Not a major issue worthy of a thread to itself, but there is nowhere else to announce this piece of modest good news.

The Healthcare Commission report  State of Healthcare 2008 now includes the following statement on page 18 (22/137 in Acrobat)


Quote:

During 2007/08, NHS Direct answered 4.9 million calls on their 0845 number.

This reflects a correction from the originally published version which stated:


Quote:

During 2007/08, NHS Direct answered 4.9 million calls on their local-rate 0845 number.

Confirming the need for this change, it was commented "[we] tend to agree that our use of the term ‘local-rate’ in this context is unhelpful".

No need to open the champagne, but this is an indication that the point is getting through (if slowly).


On 1 April 2009, the Healthcare Commission (0845 601 3012) will be replaced by the Care Quality Commission (03000 616161). Again, this is not worth a celebratory party on its own, but I hope it provides some comfort to those who may think that our efforts are totally in vain.