PATIENTS in County Durham are now being offered a new urgent health care service.

Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are delivering the urgent same day services across the area within GP practices.

Since April 1, the integrated system has offered 24-hours a day, seven days a week access to urgent care services.

Rachel Long, advanced nurse practitioner at Healthworks said: “The changes mean that we have a clear idea of the patients that we are seeing through information sent by NHS 111. We get the information prior to their appointment which means we can be more prepared than perhaps we used to be in the past.”

Patients with an urgent need can make one phone call, day or night, to NHS 111, to be allocated to the appropriate service.

There are appointments after normal surgery hours, more availability through the day, easier access to services close to home and an “improved patient experience”.

Stewart Findlay, CCG chief clinical officer, said: “Patients told us that while their experience of urgent care was on the whole positive, accessing the right care at the right time, could be confusing.

“In some cases this has led to patients experiencing unnecessary waits in a hospital rather than getting the care they need from their local GP or through 111. Patients are now signposted to the right place, first time.”