PEOPLE needing to see a doctor urgently in the Marlborough area may not realise that an out-of-hours service at Savernake Community Hospital is just a phone call away.

The NHS Direct 111 service provides patients with referrals to out-of-hours services in the area - but there are concerns that the 111 service's poor reputation means people are not bothering to make the call which can get them help.

Since the closure of the town's minor injuries unit, many people from Marlborough think their only option is to drive to Swindon to the Great Western Hospital.

Janet Louth, chairman of the Friends of Savernake Hospital, said: "The out-of-hours service at Savernake has to be accessed via the 111 number. I have myself used this and once I was referred there by the service and once I had to tell them that this service existed at the hospital.

"This is a problem and my view is that everyone in our area should be made aware of the facilities. The doctor covers a huge area and may be out on an emergency call, but both times I have been seen almost immediately. It is a wonderful service that is available but everyone should be aware that it is there, particularly the call handlers giving out information."

Journalist Annie Richards, a mum-of-two from Elcot Close, Marlborough, was among the hundreds of townspeople who supported the unsuccessful campaign to save the MIU, which offered out-of-hours care.

She was astonished when her 22-year-old daughter Rebecca called the NHS111 helpline one evening last week at 7pm and was given an appointment at Savernake to see a doctor at 8pm.

"Rebecca said the service was second to none," said Mrs Richards. "This is good news for Marlborough. I was surprised and delighted to learn out-of-hours service has returned to Savernake. It is what the town needs.”

The out-of-hours service in Wiltshire is run by Medvivo, formerly Wiltshire Medical Services. Medical director Dr Jamie Brosch said: “We are still the same organisation, we started the service in 2004 when out-of-hours services were hived off. It is challenging to spread our service overnight as everybody in Wiltshire would want an after-hours service so we have to cut our cloth accordingly.

“The service has been running for a few years, and it is quite well used. A patient that may need an out-of -hours service can call 111 which can then make a booking with one of the out-of-hours doctors. It isn’t like a doctor’s surgery where an exact time can be booked as it is unpredictable how many people will need to use it. Although NHS111 can book directly into slots at Savernake, the clinician there has to manage urgent visits as well, so NHS111 often put the case through to our co-ordinators, who arrange the time directly with the patient."

The out-of-hours times for Savernake are Monday-Friday 7pm-12am and Saturday-Sunday 8am-12am.

Devizes also has an out-of-hours service which runs on Saturdays from 12pm-6pm.