When you need urgent treatment or care

For information on the signs, symptoms and treatment for a range of common health conditions in adults and children and advice on when to seek further help and advice visit: 

NHS 111 Symptom Checker

Health A to Z - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

For information (provided by Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust) on the most common illnesses in children, before you make a decision to go to the Emergency Department, visit:

Childhood illness symptom checker 

If you need medical help fast, think you need to go to the Emergency Department (A&E) or aren’t sure which service is right for you, contact NHS 111 online or by phone. NHS 111 is a free service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

NHS 111 advisors can provide health advice, put you in touch with the most appropriate service for your needs and arrange to have you seen by an emergency dentist, GP or pharmacist.

They can also or call you an ambulance or book you in to be seen quickly and safely at an emergency department or urgent treatment centre if required.

Go online to 111.nhs.uk or call 111. British Sign Language interpreter service and other language interpreters are available. For the text relay service call 18001 111 using the Relay UK app or a textphone.

If you someone you know is experiencing a life-threatening medical emergency, you should call 999 immediately.

Your local high street pharmacy is a good place to start if you have a minor ailment such as a headache, cough or sore throat. Pharmacists are qualified to give advice and dispense medicine for a range of illnesses including colds, stomach upsets, skin conditions and much more.

Pharmacists can provide many treatments ‘over the counter’ to help you get better at home amd can even provide some prescription medicines for seven common conditions, without the need to see a GP or get a prescription. These seven conditions are:

• sinusitis (for those aged 12 years and over)
• sore throat (for those aged 5 years and over)
• earache (for those aged between 1 and 17 years old)
• infected insect bite (for those aged 1 year and over)
• impetigo (for those aged 1 year and over)
• shingles (for those aged over 18 years old
• uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) (for women aged 16-64)

Patients don’t need an appointment to access the service, and private consultation rooms are available. 

All community pharmacies across Warrington and Halton have signed up to offer these services. Patients don't need an appointment which provides an easy and convenient way to access clinical advice on your doorstep.

Over-the-counter remedies 

Ask your pharmacist what medicines (including paracetamol and ibruprofen) should be in your cabinet to help you and your family relieve the symptoms of common winter illnesses such as colds sinusitis or ear infections.

Emergency /out of hours pharmacy services

If you run out of medicine outside of your GP surgery's normal opening hours and need some urgently, there are a few ways to get an emergency supply quickly, even if you're away from home.

If you already have a prescription and urgently need the medicine, you can get your medicine from any pharmacy as long as they have it in stock. Use the NHS pharmacy service search to find other nearby pharmacies and their opening hours – some are open until midnight or later, even on public holidays.

If you do not have a prescription visit the NHS website: Out of hours medicines - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

NHS Urgent Treatment Centres in Runcorn and Widnes are open from 8am to 9pm, seven days a week, 365 days are year (including bank holidays) but please arrive before 8pm to allow time to be seen before closing.
 
Urgent Treatment Centres have an X-ray department and can treat a range of conditions that require urgent treatment, but are not life-threatening such as:

• minor cuts or wounds 
• bites, stings, rashes and allergic reactions
• minor burns and scalds
• sprains, strains and joint pains
• ear or eye injuries and infections

The centres in our area also provide arrival time slots for patients who contact NHS 111. 

Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre
Nightingale Building
Hospital Way
Runcorn 
Cheshire 
WA7 2DA
Call: 01928 753408

Widnes Urgent Treatment Centre
Health Care Resource Centre
Oaks Place
Caldwell Road, Widnes
WA8 7GD
Call: 01925 946436

To find alternative urgent treatment centres visit the NHS website.

If you are anxious, depressed or struggling to cope – please contact the Mersey Care 24/7 freephone crisis line on 0800 051 1508, if you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis or visit merseycare.nhs.uk/urgent-help 

You can get help from your GP surgery for free, but you will usually need to make an appointment. 

Anyone in England can register with a GP surgery to access NHS services. It's free to register and can be done online. You do not need proof of address or immigration status, ID or an NHS number.

You can contact your GP practice by phone, through their practice website or through the NHS App. If you need a face-to-face appointment, you will be given one.

Find out more about GP appointments and bookings

Evening and weekend appointments at Enhanced Access Hubs

Appointments are available at the hubs or within some GP practices. Appointments can be booked via your GP practice or direct with the service when your practice is closed.

GP services out of hours

Patients can access the service by contacting NHS 111 online or by calling 111. 

All patients will be assessed by a clinician over the phone and a clinical decision will be made about the medical care each patient requires.

This may result in telephone advice only, an invitation to a face-to-face consultation or a home visit from one of the service GPs.

Halton's GP out of hours face-to-face service is located within the Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre, and Warrington GP out of hours face-to-face service is at Bath Street Health and Wellbeing Centre. Both of these consultation services are by appointment only.

Repeat prescriptions

Always order repeat prescriptions before you run out, through your GP, local pharmacy or NHS-approved apps, including the NHS App. This is especially important before your GP practice or pharmacy closes for holidays.

If you have been prescribed antibiotics or any other medication, make sure you take them as directed.

You can access free information on a complete range of sexual health and wellbeing services through Axess sexual health 

Sexual assault

Sexual assault/rape is any type of sexual act occurring without the consent of one of the people involved. 

If you or somebody you know has been affected by sexual assault, there are services available to you locally. Visit the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre website for more information. The service is available to adults, children and young people in Cheshire and Merseyside.

If you are at immediate risk of harm call 999.

A Community Urgent Eyecare Service is available in the Halton and Warrington areas.

The primary aim of this service is to ensure people can access urgent eyecare within the community, utilising the established trained workforce in optical practices.

The service is a care navigation service that accepts referrals from GP’s, pharmacies, Hospital Eye Service, NHS111 as well as self-referrals. The service is designed to be accessed initially by phone to reduce unnecessary face-to-face contact.

The Community Urgent Eyecare Service provides initial contact, telephone triage, remote consultations and where necessary face-to-face assessments providing management of recent onset symptomatic or urgent ocular presentations. The list of accredited optical practices currently providing the Community Urgent Eyecare Service in Halton and Warrington is available at www.primaryeyecare.co.uk using the ‘Find a practice’ tool, which can be used to locate your nearest participating optical practice.