Important information about the 111 service

The 111 service is very busy over the festive public holiday weekends (25^th – 29^th December and 1^st – 5^th January) this means your call may take longer to be answered.

The following information will help you to get the right care, in the right place and you may not need to call 111:

• If you’re unsure what to do about a health condition or need information on how to deal with common winter ailments, please use our symptom checkers These have been created by NHS 24 clinicians to provide advice on what to do next.
• If your call is related to medicines, prescribed or non-prescribed, our guide to accessing medicationcan help. Your local pharmacist may also be able to help and, in some circumstances, can issue a small supply until your GP practice reopens. Find your nearest pharmacy open over the festive weekends.
• For help with dental emergencies, NHS inform has more advice on what to do regardless if you are registered with a dentist or not.

Some mobile providers disconnect calls due to network capacity demand. If you’re using a mobile phone to phone 111, and your mobile has Wi-Fi Calling functionality, please switch it on. You can make and receive calls and text messages even if there isn’t mobile network coverage. All you need is a phone that supports Wi-Fi Calling and a Wi-Fi connection in Scotland. This will help to prevent your call being disconnected. NHS 24 does not cut off calls.

If you have telephoned NHS 24 and at the end of your call you were advised you will get a call back, please note that the call back will come from your local health board, not NHS 24. While waiting for your local service to contact you, you should only call NHS 24 again if your symptoms worsen.

NHS 24 staff are working incredibly hard to help as many people as possible during this period of high demand. We are grateful for your support and patience.