From Tuesday 17 July 2018, patients across Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire who need urgent out-of-hours medical help or advice will need to call 111.

The NHS 111 service will replace the current out-of-hours GP telephone access service provided by Shropdoc in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin in line with national policy to provide a consistent, integrated approach to urgent care; but any patients that need to see a clinician out-of-hours will still be seen by a local GP or other appropriate clinician.

NHS 111 is much more than a helpline - if you're worried about an urgent medical concern, you can call 111 to speak to a fully trained adviser. Depending on the situation, the NHS 111 team can connect you to generalist and specialist nurses, or even a GP or pharmacist, and can arrange face-to-face appointments should you need one. It is free and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

There is also a new ‘ASK NHS’ app that has been designed that provides improved access to NHS 111 and other local NHS services. Advice is delivered by the virtual clinician ‘Olivia’ and she takes you through the steps of the symptom checker which can result in the booking of a GP appointment, access to NHS choices, a call back from a clinical expert or access to self-care.

You can download the ‘Ask NHS’ app via Google Play (for Android phones) or Apple App Store (for iPhones). If you need more guidance on how to download the app please click here.

If you are a patient living in Wales you should continue to use the Shropdoc number.