Published: 10/11/2025
Last edited: 10/11/2025 Code: 01293

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The Urgent Care Service: A guide for patients and carers

This NHS service provides urgent healthcare to people at home.

We can help prevent you being taken to hospital.

We work with you and your family to find out what matters to you and make sure your needs are met.

We can also support you to avoid going to hospital in the future, by helping you with an ongoing treatment plan to support you.

Who we are

We are a team of consultants, doctors, advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs), pharmacists, occupational therapists (OTs), physiotherapists, nurses, health care assistants (HCAs), trainees and apprentices.

What we do

If you become very unwell at home, we may be able to help you to avoid being taken to hospital by providing short-term urgent care.

Your GP or other healthcare professional may contact us, if they are concerned about your health and welfare. We aim to make contact with you within two hours.

Or, if you or a loved one have already dialled 999, the ambulance service may ask us to visit you instead of taking you to hospital. In many cases, we can support you to avoid a distressing trip to A&E.

We can provide a very wide range of support and treatment at home.

We will assess, diagnose and treat you so you can remain safe and well at home.

Once you are stable, we may give you some easy-to-use equipment, so you or your carers can monitor your condition at home and make sure you are staying well.

We can also support your longer-term health and wellbeing by giving you advice and support on a range of conditions.

If you have been admitted to hospital, we can also provide support to help you come home sooner.

We can continue your treatment at home and may also provide short-term care to you for your personal care, meals and medication needs.

What we can provide

We can provide a wide variety of treatments to diagnose you and keep you well at home. These include:

• Blood tests
• Ultrasound
• Echocardiogram
• Intravenous therapy
• Oxygen
• Medication
• End-of-life care where appropriate.

Once you are stable, we can also support you to prevent things going wrong in the future.

We work with you and your family to support your on-going health needs and address any concerns you have.

We can also discuss and develop a Treatment Escalation Plans (TEP) for you, which will help with any future decisions about your treatment. This plan will be discussed with your GP and any other health and social care professionals involved in your care, with your consent.

Contact us

You can contact us between 8am and 8pm, on 0300 123 0915

kentchft.ekreferralunit@nhs.net

Go to service page

This information should only be followed on the advice of a healthcare professional. 

Do you have feedback about our health services?

0800 030 4550
Text 07899 903499
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 4.30pm
kentchft.PALS@nhs.net
kentcht.nhs.uk/PALS Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Trinity House, 110-120 Upper Pemberton
Ashford
Kent
TN25 4AZ

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