No, they are not the same. Our Urgent Care Centres do not treat life-threatening illnesses. If you or someone you know is experiencing life-threatening symptoms, you should contact 999 immediately. Urgent Care Centres treat minor injuries and illnesses that require urgent medical attention, such as sprains, broken bones, minor head injuries, minor cuts and burns, infections of the ear or throat and urinary tract infections.

Our Urgent Care Centres for adults do not require an appointment. People over the age of 18 can walk into one of our three Urgent Care Centres. Urgent Care at The Wellington Hospital can see people from 16 and over. 94% of our patients are triaged within 15 minutes^*.

Appointments need to be made for our Children's Urgent Care Centre at The Portland Hospital.

If you have any questions, contact our HCA UK urgent care centres on 020 3553 6632.

Initial consultations are £120. Any additional charges, such as the cost of imaging or any tests, will be discussed with you in advance. Here are some examples of our prices for common additional treatment:

Dressing change: £60
Small Steri-strip closure: £55
Wound closure with glue: £50
Follow up doctor consultation (Urgent Care Centre): £80 Please note: If you do need to be referred for further treatment, admission to our network of hospitals is possible
Nurse consultation (Urgent Care Centre): £65

Your initial consultation must be paid for upfront, but we provide receipts for any claims you may want to make with your private medical or travel insurance company. If you need further care via a consultant referral, the cost of ongoing care will be explained to you in advance. If you have private medical insurance, you’ll be able to seek authorisation for this treatment.

We aim to triage patients within 15 minutes of arrival*. We see patients in order of arrival, but we will prioritise anyone presenting with more urgent clinical needs. After you’re registered a nurse will assess you. They’ll take your vitals, manage your pain and where possible organise any tests. You will then be fully assessed by an experienced urgent care physician who will organise further tests if required.

We do not treat life threatening emergencies. If you think you are having a heart attack or a stroke, we always advise calling 999 as quickly as possible. We also do not treat mental health problems or cases of acute confusion; severe trauma; pregnancy related problems over 20 weeks, or severe pain and bleeding at any point in your pregnancy; overdoses or exposure to a toxic substances; and severe burns. This list is not exhaustive and, in some instances, we may need to assess you before having to redirect you to the appropriate healthcare service.

Our urgent care doctors treat 96.2% of patients in their first visit. For those patients who need more tests or additional care, we have a permanent rota of on-call consultants from multiple medical and surgical specialties who are available by referral. If you do need to be referred for further treatment, you can speak to your insurer to pre-authorise any costs. Alternatively, you can choose to self-pay.

We have three adult walk-in facilities located in Marylebone, St John's Wood and Chelsea. Our Urgent Care service for Children is at Great Portland Street, near Regents Park. We also offer a walk-in GP service in London Bridge.