Services ::

About NEMS

Who are we?

NEMS Community Benefit Services Limited (NEMS) is a not-for-profit company that holds contracts to deliver NHS services on behalf of our commissioners, NHS Nottingham City and NHS Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trusts. As a 'not for profit' organisation, we have no shareholders and any surplus moneycan only be spent with the agreement of our commissioners.

Our services are provided by local people so our GPs and nurses may well work in your own GP surgery and understand how our local healthcare system works in Nottingham.

What do we do and when do we do it?


We provide urgent medical care and advice whenever your own General Practitioner’s (GP) surgery is closed.

Urgent means ‘care that cannot safely wait until your GP surgery is next open’.

We are open whenever your surgery is closed. This is normally weekday evenings and overnight, plus 24/7 at weekends and on public holidays.This is called the 'out of hours' period, as it is outside of the normal opening hours of the surgery.

In addition we will sometimes cover your surgery on a weekday afternoon when it closes for staff training.

In the majority of cases, we can provide advice over the telephone. This service is provided in partnership with staff at NHS Direct in Nottingham, who answer calls on behalf of NEMS’ patients.

If we need to see you, we will offer you an appointment at our treatment centre.

If transport is a problem, please tell the GP or nurse that you talk to on the phone, as we may be able to help.

Visits are normally only made to bed-bound patients (such as nursing home residents) and the terminally ill but there are other circumstances in which a visit is the best way to help you.

We also provide the 'out of hours' call answering service for patients that need to speak to a district nurse and for pregnant ladies that need to speak to a midwife.  

In addition, we work with local GPs to help deal with urgent need during the normal working week, by organising hospital assessment or admission for local patients. Some patients are referred to NEMS for tests and investigations and may not then need to go to hospital.

Who can use our service?


We cover all patients registered with surgeries in the areas of Nottingham City and the south of Nottinghamshire County. We also cover a surgery in Castle Donington.

We also provide medical help to temporary residents – that is, people visiting you, holidaymakers and students living in the area but not yet registered with a local GP.

Where the need is urgent, we can provide advice and care to unregistered patients.

NEMS Cars

When to use NEMS

NEMS Community Benefit Services Limited
Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965
Register No. 29847R