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Department of Health-Endorsed Helplines

The Department of Health runs or supports the following telephone helplines, which can only be called from within the UK.

Blood donor telephone service
08457 711 711 - Available 24 hours, 7 days a week
The blood donor telephone service offers advice to people who would like to become a blood donor or who want to know where their nearest blood donor centre or session is.

British Allergy Foundation helpline
020 8303 8583 - Available 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday
A helpline staffed by a specialist nurse to provide information and support for people with allergies and their carers, the general public and health professionals. The helpline is run by the British Allergy Foundation.

Carers line
0808 808 7777 - Available monday to friday 10am - 12pm and 2pm - 4pm
Supporting carers in their role by providing complex advice and information on welfare benefits and community care issues.

ChildLine
0800 1111 - Available 24 hours, 365 days a year, ChildLine is a free, national helpline for children in trouble or danger.
Children living away from home can also call a special helpline called 'The Line' on 0800 884444. The service operates 3.30pm - 9.30pm Monday to Friday and 2pm - 8pm at the weekend. A Minicom service for children who are deaf or have impaired hearing is available on 0800 400 222. This service operates 9.30am - 9.30pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am - 8pm at the weekend.

Churches' child protection advisory service
08451 204 551 - Available Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5pm
The helpline exists to help leaders/workers in churches, children's groups and other organisations deal appropriately with issues of abuse and child protection. It is also available to parents and children/young people direct.

Contact a family helpline
0808 808 3555 - Available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm
This is a sensitive and sympathetic listening service for parents whose children have been diagnosed with a disability. It provides information on all medical conditions affecting children, including the rare disorders. Families are directed towards local and national support groups, many of which provide help on a one-to-one basis.

Contraceptive education service
0845 310 1334 - Available 9pm - 7pm, Monday to Friday
The contraceptive education service provides information and advice on all aspects of pregnancy planning and prevention.

Doctors' Supportline
0870 765 0001 - Available evenings 6pm - 10pm, tuesdays 9am - 2pm and sundays 10am -10pm. Closed Saturdays.
This service is for doctors with personal concerns such as burnout, work problems, anxiety and depression family worries. Trained volunteer doctors offer friendly listening and support which is confidential and anonymous

Drinkline
0800 917 8282 - Available 9am - 11pm - Monday to Friday
Drinkline is a national alcohol helpline providing counselling, support, advice and information.

Elder abuse response line
020 8679 7074 - Available Monday to Friday 2pm - 4pm
The elder abuse response line provides a confidential information and support service for anyone concerned about the abuse of an older person.

Frank Campaign helpline
0800 776600 - Available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day
The Frank Campaign helpline provides information and advice about drugs and information on local services. The service can take calls in over 120 languages via a three way call with a translator. There is also a website providing information and an email service for users to send in questions which will be responded to.

Gingerbread advice line
0800 018 4318 - Available Monday to Friday 11am - 4pm
The Gingerbread advice line provides advice and emotional support to all lone parent families by telephone. Calls are confidential.

Health literature line
0800 555777 - Available Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm (voicemail at all other times)
The health literature line is the telephone ordering service for free Department of Health publications on a range of health issues.

Help with health costs advice line
0800 9177711 - Available Monday to Friday 9am - 6pm and Saturdays 9am - 12pm
The advice line provides advice to NHS patients and professionals about entitlements to prescription charge exemptions and the evidence needed to authenticate exemption claims in pharmacies and dispensing chemists.

Kidscape
08451 205 204 - Available Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm
The helpline offers practical advice to children, parents, and carers on child safety, sexual abuse, abduction by strangers, child abduction, and bullying.

Learning disability helpline
0808 808 1111 - Available 9am - 5pm
The helpline provides information and advice on learning disability issues to callers including people with learning disabilities, their families and carers, and professionals working in the field.

Menopause and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) helpline
01293 413000 - Available Monday to Friday 11am - 6pm
The menopause and HRT helpline advises women on queries about the menopause from trained menopause health counsellors.

Miscarriage association helpline
01924 200799 - Available Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm (answerphone all other times)
The miscarriage association helpline offers support and information to those who have lost a baby during pregnancy.

National asthma helpline
0845 7010203 - Available Monday to Friday, 9am - 7pm
The national asthma helpline is staffed by specialist asthma nurses to offer support, advice and counselling to people with asthma and their carers. The helpline is run by the National Asthma Campaign.

