Hi, has anyone used the drop in centre at the Hallamshire hospital?

I need to go there on Saturday due to my doctors surgery refusing to see me as I'm not ill (long, long story that I won't go into now!)

Just wondering average waiting times so know whether to just take a pack lunch or tea as aswel.

Ta very muchly for any info.

I went there with a perferated eardrum a few months back and waited no more than 20 minutes. This was in the middle of the afternoon during the week. However, the nurses cannot give prescriptions, in my case for anti-biotics, so I had to go to my doctors anyway.

I went when I first moved to Sheffield as I wasn't yet registered with a GP and couldn't get in to see one urgently. As Markwit said, if you go during the day there are no Doctors there only nurses, so there isn't really much they can do other than tell you if you need to see your GP or not.

thanks for the info - I have the prescriptions already so just need a nurse to inject them! the GP's that prescribed them have refused to see me to administer them.

I've been a couple of times - seen pretty quick on both occasions.

Approx. 15 mins to see the triage nurse, then a short wait to see the nurse practioner (or whatever they call them) - very impressed.

I've been loads of times and it depends on the time of day you go I have waited 10 minutes during the day but over 90 minutes one thursday evening!

If you have to see a GP the out of hours guys that work 24 hours there then you will be in for a wait!

Also... one good thing they do is if you have no money on you (those of us who pay for prescriptions that is) they make you sign an I.O.U so thankfully they will still give you the pain relief or antibiotics !

Yes it is a good service. However i would advise you to check with your GP that the walk in can inject your treatment before going so you don't get further frustrated. Also from my experience saturday can get really busy. Suggest you get there at the crack of dawn. I think they open at 8am but check with your GP.

Hope all goes well.

Also would like to add that the nurses can prescribe but only under certain clear cut circumstances. They are all qualified to do so but have to work to clear guidelines. Therefore there may be times when they will refer you back to your GP or sometimes to the GP co-operative based at the Hallamshire. However be prepared to wait a very long time there.

But a god send out of hours service particularly when you have young children who may cause you concern one minute then recover thankfully at an amazing pace.

I've been a couple of times, once when I badly burned my hand and again when my boyfriend got a mackerel bone stuck in his throat(!) Both times we were seen quite quickly, I was given tons of dressings and what-not to look after my burn (for free!) and everyone there was really nice. Recommended.

Leah x

Also would like to add that the nurses can prescribe but only under certain clear cut circumstances. They are all qualified to do so but have to work to clear guidelines. Therefore there may be times when they will refer you back to your GP or sometimes to the GP co-operative based at the Hallamshire. However be prepared to wait a very long time there.

But a god send out of hours service particularly when you have young children who may cause you concern one minute then recover thankfully at an amazing pace.
I went a few years ago on a Saturday morning.. about 2002 I think it was. The nurse diagnosed a kidney infection straight away and gave me antibiotics (can't remember if I had to go to hospital pharmacy or not.. don't think I did).. whether she had to get it signed by a doctor or not I don't know, but I definitely got them there.

Always been a quick service when I've been.. 30mins max I think I've waited

Cosmic, surprised your GP won't do the injection if they prescribed them. How on earth do they expect you to have it done - or are you supposed to do it yourself? Don't they have a nurse at your GP surgery you can book with?

As someone else has already said, i'd check that someone will be able to do it for you at the walk in centre. If not, and you need to have the injection (assume you do as it's been prescribed) you can go to Casualty at the Northern General - you may have to wait particularly if you go over the weekend, but if you give them a call on Monday morning they have (or used to have anyway) some sort of clinic system. I know I had to go to them quite a few years ago to have some 'staples' removed after an operation as the hospital that carried out the op wasn't local and didn't send me home with the necessary staple remover so the GP couldn't do it, so told me to go to Casualty.

Sorry that was a bit long-winded! Hope everything goes ok.

As Hels says, practice nurse at GP would be the first port of call for injections - it is nt necessary for a Dr to do them

I've been a couple of times and always been seen really quick. They have prescribed me antibiotics etc which I then collected from the hospital pharmacy (where I did have to wait a while). They couldn't give me my Depro injection there when I couldnt get in to see a nurse in time at my local surgery though, I had to go to the youth clinic in town for that

HTH

do you mean the walk in centre on the side where jessops is? It is really good - just takes a wee while to get seen by one of the nurses, so dont go there if you have plans to be anywhere else!

