A pilot scheme has been set up to evaluate the roll out of the telephone number 111 for patients to access urgent care services.
The new number will compliment the 999 number and it should be rung when there is a medical issue that needs assistance but it is not a medical emergency.
The pilot, rooted in the White Paper, will be held across Cumbria and Lancashire. It is hoped 111 will be in place by April 2012.
NHS Direct’s 0845 46 47 service is expected to be decommissioned in April 2013.
The Department of Health policy ambition is for NHS 111 to be available across England by April 2013.
During the pilot period the NHS 111 service would run in parallel with NHS Direct, with anticipated migration from an 0845 number to the free-to-caller 111.
During normal surgery hours patients will be expected to continue to call their GPs.
NHS 111 is not intended to replace GP numbers.
If a patient does call NHS 111 during the day and the disposition reached as part of the triage is for that patient to speak to or see a GP, the appropriate service will be displayed in the Directory of Services.
For many the service at the top of the list is likely to be the patient’s GP since they are best placed to meet their patients’ needs, but other options will be available if the patient cannot access their own practice.
If a patient needs to see a GP out of hours the caller will be put in contact with he GP OOHs service. NHS Pathways (the triage software) does not specify a home visit or surgery consultation; this is still determined by the OOH provider.
What NHS 111 will be able to do is encourage patients to call a free-to-caller number, at whatever time of the day or night, rather than turning up at A&E.
