If you are taken ill out of hours, such as over a bank holiday weekend, there are several options for care.
In the first instance call NHS 111.
111 is available 24 hours a day / seven days a week. When you call, a fully trained adviser can connect you to a nurse, emergency dentist or a GP, and can now arrange a face-to-face appointment if appropriate.
This face-to-face appointment might be with the out-of-hours’ service, which runs from 6.30pm to 8.00am on weekdays and all day at weekends and bank holidays.
NHS 111 might also be able to offer you a face-to-face General Practice appointment in the evening, at the weekend and over Bank Holiday Monday itself.
This appointment could be with a GP, a nurse, or other appropriate healthcare professional, depending on your need. These appointments are part of Improving Access to General Practice Services (IAGPS) programme.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, all of Dorset’s minor injuries units, and the Urgent Treatment Centre in Weymouth, are providing telephone consultations. Face-to-face appointments are only available where and when strictly necessary.
Sherborne, Blandford and Portland MIUs are temporarily closed, with staff relocated to Shaftesbury and Wimborne MIUs to improve services and extend opening times
If you have an ailment or injury which requires urgent care, please call your local Minor Injury Unit or Weymouth Urgent Treatment Centre 01305 762541 and you will be given advice or – if necessary – booked in for a face-to-face appointment.
Phone NHS 111 if you’re not sure what support you need, or call 999 for anything life threatening as normal.
Visit the MIU section of the Dorset HealthCare website to view opening times and the phone numbers you can call.
Pharmacy
All Dorset residents are advised to remember to make sure your repeat prescriptions will cover you for the August Bank Holiday period. If you need to visit a pharmacy over the bank holiday, you can see a map of pharmacies open in across Dorset and get directions.
Alternatively, use the NHS Choices Find a Pharmacy service.
Primary Care (GP practices)
GP surgeries are not open over the weekend or on Bank Holiday Monday; some operate an extended hours service in the evening before and after the weekend break, but hours vary from practice to practice. This can be checked on the practice’s website.
To find out where your nearest practice is visit www.nhs.uk.
Emergency Departments (Accident and Emergency / A&E)
If you have or someone you are with has a medical emergency, either dial 999 or make your way to your nearest Emergency Department. They are open 24/7.
Minor Injuries Unit
Dorset’s MIUs are:
- Blandford Hospital, DT11 7DD
- Bridport Hospital, DT6 5DR
- Portland Hospital, DT5 1AX
- Swanage Hospital, BH19 2ES
- Victoria Hospital, Wimborne BH21 1ER
- Westminster Memorial Hospital, Shaftesbury, SP7 8BD
- Yeatman Hospital, Sherborne, DT9 3JU
- Weymouth Urgent Treatment Centre, DT4 7TB
Your local Accident and Emergency departments
In an emergency, don’t hesitate – call 999
Dorset County Hospital, DT1 2JY
Poole Hospital, BH15 2JB
Yeovil Hospital, BA21 4AT
Salisbury Hospital, SP2 8BJ
Royal Bournemouth Hospital, BH7 7DW