“If someone urgently needs a GP out of hours - they come to us,” according to Chief Executive of North Doc Medical Services, Liam Quinn. Liam explains that they run the “GP out of hours services for Edoc in South Dublin and Ddoc in North Dublin.  We represent the GPs when they are closed, on an out of hours basis.”

“It’s important to note that we are not an emergency service. Emergency services such as Emergency Departments and the National Ambulance Service should be kept for people in significant emergencies such as heart attacks, stroke and accidents.  But for normal winter-related illnesses, your own GP would be the first port of call.  And if that is not an available option, then certainly, the GP out of hours service should be accessed.”

Pamela Mahon, Clinical Nurse Manager, North Doc Medical Services, outlines that they operate “from 6 pm Monday to Friday and on a 24-hour basis for the three days of the weekend and bank holidays.” Describing the type of patients they would routinely see, Pamela says they would “normally be acutely ill with respiratory tract infections, upper respiratory tract infections, abdominal pain and other acute illnesses that need urgent care.  Our patients access our service by phoning the telephone number that is widely available online.  It’s also available in all our member’s GP surgeries.”

According to Conor Troy, Operations Manager, Edoc, when patients call Edoc, they will “initially interact with our call-takers who will take the patient’s details and records and input that into our clinical software system.  They will also take a brief summary of their symptoms. Once that’s entered into the system, our triage nurses will call the person back.  Depending on what is required in terms of follow-up, they will then provide the patient with an appointment with one of the GPs in one of our centres. They may alternatively receive nurse advice so they can, as appropriate, wait for their own GP the next day.  60% of our patients are allocated a face-to-face appointment in one of our four centres.”

Conor adds “Once you arrive, our receptionist will confirm your details and put those through via the clinical software system, to our treatment centre where the nurse will record the relevant information. You will then be seen by our doctor. Your clinical notes from that consultation will be sent to your own GP the next day.”

Pamela further advises that they would also “encourage people to use common illnesses and mychild.ie. These are valuable information websites that can guide people on whether they need to attend with us or with their local Emergency Department.”

Watch the team outline how Edoc works on YouTube.com