Finding the Right Care for Your Needs

At The Middlewood Partnership, we’re here to help you access the most appropriate care and support for your health concerns. With services across the healthcare system available, there are a range of options to ensure you get the care you need quickly and effectively.

Below, you’ll find information about local services that can assist you based on your specific needs.

Your local pharmacy is a great first port of call for many minor illnesses and conditions. Through the Pharmacy First scheme, you may be able to get advice and treatment without needing to see a GP. We would strongly encourage you to visit your local pharmacy if you are affected by the minor illnesses listed below.

Conditions treated include:

• Sinusitis – 12 years and over
• Sore throat – 5 years and over
• Earache – 1 to 17 years
• Infected insect bite – 1 year and over
• Impetigo (a bacterial skin infection) – 1 year and over
• Shingles – 18 years and over
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women – 16-64 years

Pharmacy Locations:

The vast majority of Pharmacies offer the Pharmacy first scheme, click this link and enter your postcode to find the closest Pharmacies to you.

For serious or life-threatening emergencies, A&E provides expert care.

Symptoms that require A&E attention include:

• Signs of a heart attack: chest pain, pressure, heaviness, tightness or squeezing across the chest

• Signs of a stroke: face dropping on one side, cannot hold both arms up, difficulty speaking, or weakness / numbness on one side of your body

• Sudden confusion (delirium): cannot be sure of own name or age

• Suicide attempt: by taking something or self-harming

• Severe difficulty breathing: not being able to get words out, choking or gasping

• Choking: on liquids or solids right now

• Heavy bleeding: spraying, pouring or enough to make a puddle

• Severe injuries: after a serious accident or assault

• Seizure (fit): shaking or jerking because of a fit, or unconscious and cannot be woken up

• Sudden, rapid swelling: of the lips, mouth, throat or tongue

Nearest A&E Locations:

• Stepping Hill Hospital: Poplar Grove Street, Stockport, SK2 7JE
• Macclesfield District General Hospital: 31 Victoria Rd, Macclesfield SK10 3BL

Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs) are staffed by experienced nurses and provide care for conditions that need prompt attention but aren’t life-threatening. These centres often offer tests like ECGs, blood tests, or X-rays to assist with diagnosis.

UTCs can help with:

• Sprains, strains, and suspected broken bones
• Injuries, cuts, and bruises
• Stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea
• Skin infections and rashes
• High temperatures in children and adults
• Mental health concerns

If required, prescriptions can be organised, and emergency contraception is also available.

Local UTCs:

It may be advisable to call NHS 111 before attending the below UTCs.

• Stepping Hill Hospital: Poplar Grove Street, Stockport, SK2 7JE; 0161 483 1010
• Trafford General Hospital: Moorside Road, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5SL; 0161 747 4978
• Hawthorn Medical Centre: Fallowfield Retail Park, Birchfields Road, Manchester, M14 6FS; 0161 220 6080
• Wythenshawe Hospital and Trafford General Hospital Urgent Treatment Centres (via NHS 111).

Eye problems are now seen by an optician in an urgent Community Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) appointment.

You can refer yourself for “urgent” or sudden issues such as:

• Red/pain in eye
• Foreign body
• Change in vision,
• Flashes/floaters

To find an optician running this service, please see primaryeyecare.co.uk/find-a-practice

Local opticians running CUES include:

• Harries Opticians:  313 London Rd, Hazel Grove, Stockport SK7 4PS ; 01614839009
• Boots Opticians Bramhall: 13 Woodford Rd, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 1JN; 01614391770
• Boots Opticians Handforth: Handforth Dean RP, Kiln Croft Ln, Wilmslow SK9 3PA; 01614866095
• Specsavers Wilmslow: 47-49 Grove St, Wilmslow SK9 1DT; 01625418930
• Specsavers Macclesfield: Grosvenor Centre, Unit 2/3, Mill Street Mall, Macclesfield SK11 6AJ; 01625 501111

If you require dental care, do not contact a GP, as they will not be able to offer any advice or treatment.

If you’re in pain while waiting to see a dentist, take painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. NHS 111 can also offer other self-care advice.

If you need dental treatment in an emergency:

• call a dentist: some surgeries offer urgent appointments at short notice
• if you do not have a dentist, find one by calling NHS 111

More information on emergency dental care can be found on the NHS website.

If you require GP care outside the hours of 08:00AM to 18:30PM, patients should contact the GP Out-of-Hours Service based at Macclesfield Hospital via NHS 111.

East Cheshire NHS Trust’s GP Out-of-Hours (OOH) team provides a safe and high-quality out-of-hours GP service.

Patients will be asked basic information by a call handler. Patients will be then called back based on urgency of need.