The services we provide

ELMS provides unscheduled (planned) healthcare to the populations of Pennine Lancashire – Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire – 24 hours per day 365 days a year.   ELMS plays a key role in the Pennine Lancashire health economy, supporting both primary and secondary care medical services in delivering the best possible care for patients, in the most appropriate place.  ELMS works in close partnership with other local providers and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) across the local health system.

ELMS service can only be accessed via NHS 111, 999, or a local Healthcare Professional.  It is not a direct access service and it does not accept walk-in patients.

The attached document sets out ELMS current service offer:

ELMS Service Offer Mar 2022

The GP Out of Hours Service is now incorporated into an Integrated Urgent Care service, operating 24 hours per day 365 days per year.  The GP Out of Hours element operates when your own GP Practice is closed and is for medical conditions of an urgent nature that cannot wait until your routine surgery re-opens.

Services we DO NOT provide

• A Walk-in Service
• Medication for the treatment of drug addiction i.e. Methadone and other narcotic drugs
• Patient Transport
• Repeat prescriptions
• 2nd opinions
• Sick Notes will not be issued
• Medicals will not be carried out
• Contraceptive services other than emergency contraception i.e. the Morning After Pill (at doctors discretion)

Can I have a Home Visit?

All requests for home visits are medically assessed. Home visits are delivered on the basis of patients medical condition or social and emotional reasons.    Our centres are equipped to provide immediate necessary treatment for conditions that cannot wait until your surgery re-opens.

Click on the link below to download our Compliments, Comments and Complaints Leaflet

Compliments Comments and Complaints Leaflet

Using the Out-of-Hours Service

If you require urgent medical attention that cannot wait until your surgery opens, follow these instructions:

1.   Ring your registered GP or phone 111

2.   If your surgery is closed you will automatically be diverted to 111

3.   You will be asked for your home telephone number, name, address, date of birth, registered GP and a brief indication of your illness 

4.   The urgency of your call will be prioritised using call guidelines. A clinician will then return your call within the following timescales:

• Urgent Calls within 20 minutes
• Routine Calls within 60 minutes
• Immediate life threatening conditions will be passed directly to the ambulance service

5.   Your medical condition will be assessed and your details will be passed to ELMS.      You will be re-contacted and provided with telephone advice and / or a face to face  appointment. The appointment will be within the following timescales:

• Emergency within 1 Hour
• Urgent within 2 Hours
• Routine within 6 Hours

We have two primary care centres:

• GP Out of Hours, St Ives House, Accrington Road, Blackburn, BB1 2EG

• GP Out of Hours, Urgent Care Centre, Burnley General Hospital, Casterton Avenue, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 2PQ

Services at Burnley are currently suspended due to COVID to enable ELMS to make the most effective use of its clinical team in the delivery of patient care.

Please note that these centres DO NOT offer a Walk-in service.

Opening Times

Our Primary Care Centre Out-of-Hours opening hours are:

Monday to Friday: 20:00 to 08:00

Saturday & Sunday: 24 Hours

Bank Holidays: 24 Hours

Please note that these centres DO NOT offer a Walk-in service and are only for appointments booked via NHS 111.