NHS Asian tobacco helpline
0800 169 0 881 (Urdu)
0800 169 0 882 (Punjabi)
0800 169 0 883 (Hindi)
0800 169 0 884 (Gujerati)
0800 169 0 885 (Bengali)
Available tuesdays 1pm - 9pm
The NHS Asian tobacco helpline offers friendly, practical advice in the appropriate mother tongue language (or English) to South Asians wanting to give up smoking and/or chewing tobacco paan.

NHS Careers helpline
0845 6060655 - Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The helpline provides information on NHS careers. A dedicated team is available Monday - Friday 9am and 6pm.

NHS Direct
0845 4647 - Available 24 hours, 7 days a week
NHS Direct provides advice and information about health and the NHS so that people are better able to care for themselves and their families. The service aims to provide clinical advice to support self-care and appropriate self-referral to NHS services, as well as access to more general advice and information.

NHS pregnancy smoking helpline
0800 1699169 - Available 7 days a week, 12pm - 9pm.
Offers practical, helpful and friendly advice to pregnant woman wanting to give up smoking as well as details of local stop smoking services. A call back service is also offered, whereby the individual receives calls from a specialist counsellor for the duration of the pregnancy.

NHS smoking helpline
0800 1690169 - Available 7 days a week, 7am - 11pm
Offers practical, helpful and friendly advice to individuals wanting to give up smoking as well as details of local stop smoking services. Health professionals can order a range of literature from the helpline.

Organ donor line
0845 60 60 400 - Available 7 days a week, 7am - 11pm
Provides information about becoming an organ donor together with a registration form to join the NHS Organ Donor Register and a donor card, and other organ donation literature.

Parentline
080 88 00 22 22
Parentline provides a confidential telephone helpline for anyone in a parenting role. They offer a safety valve and a source of information about a whole range of parenting issues. The helpline workers are all parents who have undergone training to help callers find answers to concerns ranging from bad behaviour to bullying, depression or parental access.

Prescription prepayment certificate (PPC) order line
0845 850 0030 - Available Monday to Friday, 8am - 8pm
This helpline is run by the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) and exists to enable the public to buy a PPC by phone using a credit of debit card. It also provides general advice about entitlement to free prescriptions, in particular medical or maternity based exemption from prescription charges and how to obtain an exemption certificate. Calls are at local rate.

Prescription pricing authority public enquiry line
0845 601 8076 - Available Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.30pm
This helpline is run by the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) and exists to deal with queries about specific cases relating to prescription prepayment, medical or maternity exemption certificates. It will also deal with more complicated queries where the Prescription Prepayment Certificate Order Line could not advise. Calls are at local rate.

Saneline
0845 767 8000 - Available 12pm - 2am
Saneline is an out-of-hours telephone helpline offering practical information, crisis care and emotional support to anybody affected by mental health problems.

Sexual health line
0800 567123 - Available 24 hours, 365 days a year
The sexual health line provides advice and information about HIV, AIDS and sexual health/local services. Calls to the helpline are confidential.

Social work recruitment campaign helpline
0845 604 6404 - 8am -10pm
To handle response from the national recruitment campaign for social workers

Stillbirths and neonatal deaths helpline
020 7436 5881 - Available Monday to Friday 10am - 5pm
The stillbirths and neonatal deaths helpline provides an opportunity for parents to express their grief with trained counsellors.

Support line for survivors of professional abuse
08454 500 300 - Monday to Friday 10am - 12.30 pm and 1.30pm - 4pm
The Prevention of Professional Abuse Network (POPAN) provides a free and confidential service to people who have been abused by social and/or healthcare professionals. POPAN workers listen carefully as people relate their experiences of abuse. POPAN also provides information about the various options open to clients and supports them as they decide what to do.

Welfare foods helpline
0800 0562665 - Available Monday - Friday 9.30am - 4pm
The welfare food advice line enables customers to obtain general advice on the welfare food scheme and to enable abuse of the scheme to be reported. Calls are free of charge.

Winter warmth advice line
0800 0857000 (telephone)
0800 0857857 (minicom)
Monday to Friday 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday (1 October - 31 March) The winter warmth line provides advice and information to older and vulnerable people on keeping warm and well during the winter months. Information is also available on benefit entitlements, cold weather payments, and grants for energy efficiency improvements to the home.

Women's aid national domestic violence helpline
08457 023 468 - Available 24hrs
To offer support, help and information to women who are experiencing, or who have experienced, domestic violence.

Women's health concern helpline
01628 483 612
The women's health concern helpline advises women on gynaecological problems, the menopause and HRT.

Women's Health enquiry line
020 7251 6580 Monday to Friday (except Tuesday) 10am - 4pm
Women's Health offers a confidential, non-judgmental enquiry service providing information on a wide range of women's health topics.