I went one dinnertime as i scolded my finger on a warmup meal (god damn lol) and was seen pretty quickly.

Just wasn't impressed that i had to get from Hallamshire Hospital to Stannington with a plastic bag on my hand lol

TIP: if you scold your finger, get a sandwich bag and put a little bit of boiled water with salt into it, put your hand in and strap it on for 24hrs. :thumbsup: it works.

Thanks everyone for your advice. Went last weekend and was seen right away, although was advised that they could not administer injections as my dr had not provided a letter to authorise them to do so. So again another call to the Dr's who then have issued the letter (they didn't know they had to even though they told me to go to Hallamshire in first place)and thanks to the wonderful nurses at the Hallamshire I now how 2 very sore arms! Not being sacastic, they were brilliant there and were very helpful and supportive. Only 2 more trips to them to get the courses complete.
To clear up a couple of things - there were no nurses available at my surgery as they were on leave and if i have a problem with that i was advised (by my dr) to write to Tony Blaire to complain! I will be changing dr's asap.

I went when I first moved to Sheffield as I wasn't yet registered with a GP and couldn't get in to see one urgently. As Markwit said, if you go during the day there are no Doctors there only nurses, so there isn't really much they can do other than tell you if you need to see your GP or not.

It makes no difference what time of the day you go, they are a NURSE LED drop in clinic.

If you need GP attention outside normal surgery hours then you should phone your GP out of hours service and, with a little luck, you will be seen by the Sheffield GP Collaborative which is based at the Royal Hallamshire. I was recently treated by them and the waiting time, and the service which they offered, was truly amazing. I cannot praise them highly enough.

It makes no difference what time of the day you go, they are a NURSE LED drop in clinic.

If you need GP attention outside normal surgery hours then you should phone your GP out of hours service and, with a little luck, you will be seen by the Sheffield GP Collaborative which is based at the Royal Hallamshire. I was recently treated by them and the waiting time, and the service which they offered, was truly amazing. I cannot praise them highly enough.

As I said, I went during the day as I had only just arrived in Sheffield and didn't have a GP. I had just started at the University and was told I needed to wait until induction to register with the University Medical centre. The nurse at the drop in clinic told me I couldn't see a GP at the Hallamshire until after 8pm.

The staff were extremely friendly and I didn't have to wait long, I'm sure they are very useful in certain circumstances, it was just a waste of my time as I needed to see a doctor and was told as such by the nurse.

As Hels says, practice nurse at GP would be the first port of call for injections - it is nt necessary for a Dr to do them

- but probably not working on Saturday morning?
-i'm suprised you haven't been the contact number for the community nursing service for your locality ...

- with respect to the letter - the prescription alone might n ot be enough information as to why etc...

- with respect to stuff aobut doctors - are peopel gettign confused between the three different unscheduled care providers with pbases at the RHH

- the walk in centre (run by the PCTs IIRC)
- the Minor injuries Unit (run by STH Emergency medicine directorate)
- the GP Out of Hours service

Hi, has anyone used the drop in centre at the Hallamshire hospital?

I need to go there on Saturday due to my doctors surgery refusing to see me as I'm not ill (long, long story that I won't go into now!)

Just wondering average waiting times so know whether to just take a pack lunch or tea as aswel.

Ta very muchly for any info.

I went there this morning , managed to get parked after a 35 min drive around the area due to the Hallamshire Car Park been full :rant:

I went because I could not get to see my doctor until Friday :o, I had to wait 1hr and 20 mins to see a nurse but the service I got was good and to be honest would rather go there again instead of the local Gp's :D

Three months ago on a saturday I took my girlfriend their under advisement from NHS Direct. Yes, busy - but generally only positive things to say. NHS Direct actually kept us waiting longer then the drop in center.

i cant see the point of this walk in centre to be honest...i've been a couple of times for myself..my sons..and my hubby...to be told every time that we need to be seen by our own doc?? i thought this was set up initially to deal with people who couldnt get to docs or wen the doc was booked up??

