How our national helpline can help you

Our helpline provides specialist information, advice and signposting to help you make sense of the world of health and social care.

Our helpline covers all of health and social care, and we would like to hear your experiences in the NHS and social care systems. Whether your experience has been positive or one that could have been better, we’d like to hear more and see what we can do to help. Our partnership with the Care Quality Commission means when you call our helpline or email us, it can make a real difference.

Please note: our helpline advisers are not medically trained and cannot give medical or legal advice. 

Opening hours

Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm.

Calls outside these times will be answered as soon as possible if you leave a message with your telephone number.

Our trained advisers offer free and confidential advice, information and guidance and are happy to answer your questions. 

You can call our helpline on 0800 345 7115 (freephone number), or on 020 8423 8999.

Live Chat

If you’d prefer to message us online, you can use our new Live Chat service and get all the advice, information and guidance you need without picking up the phone.

To access Live Chat, simply click on the image below to be connected to one of our advisers. You can access our helpline advisors using our live chat every weekday from 2pm until 5pm.

The types of queries best suited to Live Chat include:

- How can I access my medical records?

- How can I find a local dentist or register with a new GP practice?

- What should I do if I have concerns about my relative's care? 

If we require more information about your query, our helpline adviser may offer to call you to discuss your concern in more detail.

Email us

If you want to get in touch outside the hours that the helpline is staffed, you can send us an email instead and our friendly staff will get back to you as soon as possible. Send your emails to: [email protected]

About the helpline

You may want to know if you can get a second opinion about your condition, or how to change your GP or your dentist. You may want to make a complaint, find out what is written in your medical records or find out if we have encountered a specific problem before. If we can’t help you, the likelihood is that we will know someone who can.

How long before I get a reply?

If you ring the helpline and speak to an adviser we should be able to respond to your enquiry immediately. If you leave a voicemail or email us, we will aim to get back to you within 5 working days.

If you would like to help spread the word about how our helpline can help others, please download and print out our poster here 

Helplines Partnership

The Patients Association is a member of Helplines Partnership, the membership body for organisations that provide helpline services. The Partnership provides various services for helplines including training and a Quality Standard. This benefits our specialist helpline advisers in providing the best possible service to patients getting in touch with us.

As a registered charity, the Patients Association is dependent upon donations and sponsorship to be able to continue operating the helpline. You can see a full list of our supporters here.

Helpline Sponsors

"Leigh Day is proud to sponsor The Patients Association’s national helpline. The helpline provides valuable advice on the UK’s health and social care system and aims to enable every patient to get the support they need."