My partner developed severe and sudden inflammation of her face and neck during a weekday evening. She is a trained pharmacist and knows the risks.
There were no doctors on call in Cromer or Sheringham so I drove her to Cromer hospital. It was closed. There were no guidelines outside about what to do in an emergency.
We called 111. They sent an ambulance team out (about 15 minutes, good response) and advised we had to see a doctor ASAP. The paramedics tried to get us to a GP but the earliest possible appointment was 2:30 am at North Walsham. There was only ONE GP on night duty in North Norfolk.
We were advised to drive to the A&E in Norwich which we did. We saw an overworked doctor there at about 1am.
The absence of any out of hours service by GPs in North Norfolk is the fundamental cause of the overstretched A&E department in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
Sheringham medical centre even has a half day closed every week, for 'in service training'. Cromer hospital appears to operate as a simple medical centre.
"Lack of GP out of hours in North Norfolk"
About: Cromer Hospital Cromer Hospital Cromer NR27 0BQ East Anglia East Anglia East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust / NHS 111 East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust NHS 111 Norwich NR6 5NA Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital / Accident and emergency Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Accident and emergency Norwich NR4 7UY
Posted by aristotle (as ),
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