Self Help - Referral services, Advice and Tools

Self- Referral Services

You can refer yourself directly to these services - with no need to wait for a GP appointment first!

Bladder and Bowel (continence) service
Covid-19 treatment
Contraception
Diabetes guidance
District nursing and home physio (for housebound)
Drugs and alcohol
Eye issues
GP Led Treatment centre
Headaches (this is not an NHS service and you may be charged a fee)
Leisure centre subsidies
Healthy lifestyle advice
Hearing and tinnitus clinics
Hospital enquiries
Mental health
Physiotherapy
Pregnancy
Sexually transmitted infections
Smokers - help to stop
Transport
Unplanned pregnancy
Vasectomy

Bladder and Bowel Service

The Bladder and Bowel Service (previously known as the Continence Service) are a team of nurses and advisors who can offer support, assessments, treatment and advice to individuals over 18 years of age who have bladder and or bowel problems.

You can self refer yourself to the team by calling 02382 311690 or visit their website and complete a self referral form.

Covid-19 Antiviral Treatments

You can check whether you might be eligible for antiviral medication here.

If you test positive for Covid-19 and are in receipt of a letter stating you are "high risk" or believe that you have a medical condition that would qualify you for antiviral medication, please contact the Covid Medicines Delivery Unit (CMDU) directly to organise antiviral medicine, or phone them 03300 587080.

District nurse and Community Care Teams

If you need nursing care and are medically housebound, you can arrange a district nurse to visit by calling the Integrated single point of access (community care team) directly on 0300 1210173 - they can also arrange physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessments for housebound patients, if required.

Drugs and Alcohol Aecovery Services

Inclusion recovery Hampshire offers a free and confidential service to give support and advice both to people that want help controlling their own drug or alcohol use and to people who are affected by someone else's use.

Eye Services

The Minor Eye Conditions Service provides assessment and treatment for people with recently occurring minor eye problems. It is an NHS service provided by accredited optometrists (also commonly called opticians).

Patients can self refer into this service by calling 0300 303 4922 from 9am - 5pm on Monday - Saturday.

GP Led Treatment Centre

Located at the RSH Hospital, any NHS patient can use this "walk in" service where the team of team highly skilled UTC practitioners and GPs offer treatment, advice and information for a range of minor injuries and illnesses. Follow this link for more information on current waiting times and to check opening hours before you travel. No appointment is neccesary, any NHS patient can just turn up on the day and will be seen in order of clinical need, the service is currently open from 07.30am through to 10pm on weekdays (08.00am until 10.00pm on weekends and Bank Holidays).

Headaches - National Migraine Centre

The National Migraine Centre is an independent (non-NHS) charity that is dedicated to helping people with migraine and primary headache. Please note, you may be asked to make a donation or pay a fee toward the cost of your treatment. Find out more, or make a self-referal.

Healthworks - discounted membership of Places Leisure Centre!

The physical activity referral scheme (often initially 12 weeks) is designed to provide opportunities for people to improve their health and become more active. It is facilitated by the team based at the Places Leisure Eastleigh Health Hub (also operating from Wildern Leisure Centre, Hedge End). The scheme subsidises membership so you can access the gymn, swimming and some exercise classes at a discounted rate! Find out more or make a self referral.

Hearing Tests, Hearing Aids and Tinnitus

Community paediatric audiology - if you are concerned about your child's hearing, you can self refer into University Hospital Southampton's community paediatric audiology services.

If you are over 18 and have tinnitus or difficulty hearing, you can contact the Winchester Hospital audiology department to arrange an assesment by calling 01962 824437 or email.

If you are over 55 years of age and need a hearing test or think you might benefit from free NHS hearing aids, you can self refer to one of the local services (Specsavers, Scrivens, In Health) that offer this service. Contact your local branch and check to see if they participate - no GP referral is necessary.

Hospital Enquiries - Please use PALS

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service, known as PALS, has been introduced to ensure that the NHS listens to patients, their relatives, carers and friends, and answers their questions and resolves their concerns as quickly as possible. For any enquiry (eg. test results, follow up arrangements, management plans etc) relating to your hospital inpatient or outpatient care please use PALS to chase up the enquiry on your behalf.

Southampton General Hospital PALS 02381 206325

Royal South Hants PALS 02381 206325

Royal Hampshire County Hospital PALS 01256 486766

Mental Health Services

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are an NHS service that aims to help young people up to the age of 18 who are finding it hard to manage their emotional and psychological health, and who are suffering with acute, chronic and severe mental health problems. The website contains useful information, advice, training for parents, and resources for support and also allows young people or their families to directly make referrals to the service themselves - with no need wait for a GP appointment first.

