rapid worsening of a long-term condition (e.g. asthma, diabetes)
– New or escalating mental health concerns
If you’re unsure whether your issue may be urgent, please speak to our reception team. They are trained to ask relevant questions to help determine the best type of appointment for your needs and can also liaise with our Duty doctor.
Before calling us, please look at the information below – all these options are available without the need for a GP appointment:
Do you have a MINOR INJURY or ILLNESS which needs a SAME DAY review?
The following are a list of other services which can help with minor injury / illnesses. This includes cough, colds, sore throat, ear infections, urine infections, skin infections, diarrhoea / vomiting, rashes, cuts, wounds or burns.
Pharmacists – Experts in medicines who can help you with minor health concerns. Most pharmacies have a private consultation room where you can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard. Think Pharmacy First.
GP Front Door Service – GP Front Door Service is run by experienced healthcare staff, offering same-day access to a GP or nurse for urgent medical needs. Available during evenings and weekends without an appointment.
Walk-in Centre – Open 7am-9pm seven days / week. Their website includes the current average wait time.
The 111 team can advise you on managing your symptoms, if you’re not sure what to do. They can also provide emergency supplies of prescribed medications.
Healthier Together – An excellent website which offers advice for many common childhood illnesses including fevers, coughs, colds, chickenpox, ear ache and rashes. Includes information on when you should seek advice from a healthcare professional.
NHS A-Z directory – This is a very useful list of medical ailments and provides some well written information, including when you should see a GP.
Do you have an URGENT EYE problem?
This includes red eyes or eyelids, sore / gritty / painful eyes, sticky discharge, flashes or floaters, sudden loss of vision or foreign body in the eye.
Community Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) is available to all patients to self refer to. You will be put in contact with a local optician commissioned to provide an urgent eyecare assessment. They will be able to examine you with specialist tools not available to GPs. They can also refer onto the specialist services if further input is needed. You can click on the link to find a local participating optician or call 0300 303 4922.
Are you looking for help with ANXIETY and DEPRESSION?
The Wellbeing Team is our local service which you are able to self refer to. We often encourage patients to contact the wellbeing team who can provide various talking therapies including cognitive behavioural therapy. Their website also has lots of very useful self help material.
You can access urgent mental health support by calling 111 and selecting option 2. You can find more information about this here.
Are you looking for advice on your CHILDS HEALTH?
Mild to Moderate Mental Health Needs (up to age 25) – you can submit a self referral your child to the Norfolk and Waveney team via Just One Number. From the information received the team will decide which service best meets your child’s need.
Early Help – If you have difficulties in your family or are worried about your children, there are people who can offer help and support. Early Help is for children of any age (0-17) and their family. It’s about getting information, advice and guidance to prevent family worries escalating into bigger issues. You can phone the service on 0344 800 8020. You can self refer directly using this link.
Just One Norfolk is the local service for accessing child health resources. This includes child developmental advice, healthy lifestyle advice, speech and language information, emotional health and much more. You can access them using the link or calling 0300 300 0123.
Kooth is a free service which allows young people to seek advice and counselling, it also provides lots of online tools which young people can use to manage their symptoms
Solihull Parenting Course ‘Understanding Your Child’ is a free online course available for everyone who cares for children aged 0-18 years. It’s there to help you recognise emotions in yourself and your child, and helps you to see how these emotions can impact on behaviour.
Supporting Smiles (formally Point-1) offers professional mental health support to any child or young person, aged 4 – 14 years, living in Norfolk or Waveney or registered with a Norfolk or Waveney GP. You can self refer via their website.
Family Lives has a confidential helpline you can call to discuss a wide variety of issues including parenting advice, behavioural issue, child mental health problems and much more. They also provide “live chat” and e-mail communication.
This May Help has very useful information on a number of child mental health issues including anxiety, depression, self harm, online activity, teenager safety, eating disorders and school avoidance.
Do you need help with ALCOHOL / DRUGS or STOPPING SMOKING?
If you are concerned about alcohol and/or drugs you can self refer to Change Grow Live which is our local drugs and alcohol team. Their services include medical treatment, including substitute prescribing or medication that helps prevent relapse.
You can also contact Alcoholics Anonymous via their website or national helpline free on 0800 9177 650 and talk directly to someone who has overcome their own issues with alcohol, alternatively, you can email help@aamail.org for help.
If you are looking to stop smoking you can self refer to Our Pharmacy.
Are you looking for URGENT SOCIAL CARE or are you a CARER needing urgent support?
You can access the adult social care team here.
Urgent help at home can be accessed via the Norfolk Swift Response Team
Are you looking after a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, mental health or addiction cannot manage without your support? Visit Carers Matter Norfolk who can help and advise you.
Are you looking for URGENT PREGNANCY or SEXUAL HEALTH advice or to book with the MIDWIFE?
Just One Norfolk – Has lots of useful information on preparing for pregnancy and the pregnancy journey
British Pregnancy Advisory Service – you can self refer to the BPAS team if you are uncertain about whether you want to continue with a pregnancy.
iCash – if you’re looking for contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV care and treatment or related advice in Norfolk
Midwife Appointment – if you have just found out you are pregnant you can self refer to the midwife team here or you can call 01603 481222. If you are less than 6 weeks pregnant please do this when you are between 6 – 8 weeks. If you are more than 8 weeks pregnant now please do this on the next working day.
Morning After Pill – you can obtain the “morning after pill” from a number of sources other than the GP surgery
From the 4th of August, we will be introducing Anima, a new online triage and appointment system designed to help you quickly get the care you need.
What is Anima?
Anima is a secure online system that allows you to submit your medical requests directly to our team from your phone, tablet, or computer. Whether you’re asking for an appointment, a sick note, or updating your details, everything goes straight to our triage team, ensuring your request is reviewed and actioned as efficiently as possible.
You’ll be asked a few simple questions about your symptoms or request, and this information helps us make sure you’re seen by the right person at the right time.
You can use Anima to:
- Get help with medical problems
- Ask for sick notes or update personal details
- Submit non-urgent clinical or administrative requests
- Avoid waiting on hold—no more queuing on the phone
If you call reception, our team will go through the exact same questions with you over the phone, using Anima on your behalf – so whether you submit it yourself or call us, the process is the same.
Anima is part of our commitment to making your care faster, easier, and more convenient, while helping our team manage demand safely and fairly.
We’ll share more details as we get closer to launch—but we’re excited to bring you this improved way to access your care.