No. It's there to treat minor illness and to provide emergency contraception and health advice. It's nurse led, and therefore does not have the same capacity as a GP practice.

Ive heard good reports regarding the Hallamshire Hospital drop in centre. Everyone seemed to get attended to pretty quickly.

Ive taken my daughter a couple of times, both on a weekend when the gp surgeries are shut, one for a ear infection and one for conjunctivitus, i have not got a bad thing to say about the place, lovely staff:)

I have only attended this marvellous clinic once which was last April. I suffer with asthma but under control with inhalers etc., I developed a bad cold on the Friday and by Saturday morning it had gone on my chest . I knew my bad breathing was not asthma as I was OK when sleeping and sitting it. By the Sunday I couldnt even manage to shower myself. So 10.30am Sunday morning hubby drove me there and I had all my drugs typed out on a list/ Hubby was parking car and I was helped in by a friend who happened to be there at the same time I was gasping for air and just shoved the list of medications to the receptionist by this time hubby had joined me and was able to answer her questions. I was impressed by the diligent care I was given after my own diagnosis was confirmed as my stats were normal and I didnt need nebuliser. I was given antibiotics and was asked repeatedly whether I was OK to go home but I knew I would be OK when antibiotics kicked in. The nurses were very very efficient.

i cant see the point of this walk in centre to be honest...i've been a couple of times for myself..my sons..and my hubby...to be told every time that we need to be seen by our own doc?? i thought this was set up initially to deal with people who couldnt get to docs or wen the doc was booked up??

I've been to the walk in centres at both Leeds and Sheffield. I can't fault their promptness and professionalism but they are severely limited in what they are allowed to provide. If they can care for you they are excellent. If they can't - and it genuinely surprises me at some of the things they aren't allowed to do, then it is a very frustrating waste of time. Rather than trying to second guess what they can or can't do I reluctantly clutter up my GP's valuable time instead.

I think (cynically perhaps and with absolutely no supporting evidence) that GP's might not be entirely keen on the walk in centres as they poach on what they regard as their territory.

as dan expained in his previous reply W-i-Cs have a secificd remit , other places you'll fiund they do a bit more minor injuries than Sheffield - but that's because of sheffield 's centre being where it is i.e. bang next door to the STH emergency Department run minor Injuries unit at the RHH.

to those posters says they are suprsied at what the W-i-Cs can't do - what particular things are they? W-i-Cs are just one part of 'first contact care' in the NHS along with the 24/ Primary care Provision staffed by Doctors - i.e. your own GP practice in the day during th week and the OOH service at night and wekeneds, the hospital Emergency departmnt bot th MIU and the main Emergency department and the emergency ambulance service - including their paramedi and emergency care practitioners

I think (cynically perhaps and with absolutely no supporting evidence) that GP's might not be entirely keen on the walk in centres as they poach on what they regard as their territory.

Or alternatively are popular with GP's because it takes away the piddly stuff that is beneath doctors?

as dan expained in his previous reply W-i-Cs have a secificd remit , other places you'll fiund they do a bit more minor injuries than Sheffield - but that's because of sheffield 's centre being where it is i.e. bang next door to the STH emergency Department run minor Injuries unit at the RHH.

to those posters says they are suprsied at what the W-i-Cs can't do - what particular things are they? SNIP

Well I didn't particularly want to share this but I had a resistant verruca. It was painful and the usual over the counter remedies had not worked. The Leeds Centre were quick,friendly and professional but would NOT treat it and referred me to the GP. I rang the Sheffield centre who confirmed the position. They did give me a lot of self help advice but I had already tried that.

I agree with Dan that this is exactly the sort of piddling thing that GP's should want to avoid. So I don't quite understand why mine cited clinical safety as the reason when I raised it with her.

I was in and out in less than 5 minutes a month or so ago.

I agree with Dan that this is exactly the sort of piddling thing that GP's should want to avoid. So I don't quite understand why mine cited clinical safety as the reason when I raised it with her.

Because they hadn't been trained to assess and treat that particular condition. I have no idea if this condition is common enough to make it economical to train nurse practitioners to diagnose and treat it - surely if there was enough demand then they would be.