http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2306791/New-NHS-phone-line-left-wife-i...

kasg wrote on Apr 10^th, 2013 at 1:21pm:

Hear Hear!

Had the initial call in question been made to NHS Direct on 0845 4647, rather than 111, then the caller would have had to call again to make contact with the GP out of hours service for the area. This could have been through a 084 number used by their GP or directly to the out of hours provider, some of whom use 084 numbers. It may be that subsequent calls to chase up would have been answered more promptly, although hanging on for an answer on 111, at no cost to the caller, may have been cheaper than hanging on for an answer on another number. (It was not the actual call cost which caused the caller to hang up and try again later during the day.)

This is a most unhappy story, but the issues raised are not directly related to the choice of telephone number for 111. There may be an indirect relationship …

One fears that the most significant point may be the failure to rigidly enforce the principle that 111 is only for urgent, but non-emergency cases. The health information and advice telephone service offered by NHS Direct to cover non-urgent cases is being withdrawn. This information and advice is largely still available from other sources, but it is uneconomic to provide it in parallel with a telephone service intended for urgent cases, where calls need to be answered promptly. If, as may have happened in this case, the subsequent calls to 111 were not answered promptly because agents were dealing with non-urgent cases, then an argument could be made for setting a charge for calling 111. I would not support such an argument, but if the resources cannot be committed to 111 to ensure prompt access for urgent callers, then steps must be taken to stop 111 being used unnecessarily. One hopes that charging would be the last option to be considered!

I couldn't find anywhere else to put this.. so here it is..

From April 2014 NHS 24's number will be replaced with NHS 111.. More info here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2013/01/111-number23012013



edit: must learn to spell check! 

For the sake of clarity, the Health Information and Advice Service provided by NHS Direct on 0845 4647 has been withdrawn in England. (This should have happened on 1 April 2013, but it had to be extended.) A new, locally-based service on 111 has been introduced to address only URGENT, but non-emergency, requirements. The "NHS Direct" service continues in Wales.

NHS 24, the Scottish equivalent of the former NHS Direct Service, is changing its telephone number from 0845 4 24 24 24 to 111.

"NHS Direct" is not only the name of the telephone service, but also of a special NHS Trust, set up to run both the telephone service (in England and, separately, in Wales) and also a on-line information service. This Trust was largely responsible for creating the confusion around 111, as it tendered for 111 contracts and tried to pretend that the same services could be provided at the lesser budget which was assigned. It subsequently had to withdraw from 111 contracts.

Laura Anthony wrote on Mar 5^th, 2015 at 12:56pm:

The 111 service is NOT FOR EMERGENCIES. All emergencies (e.g. emergency ambulances) are handled by the 999 service.

111 should be able to connect you to the emergency service, or contact it themselves - if they recognise that this is what is required.

There may be a problem in getting across the message that 111 is for URGENT, but NON-EMERGENCY access to the NHS by telephone. Non-urgent enquiries should be made to the GP or any relevant specialist service.

If this was a request for "patient transport" (sometimes referred to as an "ambulance", but different to the emergency situation in which the term is normally understood), then there was obviously a misunderstanding. 111 should have been able to redirect the call to the appropriate patient transport provider.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out