Out of Hours
NHS 24 – Nights, weekends, holidays
When your GP surgery is closed, and you’re too ill to wait until it re-opens, you can access the NHS Lanarkshire Out Of Hours Service through NHS 24. This Out of Hours service is not for routine appointments.
All of NHS Lanarkshire’s out-of-hours calls are handled by NHS 24, the free telephone health advice, clinical assessment and referral service. The service is open from 8.00 am to 12 midnight every day, including bank/public holidays.
You can contact them directly on 111 and people across Scotland can access the service, on landlines and mobile phones free of charge. For self-care advice, visit the NHS Inform website.
What happens when I call NHS 24?Â
An NHS 24 nurse advisor will assess your symptoms and advise you what to do next. If you need to see a doctor or other health professional, this will be arranged for you.
- If you need to see a doctor, this will be arranged at one of the out-of-hours centres at Airdrie Community Health Centre and Douglas Street Community Health Clinic in Hamilton. Home visits will also be provided where necessary.
- People living in Rutherglen and Cambuslang can continue to access out-of-hours services at the New Victoria Hospital.
Whatever the problem, you can talk confidentially to a nurse or health information advisor who will help you get the right care from the right health professional at the right time.
If you call your GP surgery out-of-hours, a recorded message will ask you to ring the NHS 24 number.
Patients are advised to make sure they always have sufficient quantities of any regular medication. It is also useful to keep your medicine cabinet stocked with a few medicines, such as paracetamol, which can help you look after yourself at home.
Your local community pharmacist will be pleased to offer advice about what you need. A range of other services are also available out of hours. For details of the best service to access to meet our needs see our Know Who To Turn To guide.
Textphone and BSL users
If you have difficulties hearing or communicating you can call NHS 24’s 111 service on (18001 111) or NHS inform (18001 0800 22 44 88) on a textphone. If you’re deaf but want to use the phone service you can use the ContactSCOTLAND-BSL interpreting video relay service.
How to contact NHS 24 using contact SCOTLAND-BSL
Have a look at NHS 24’s short video on how to contact NHS 24 using contact SCOTLAND-BSL.
Meet the Experts - Your guide to local healthcare services
Getting to an out-of-hours centre
Please note the out-of-hours service is by appointment only. Patients must phone NHS 24 on 111 to arrange an appointment before going to an out-of-hours centre.
Airdrie Community Health Centre
88 Graham Street
Airdrie
ML6 6DB
Douglas Street Community Health Clinic
19 Douglas Street
Hamilton
ML3 0BP
By car
Plan your journey to Douglas Street Community Health Clinic using Google maps.
Plan your journey to Airdrie Community Health Centre using Google maps.
Visitor car parking is available at the rear of the Airdrie Community Health Centre building.
Visitor car parking is available at the rear of Douglas Street Community Health Clinic. Spaces are also available in the South Lanarkshire Council car park which is accessible from Beckford Street.
By public transport
Plan your journey by bus or train using the Traveline Scotland website or telephone Traveline Scotland on 0871 200 22 33 for advice.
Train times can also be found on the ScotRail website.
Douglas Street Community Health Clinic is less than a quarter of a mile from Hamilton West railway station.
Airdrie Community Health Centre is half a mile from Airdrie railway station.
Transport support
For patients who are genuinely unable to make their own way to the centre, we will arrange transport for them so that no one is disadvantaged. A home visit can also be carried out where required.
Contact information
In an Emergency call 999
For out-of-hours urgent medical care call NHS24 on 111
For health information, call NHS inform on 0800 22 44 88
