Struggling to get medical help this evening!

That sounds familiar for 999 but always good to have a reminder!

I'd settle for just being able to use the GP PATCHS system out of hours. I work in IT, and it really confuses me why a messaging system only works 9-5. The only reasons I can come up with are so that they don't have to schedule maintenance (just do it out of hours), and to create enough of a barrier that people won't use it for trivial illnesses.

Yup. Sadly I was admitted last week for the same issue. I've lost the patience to keep calm and go through it again.

I'm not sure if this helps as 111 is obviously a different purpose, but when I have used patchs in the past, I noted down the questions for future reference. That way I can fill it out beforehand, set myself a reminder, then copy paste things in when it opens. Partially because it also says you only have 30 minutes, and I end up re-reading and reformatting things a few times.

I'm not sure if the GP practice sets the questions, but here are the ones for mine:

• What are your symptoms?
• What do you think may have caused them?
• Is there anything you are particularly worried about?
• How long has the problem been going on?
• Is it getting better, worse, or staying the same?
• What has been tried to make the problem better so far? Has it helped?
• If there is someone at the practice you would prefer to help with this problem, please give their name here. Please note we cannot guarantee they will be available. (Optional)
• If you have thoughts on how you would like your practice to help, please let them know here. (Optional)
• How would you like to receive help from your GP practice? We will do our best to accommodate your preference, though this may not always be possible.
• If there are times you’re unavailable for your practice to contact you, please put them here. (Optional)

Some of them are multiple choice and I think there are character/word limits. Also last time I filled it out there were some additional questions I think because of some of the content. I'll try record more information next time if I remember.

I'm not sure if this helps as 111 is obviously a different purpose, but when I have used patchs in the past, I noted down the questions for future reference. That way I can fill it out beforehand, set myself a reminder, then copy paste things in when it opens. Partially because it also says you only have 30 minutes, and I end up re-reading and reformatting things a few times.

I'm not sure if the GP practice sets the questions, but here are the ones for mine:

• What are your symptoms?
• What do you think may have caused them?
• Is there anything you are particularly worried about?
• How long has the problem been going on?
• Is it getting better, worse, or staying the same?
• What has been tried to make the problem better so far? Has it helped?
• If there is someone at the practice you would prefer to help with this problem, please give their name here. Please note we cannot guarantee they will be available. (Optional)
• If you have thoughts on how you would like your practice to help, please let them know here. (Optional)
• How would you like to receive help from your GP practice? We will do our best to accommodate your preference, though this may not always be possible.
• If there are times you’re unavailable for your practice to contact you, please put them here. (Optional)

Some of them are multiple choice and I think there are character/word limits. Also last time I filled it out there were some additional questions I think because of some of the content. I'll try record more information next time if I remember.