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Services

Out of Hours Care Services

We provide out of hours services within the counties of Dorset and Somerset.

The service operates thirteen treatment centres with three (Bournemouth, Poole & Dorchester) based in major hospitals. Most of the others (Bridport, Weymouth, St Leonards, Christchurch, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Lyme Regis) are based at minor injury units or in community hospitals. A nurse operated unit operates from Swanage, a community Paramedic/ nurse practitioner unit from Portland and an Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) / nurse unit in Bridport.

Calls to the service are received by trained operators who decide on an initial course of action. This can include such things as suggesting the nearest treatment centre, arranging a district or twilight nurse visit, or for any call such as chest pains or difficulty breathing the service will make a direct 999 ambulance request.

Other calls are passed to triaging doctors who can request home visits from either General Practitioners (GPs) or ECPs. Triage is the term used to allocate the appropriate response to your healthcare concern.

Eight GP cars cover out of hours sessions. They are fully equipped with satellite tracking, data transfer and satellite navigation. GPs are provided with drivers and all cars carry a range of medical equipment.

For an at a glance view of the out of hours service, also known as the Urgent Care Service, view page six and seven, edition three (March 2007), of the Trust's twentyfourseven quarterly newsletter.

The Trust has produced general advice leaflets to help members of the public within Dorset and Somerset access the out of hours service.

Trust Headquarters, Unit 3 Abbey Court, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter, EX2 7HY, Tel: 01392 261500, Fax: 01392 261510, Email: publicrelations@swast.nhs.uk

Copyright © 2006 South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust