Out of Hours and Weekends
Outside normal surgery hours, it has become the responsibility of the Conwy Local Health Board to provide medical cover for Primary Care problems developing Out of Hours and the Board has commissioned this important service to patients from MorfaDoc who employ experienced , often local, GPs to carry out these duties. It is wrong to believe the Press reports that GPs no longer work out of hours and the only alternative for patients with illness developing Out of Hours is to attend A+E.

The system is operational between 18:00 and 08:00 Monday to Thursday and from Friday 18:00 to 08:00 Monday and ALL Bank Holidays. This service is only for urgent situations that cannot wait until normal surgery hours and is not an alternative, for convenience sake, to your own surgery appointment system. For logistical reasons to minimise delay to patients it is NOT a drop-in centre and we would ask you please, if you develop problems after the surgery has closed, to contact the Out of Hours service on 0844 811 8181.Your call will be answered by an experienced nurse who will ask a series of questions to help assess your problem and decide an appropriate course of action.

You may be given either advice; advised to dial 999 or given an appointment to see an experienced GP at one of the centres in Glan Clwyd or LLandudno.

Very rarely are home visits necessary and will always be at the duty doctor’s discretion and based on clinical need not convenience.

The long waiting times( often several hours) at the Accident + Emergency Department at Glan Clwyd are frequently made worse by patients wrongly attending that department with minor ailments better treated by experienced telephone advice or being seen by an experienced Primary Care Physician i.e. a GP. Waiting times to be seen at MorfaDoc vary according to demand but are often considerably shorter than waiting in A+E. This service is NOT a substitute for an Accident + Emergency Department and cannot deal with injuries. If in doubt phone MorfaDoc or NHS Direct Wales for advice. NHS Direct Wales is a nurse-led 24-hour helpline providing confidential health care advice and information on 0845 46 47.

The MorfaDoc service is the most appropriate point of contact for any illnesses where,during the working week, you would seek advice or treatment from your own GP.

There is also an NHS Direct Dental Helpline on 0845 60 10 128.