These are the services people need if they suddenly become ill, or have an accident, whether serious or minor.

They include services available during the day in GP surgeries, overnight, at weekends and over bank holidays from the out of hours GP service, walk-in centres, minor injuries units, accident and emergency departments, ambulance services, emergency admissions to hospital and NHS Direct.

Between them they provide NHS services all day every day.

A three-month public consultation to improve access to urgent healthcare gives local people the chance to air their views and experiences about urgent healthcare services and is due to end on July 25.

People are being reminded they still have a few days left to give their views on draft plans, shaped following earlier discussions with the public, for the way these services should be delivered in the future.
Plans for the future include the following:

• In the longer term moving to a simple, easy to remember telephone number to access all urgent care services (ie in addition to 999 for emergency services);


• Providing minor injuries services in GP practices as an alternative to going to a walk-in centre or a hospital accident and emergency department; and


• Providing the majority of minor illness services in GP practices as they are already for most patients, without the need to go to a walk-in centre or a hospital accident and emergency department.

Lyn Dixon, the director of service modernisation for Newcastle Primary Care Trust and North Tyneside PCT, said: "It's important that there are local health services in place to provide the right level of care for people whoever they are and wherever they live.

"These services need to be easy to access and must take into consideration the different needs of people who may require other types of help and support.

"We know that in some areas, for example rural parts of Northumberland people have some concerns about their access to these services.

"We have already started discussions with some local groups and hope that this consultation will provide further opportunities to meet with local people to address some of these issues."

Lyn told the News Guardian this week: "As part of this consultation we are looking at a number of the different services we provide for local people to help decide whether any changes might be needed.

"We have some ideas about how we could improve patients' experience of using these services based on what people have already told us but we need to test these ideas further."

She added: "We also recognise that people are often confused about which is the most appropriate service to use if they suddenly become ill or have an accident.

"People have already told us that they would like more information to help them decide and following the public consultation we will be running a major public information campaign to help address this."

Members of the public interested in responding to the consultation can access information on line at www.northoftyne.nhs.uk/urgentcare or by telephoning (0191) 202 2023.