With three public holidays in the next week, Midoc, the out-of-hours emergency GP service for the Midland region, has announced its holiday hours, and has asked potential patients to be extra mindful the service is only for patients who require urgent GP medical care.
“The HSE midland area Midoc service is an urgent out-of-hours family doctor service operating in Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, and Longford. It is important for people to remember that Midoc is not a drop-in service, and should only be used for cases that cannot wait for the next routine surgery. The first point of contact with the service is through the 1850 302 702 number,” said Theresa Kennedy, Midoc Manager for the region.
“Christmas is a busy time for everyone, with people preparing to spend this special time with their families and friends. In Midoc, staff are also hard at work preparing for what is the service’s busiest time of the year. There are three public holidays between Christmas and New Year which Midoc doc will cover in addition to their usual evening and weekend service.”
Midoc will provide its normal range of services as deemed medically appropriate, including free nurse advice. If you are unsure who to call, you can phone your GP’s telephone number and they will have a message on the phone telling you the number to contact to access the doctor who is covering for them.
Midoc will offer full coverage in the region from December 24 to December 27, and from December 31 to January 2. GP service will operate as normal on December 28 to December 29, up to 6pm, with Midoc coverage as usual after this.
The opening hours for the Midoc facilities in Mullingar and Athlone are from 6pm to 8am, Monday to Friday, with 24-hour coverage on weekends and public holidays.
Midoc centres are located in Tullamore, Portlaoise, Mullingar, Athlone and Longford, with satellite treatment centres in Birr and Edenderry on a part-time basis.
To assist Midoc in providing the best quality service, the public can help the Midoc staff by having the following information available:
- patient’s name, if known to you
- contact telephone number – landline, if possible, plus mobile
- current location of the patient
- patient’s date of birth or age
- name of patient’s own family doctor.
- patient’s medical card number, if applicable
- details of the patient’s current medication list.
Also:
- If you think the patient is in immediate danger, say so as soon as your call is answered and then follow the instructions.
- Do not call for routine matters that can wait until your doctor is back in his/her surgery.
- Make sure that you get prescriptions filled so that you have enough medication over the holiday season.
- have your medicine cabinet/first aid box stocked.
