Health Advice & Signposting

STOP. THINK. CHOOSE.

Managing at Home Most minor illnesses will get better without the need to visit a doctor and can be treated at home.

Pharamacies Your local pharmacist can give you expert advice about over-the-counter medicines that can help with lots of common conditions such as diarrhoea, a runny nose, a cough or a headache – without the need for an appointment.

NHS 111 When you need medical help fast but it is not an emergency, visit NHS 111 online or call the NHS free phone number 111.

Urgent Treatment Centres and minor injury units are equipped to diagnose and deal with many of the most common ailments people attend emergency departments for, including sprains, minor burns, and minor illness.

GP Surgeries If you have an illness or injury that won’t go away, including persistent vomiting, ear pain, stomach ache or back ache, make an appointment with your GP practice team.

Dental Care You should be registered with a dental practice and have regular check-ups. Your dentist can also help with toothache, gum problems, wisdom teeth, bleeding from the gums and most other mouth related health problems.

Pharmacy First Service

The new Pharmacy First Service will enable community pharmacists to complete episodes of care for patients without the need for the patient to visit their general practice. This, alongside expansions to the pharmacy blood pressure checking and contraception services, will save up to 10 million general practice team appointments a year and help patients access quicker and more convenient care, including the supply of appropriate medicines for minor illness.

More Information

From July 2025, Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust's Dental Helpdesk will directly book patients into urgent and additional hours dental appointments across Kent and Medway.

This change is part of a wider initiative to improve access to NHS dental care and reduce pressure on other parts of the health system.

Urgent appointments are defined as:

a) Urgent unscheduled care: Patients who may require clinical care within 24 hours or as soon as practically possible, unless the condition worsens.

b) Non-urgent unscheduled care: Patients requiring dental care within 7 days, unless the condition worsens.

The full NHS England service specification has details of the conditions that will be treated: Urgent unscheduled and non-urgent unscheduled dental care.

Additional hours appointments can offer dental stabilisation treatment following an urgent appointment but can also offer urgent treatment for targeted cohorts of patients:

pregnant and peri-natal people
local authority looked after children (LAC)
care home residents who can travel to a dental practice
vulnerable population groups including asylum seekers and refugees, homeless people
Romani people
armed forces family members
patients that are clinically vulnerable (e.g. immuno-suppressed patients, oncology and cardiac patients, patients requiring oral health stabilisation before cardiac surgery, cancer treatment or, patients who or prescribed bisphosphonate medication. This is not an exhaustive list)

Patients can call the helpdesk on 0300 123 4412. It is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm.