Urgent Treatment Centre
The local NHS team has set up the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) based within the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. The service is supported by local GP practices, IC24 (who provide the Out of Hours service) and staff at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust.
The service is located at the William Harvey Hospital and it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Urgent Treatment Centres are GP-led, open 24 hours a day at the main hospitals in Ashford, Canterbury and Margate, 7 days a week including Bank Holidays. They offer appointments that can be booked through 111 or through a GP referral, and are equipped to diagnose and deal with many of the most common urgent conditions that people might otherwise have attended A&E for.
The service can help you with:
Examples of the types of injuries or illness suitable for a UTC include:
Strains and sprains |
Skin infections and rashes |
Eye problems |
Coughs and colds |
Feverish illness in adult’s |
Feverish illness in children |
Abdominal pain |
Vomiting and diarrhoea |
Emergency contraception |
Suspected broken limbs |
Minor head injuries |
Cuts and grazes |
Bites and stings |
Minor scalds and burns |
Ear and throat infections |
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The benefits for patients are?
- Preventing long waits in Accident and Emergency Departments
- Patients receive the right care from the right clinician, improving patient care and reducing pressure at A&E
- So the Emergency Department (ED) is able to focus on patients who are acutely unwell with potentially life threatening injuries or illnesses
Keeping services COVID secure means:
Patients who ‘walk-in’ without an appointment will have a clinical assessment conducted within 15 minutes of arrival. After initial assessment patients may be:
- Seen if they urgently need to be
- asked to come back at an appointment time to help the UTC observe social distancing guidelines and keep patients and staff safe redirected to a more appropriate service
How is this different to the current service in Ashford?
The national standards guidance means there is more consistent care, and improved access for everyone; offering help with both minor injury and illness and making best use of our local GPs, and NHS staff to support patients.
As a result the previous minor injury service (MIU) delivered by some practices along with the rural weekend service (Hamstreet, Tenterden, Woodchurch and Charing) will no longer be provided from 31 October 2020.
You can still call your GP during working hours for advice. Your practice may direct you to the UTC for support.
If you are not sure who to contact, the best thing is to call NHS 111 so they can assess you and make sure you are cared for by the right service.
Where are the Urgent Treatment centres across East Kent?
Area |
Site |
Open |
Ashford |
William Harvey Hospital |
24 hours |
Margate |
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital |
24 hours |
Canterbury |
Kent and Canterbury Hospital |
24 hours |
Folkestone |
Royal Victoria Hospital |
8 -8pm |
Dover |
Buckland Hospital |
8 -8pm |
Deal |
Victoria Memorial Hospital |
8 -8pm |
Herne Bay |
Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital |
8 -8pm |
Faversham |
Faversham Medical Practice |
8 -8pm |
Whitstable |
Estuary View Medical Centre |
8 -8pm |
Where can I direct any queries?
Queries regarding the service change to be directed to Kent & Medway CCG: ek.urgentandemergencycareteam@nhs.net
Patient care queries: Please contact your practice in the first instance as they will have your clinical details to hand to help.