Primary care services in Derbyshire are available 24/7, 365 days a year.
General Practice and Primary Care Health Centres open 08:00 – 18:30 and Out of Hours services delivered by DHU 111 are provided 18:30 – 08:00. Derbyshire Primary Care is a 24-hour, 365 days a year service across Core Hours in General Practice and Primary Care Health Centres between 08:00-18:30 and Out of Hours delivered by DHU 111 from 18:30 – 08:00.
GP Practices have analysed patient demand in the run up to Christmas and New Year in 2019 and 2020. This data shows there is a greater demand for appointments in the days prior to bank holidays and lower demand on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, particularly in the afternoons. GP practices are therefore working together to ensure more capacity and appointments are available at the beginning of the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year.
This means practices will be working very hard to clear tasks, results, home visits and triage to ensure a smooth transition to the Out of Hours GP service operated by DHU from 16:00 hours on 24th December and 31st December 2021.