NHS 111: When to Call and What Happens Next

NHS 111 is the NHS’s free urgent-care service for England. If you need medical help urgently but it is not a life-threatening emergency — if your GP surgery is closed, you are not sure which service you need, or you need advice about a health problem — 111 is the number to call. It is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including bank holidays, and it is free from landlines and mobiles. This guide explains when to use it, when to call 999 instead, and what happens when you do.

When to use NHS 111

Use 111 when you need urgent medical help but the problem is not life-threatening. Common reasons include: you need advice about a health problem and your GP surgery is closed; you are not sure whether you need a GP, a pharmacist, an urgent treatment centre, or A&E; you need urgent care and cannot wait for a GP appointment; or you have run out of prescribed medicine and cannot reach your GP.

111 is also the route for urgent mental-health help. Call 111 and choose the mental-health option (option 2) — it is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for yourself or for someone else, at any age. The mental-health guide on this site gives more detail, including the other crisis numbers.

Two ways to reach 111

You can call 111, or you can use 111 online through the NHS website or the NHS App. The online service is for people aged 5 and over. For a child under 5, call 111 instead — the assessment for young children is done by phone.

You should also call rather than use the online service for complex problems linked to an existing condition, for problems with a care plan, and for end-of-life care. In those cases a person needs to hear the full picture, and the phone assessment can do that better than the online form.

What the assessment involves

When you call, you will be asked a series of questions about your symptoms, your age, and your medical history. The questions follow a clinical assessment system called NHS Pathways, which is designed to work out how urgent the problem is. A trained adviser takes the call, and a nurse or doctor can call you back if the assessment says one is needed.

Answer the questions as accurately as you can, and say if the problem is getting worse while you wait. The assessment is only as good as the information it is given. If you are calling for someone else, have their details to hand — their age, their medicines, and any conditions they have.

What 111 can do for you

Depending on the assessment, 111 can give you self-care advice, direct you to a pharmacist, book you a GP appointment, or send you to an urgent treatment centre or A&E. In some areas it can book you a timed arrival slot at A&E or an urgent treatment centre, so you are not simply told to turn up and wait. It can also arrange a nurse or doctor callback, and it can transfer you directly to the ambulance service if the assessment finds an emergency.

There are two things 111 cannot do, and people are often surprised by both. It cannot issue fit notes — those come from your GP — and it cannot make or cancel appointments in other parts of the NHS. If you need a fit note or need to change a hospital appointment, you need to contact the GP or hospital directly.

Access for everyone

111 is designed to be usable by everyone. If you use a textphone, call 18001 111 through text relay. If you use British Sign Language, you can contact 111 through signvideo.co.uk/nhs111. Interpreters are available on request if English is not your first language.

The service is free, including the call, and it is confidential. You do not need to be registered with a GP to use it, and you do not need to give your NHS number, though it can help the service find your records if you do.

When it is 999, not 111

Call 999, not 111, for a life-threatening emergency: someone is unconscious or not breathing, there are signs of a heart attack or a stroke, or there is uncontrolled bleeding. The same applies if someone has had a serious accident, a severe allergic reaction, or a seizure that will not stop. Do not use 111 online for these — call 999 straight away.

If you are unsure whether something is life-threatening, it is better to call 999 and be told it is not an emergency than to wait. And if you call 111 and the situation gets worse while you are waiting for a callback, call 999. The two services work together: 111 can send an ambulance, and 999 can direct you to 111 if the problem turns out not to need an emergency response.

Sources: nhs.uk, NHS 111; NHS England; Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin; NHS trust guidance on NHS 111.