REMEMBER the telephone number 0845 60081 82.

From Monday, September 1 nearly every household in Herefordshire will need it.

It will be the sole number for people to ring when needing a doctor or health professional outside normal working hours.

Phone it between 6pm in the evening and 8am the next morning from Monday to Friday and 12 noon on Saturday to 8am on Monday.

By phoning it you will get through to staff trained in making sure the right sort of help is made available quickly.

Same treatment

It is a major change in the way more than 150,000 people in Herefordshire can in future reach a doctor out of normal hours.

Herefordshire Primary Health Care has negotiated a deal with a company called Primecare who will operate the service.

The way patients are treated will not change. They could be advised to travel to their nearest community hospital or primary care centre to see a doctor, or if necessary a GP will make a home visit as at present.

The number must not be used for prescriptions, test results or routine matters it is just an urgent out of hours contact.

"We have learned from doctors they can not carry on as before. The new way is part and parcel of making sure we can keep good doctors in Herefordshire,'' said Paul Bates, chief executive of the PCT.

It was difficult to recruit locums to cover at nights, weekends and in holidays. Unless the out-of-hours problem was tackled it would be difficult to attract GPs to Herefordshire when other retired and others could quit early.

Doctors could not continue to be on call at night and then work the following day, he said.

The new service will cover all patients registered with a doctor's surgery in Herefordshire except those with the practices at Kington, Kingsland, Weobley and Staunton on Wye where GPs have decided to stay with their current arrangements.

Remember, the new number 0845 60081 82 starts on Monday, September 1.

Anyone worried, or concerned should phone the PCT on 01432 363972.