Derbyshire Community Health Services run four Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) across Derbyshire and there is a fifth UTC in Derby. All five UTCs are open seven days a week, between 8am and 8pm across Derby and Derbyshire. Until the end of January, everybody is temporarily being asked to call 111 to book an appointment – this is to support with demand management and in response to staffing pressures which are being felt across the NHS. For more information click here: Urgent treatment centres (dchs.nhs.uk).
Since the NHS 111 service was first launched there has been the functionality for people to use it to book appropriate appointments at UTCs to avoid waiting for often long periods in the unit to be seen as walk-ins, so this current ask of people to use the booking system just extends what is a well-used process.
If a patient attends a UTC without being assessed by NHS 111 then they will be assessed by a UTC clinician and if they require an urgent appointment at the UTC they will be provided with one and seen as soon as possible. If the patient is not identified as requiring urgent treatment they will be offered a number of options. These include:
- A scheduled appointment at a UTC at a later time that day, or later date according to the urgency.
- Self-care advice, a recommendation to contact their local pharmacy, or advice to contact their GP practice if this is most appropriate for their needs.
