Health Advice

NHS 111

a group of people sitting in chairs

NHS 111

111 online is a fast and convenient alternative to the 111 phone service and provides an option for people who want to access 111 digitally. 

Your needs will be assessed and you will be given advice about whether you need:

  • Treat yourself at home
  • Go to a Primary Care Centre

If you need face to face medical attention you may be asked to attend a Primary Care Centre.

Click here to access NHS 111 online or phone 111 to speak to a staff member.

Shared Care Prescribing

Shared Care Prescribing is an NHS service where specialists request GPs to share the responsibility of prescribing and monitoring specialist medications. When a prescriber enters into a shared care arrangement, there are important considerations regarding governance and quality assurance.

GPs can enter into shared care prescribing agreements with NHS-commissioned services. Local policies for these arrangements are developed through agreements between specialists and GPs.

In a shared care arrangement, the NHS specialist ensures that the patient is properly initiated and stabilized on the medication before asking the GP to take over the responsibility for prescribing. A system is in place to ensure ongoing specialist reviews at the hospital, and the GP has access to advice when needed.

Common conditions for which shared care prescribing is used include rheumatoid arthritis, ADHD, inflammatory eye disease, gender dysphoria, Parkinson’s disease, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Recently, there has been a significant rise in patients seeking private treatment and then requesting their GP to prescribe the specialist medication on behalf of the private provider via NHS prescriptions. This is distinct from NHS shared care. Historically, we have been an outlier in fulfilling prescriptions for private providers, but this practice is no longer safe or sustainable, leading to a review of our policy.

As a result, we can no longer issue prescriptions for new specialist medications on behalf of private specialists. Patients must obtain prescriptions directly from their private specialist.

Our Shared Care Agreement Policy can be found here.

Our Policy for Bridging Hormones for Gender Dysphoria can be found here.