Eastleigh Youth Counselling Service offers confidential counselling by trained counsellors, the service is free for people aged 11-19 years.

Kooth - an NHS commisioned service that provides free, on-line, anonymous support that includes BACP accredited counselling, professional advice, self help tools, information and peer to peer support for young people (up to the age of 25 years).

ITALK is an NHS commisioned service offering adults free evidence-based treatments for depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD and phobias - you don't need a diagnosis to self-refer. The service allows access to online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), wellbeing classes (currently as videos during the COVID crisis) and one to one cognitive behavioural therapy.

See the NHS site Every Mind Matters for tips and advice on maintaining and managing your mental health.

The South West Hampshire Safe Haven provides "in the moment" informal mental health support in the evenings (between 5pm and 11pm). The team is made up of people who have lived experience of their own mental health challenges and can be accessed by dropping in at the South West Safe Haven, 111 Leigh Road, Eastleigh, you can also text/call/videocall 07974 124873.

"Shout" offers free and confidential support round the clock to anyone in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who needs to talk. Text ‘HANTS’ to 85258 to be connected to a trained volunteer who can help with anything you're struggling with, including anxiety, stress, loneliness or depression.

Physiotherapy

Provided by Southern Health, you can self refer into this direct access service, without the need to speak to a GP first.

Pregnancy Services

Self refer your pregnancy to SHIP Maternity. Get access to the right care from day one, for all maternity referrals in the Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth, Andover, and Isle of Wight areas. SHIP Maternity Referral will triage your referrral based on the information you provide and the hospital will contact you to start your antenatal care.

Sexual Health - STI Checks

Visit Lets Talk About It for information on how to confidentially access testing and treatment of the full range of sexually transmitted diseases including chlamydia, HIV, herpes, gonorrhoea and genital warts, you can also phone them on 0300 3002016 for advice.

Contraception Services

Contraception services - the full range of contraceptive options can be accessed at the local sexual health clinic. Alternatively you may be able to get the contraceptive pill from your local pharmacy if you need to start the contraceptive pill for the first time or take the contraceptive pill again after a break from using it.

Vasectomy

Please follow the link for further information and to self refer for a vasectomy.

Unplanned Pregnancy

If you discover that you have a pregnancy that you feel you are unable to continue with, you can contact the British Pregnancy Advisery service (BPAS) who will support you to make a decision that is right for you.

Stop Smoking Services

Smokefree Hampshire offers a range of options to help you to stop smoking, they can also organise prescription medicines (nicotine patches etc) that increase the chance of you successfully giving up smoking for good.

Transport

Eligible patients can book their own hospital transport by calling 0300 123 9833 and can also manage existing bookings on-line.

Healthy Lifestyle Advice

For 24 hours General Medical Advice telephone 111 or visit the NHS111 website

Kickstart your health with Better Health. Healthy changes start with little changes. Whether you want to lose weight, get active or quit smoking, visit Better Health for lots of free tools and support.

Healthier together provides advice for parents, young people and pregnant women, it's an excellent resource and good first stop if you are looking for sensible advice about common health concerns in children.

See Hampshire healthy families - a web portal "for all things health and families", with links to advice lines, as well as a number of different local services to support parents and children.

Opioid information for patients taking long term opiates (morphine, tramadol, codeine) - Word Document

Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes

You will find information about diabetes, and how to look after your self in the "learning zone" on the Diabetes UK website. You can also call diabetes UK for advice and support 0345 123 2399.

If you have type 2 diabetes, please follow the link to our leaflet for guidance on how to manage the condition.

Approximately 1 in 2 people who have had Gestational Diabetes will go on to develop Type 2 diabetes within the next 5-10 years. The "Healthier You" service will support you to take control of your health, make changes to your lifestyle, diet and physical activity and significantly reduce this risk.

If you have a previous history of Gestational Diabetes, you can use this link to self-refer to Healthier You.

Search over 500 Patient Information Leaflets as well as details of 2000+self-help/patient support groups and similar organisations:

Click any of the images or titles below to visit the relevant website

NHS Health A-Z

Advice and Guidance on 100+ most common conditions. This site clearly explains symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment, complications and preventative methods.

Information on how the health and social care system works. Sign posting you to the most appropriate service/s.

		NHS Tools, Apps and Podcasts
		A wide range of NHS approved healthcare apps to help you monitor your conditions or achieve your goals. For example - fitness, smoking, alcohol, weight loss, pregnancy, depression, blood pressure, sexual health, etc.

Patient