UK Emergency Services Guide for Immigrants

The numbers, and where each one works

• 999 or 112 — life-threatening emergencies: police, ambulance, fire, coastguard. Both numbers reach the same operators, everywhere in the United Kingdom, free from any phone.
• 101 — non-emergency police. Used in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• 111 — urgent medical help that is not an emergency. NHS 111 in England, NHS 111 Wales in Wales, NHS 24 in Scotland. Northern Ireland has no 111 service.
• 18000 — 999 through Relay UK, for people who cannot use a voice call.
• 116 123 — Samaritans, free, day and night, for emotional support.
• 0800 555 111 — Crimestoppers, for reporting a crime anonymously.

When you call 999 the operator asks which service you need. If you are not sure, describe what has happened and they will decide. The NHS and the police both provide interpreters, so you can ask for one rather than struggle in English.

You can find your local police force on GOV.UK, which says to call 999 if a crime is in progress or someone is in immediate danger, and 101 if it is not an emergency.

When to call 999

Call 999 when:

• someone's life is at risk
• a crime is happening right now
• someone is seriously injured or seriously ill
• there is a fire
• someone is in immediate danger

Do not call 999 for anything else. A 999 call that is not an emergency holds up someone else's.

If you cannot speak

Relay UK connects deaf, hard of hearing and speech-impaired callers to 999. Dial 18000 in the Relay UK app or on a textphone and a relay assistant puts you through to the emergency operator. You can also send a text to 999, but only if you registered your mobile in advance: text the word register to 999 and reply yes to the automatic message. Relay UK warns that texting is slower than a voice call and should be used only if you have no other option, that a delivery report does not mean the emergency service has received the message, and that you must register again if you change your number. Your text should say which service you need, what has happened, and exactly where you are.

Urgent medical help: 111, and what Northern Ireland does instead

NHS 111 in England is free and available 24 hours a day, by phone, online or in the NHS App. The NHS says it can direct you to A&E, an urgent treatment centre, an out-of-hours GP or a pharmacist, arrange a nurse to call you back, and send an urgent prescription request to a local pharmacy. It cannot book or cancel appointments in other NHS services and it cannot issue a fit note. There is a text relay number, 18001 111, a British Sign Language video service, and interpreters in many languages.

Wales runs NHS 111 Wales and Scotland runs NHS 24, both on 111. In Scotland, NHS 24 asks you to phone 111 if you think you need A&E but it is not life or limb threatening, if you are in mental health distress, or when your GP practice, pharmacy or dental practice is closed.

Northern Ireland has no 111 service. nidirect tells people to phone their local GP out-of-hours service directly, and the number depends on the area — for example 028 9074 4447 for north and west Belfast and 028 9079 6220 for south and east Belfast. Find the number for your area before you need it. For anything life-threatening, Northern Ireland uses 999 like the rest of the UK.

For day-to-day healthcare, register with a GP first — see our GP registration guide.

Police: 101 and 999

Use 101 for non-emergency police matters:

• reporting a crime that has already happened and is not an emergency
• reporting anti-social behaviour
• giving information to the police
• making an enquiry or contacting your local policing team

101 works in all four nations. In Northern Ireland, nidirect notes that Tesco Mobile and giffgaff customers should call 028 9065 0222 instead of 101.

The police record and investigate crime reported by anyone, whatever their immigration status, and being the victim of a crime is not an immigration breach. Rowan cannot tell you what a particular force will do with your details, and there is no published rule that prevents police from sharing information with Immigration Enforcement. If you would rather not give your name, Crimestoppers takes anonymous reports on 0800 555 111. If the crime is domestic abuse, separate published Home Office arrangements apply.

A&E, and what it costs

Go to your nearest accident and emergency department for something serious that is not immediately life-threatening — a broken bone, a deep cut, chest pain, difficulty breathing, a severe allergic reaction.

The NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 say no charge may be made for accident and emergency services, and separately for services provided otherwise than at a hospital, which is why the ambulance is free. Both exemptions stop at the same point: the regulations exclude services provided after you have been accepted as an inpatient, or at an outpatient appointment. So the emergency itself is free to everyone; an admission afterwards can be charged to someone who is not ordinarily resident.

The same regulations exempt family planning services, treatment for sexually transmitted infections and certain infectious diseases, and treatment for conditions caused by torture, female genital mutilation, domestic violence or sexual violence, provided the person did not come to the UK in order to get that treatment.

Paying the immigration health surcharge puts you on the same footing as an ordinarily resident person. That is not the same as free. You then pay what a resident pays: in England, £9.90 for each prescription item, and NHS dental charges of £27.90, £76.60 or £332.10 depending on the band, with urgent dental treatment charged at £27.90. Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. See our emergency care guide and NHS access guide.

Fire

Call 999 if there is a fire. While you wait:

• get everyone out of the building
• do not go back inside for possessions
• close doors behind you to slow the fire
• wait outside for the fire service

Alarm duties on landlords are set separately in each nation. In England, the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015, as amended from 1 October 2022, require a landlord to fit at least one smoke alarm on every storey with living accommodation and a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker, and to repair or replace an alarm once told it is faulty. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set their own requirements, and Scotland's apply to owner-occupied homes as well as rented ones. Check the rules for the nation you live in. The GOV.UK fire safety collection holds the England guidance.

Next steps

Put 999, 101 and 116 123 in your phone. If you live in England, Wales or Scotland, add 111. If you live in Northern Ireland, look up your local GP out-of-hours number and save that instead. If you cannot use a voice call, register your mobile for emergency texts now, before you need it. Register with a GP and a dentist, and find out where your nearest A&E is.

Related guides:

• Register with a GP
• NHS Access for Visa Holders
• Emergency Care for Visa Holders
• First Week in the UK Checklist

Questions and answers