News

DoH considers single three-digit number for urgent care calls

29-Apr-08

Calls to NHS Direct and GP out-of-hours services could soon be combined into single three-digit number for urgent care calls.

The idea has the backing of both the government and the opposition. But GPs warned that it would further erode doctors' position within primary care.

Dr Peter Holden, a GPC negotiator, said that simplification would benefit patients, but warned: ‘My concern is that it's being done to eventually cut GPs out of the loop.'

He said that the current system, under which surgery phone lines automatically redirect to the right provider out of hours, was more appropriate in maintaining a link between GPs and patients.

Lord Darzi's interim report last October said there may be benefits in adopting a three-digit number as a single point of contact. A spokesman confirmed that the DoH was currently ‘looking at how this might work'.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have proposed introducing ‘a single memorable number' to deal with all telephone triage calls.

A spokeswoman stressed that this wouldn't mean the abolition of NHS Direct.

jonn.elledge@haymarket.com

Comment below and tell us what you think

Comments

Martin Gray

29/04/2008

Oh for pity's sake! On on hand politicians talk about the importance of patient care and continuity yet on the other they come up with this hair brained scheme that will destroy it all! NHS Direct is already a problem for OOH providers where they are taking calls before re-directing them to the OOH provider. I work for the local OOH provider in West Yorkshire and the calls that we get from NHS Direct are always marked as 'urgent' to get a higher priority over patients we have not taken the calls directly from, their 'triaging' is a joke and NHS Direct should stick to doing what it was supposed to do originally, be an advice line only! I'm sure the ambulance service will have their own reservations as to how all this will work, as will A&E departments.

Rachael

29/04/2008

I agree with most of Martins comment. I work for an OOH provider as a triage nurse and since we started taking all of the calls OOH our statistics show that less 999 ambulances are called and we have less red/ urgent calls on our system passed from NHSD and patients receive timely advice/ response as required from one centre. combining the calls back with NHSD will only be a backwards step for our service- therefore lets hope we can have local diversions direct to our own service!

Alick Munro

02/05/2008

The most cost-effective person to do telephone-triage of out of hours calls is the patient's own GP. In evening hours and at weekends (other than at night) this telephone triage could be organised as an enhanced service. This would save a vast amount of inconvenience to patients and cost to the health service. It would be only moderately intrusive on leisure interests as there ould be no need to make home visits. The enhanced service could be structured as a payment for provision and an additional payment per call.

Only registered users may comment. Log in now or register for a free account.