NHS Direct seeks 111 withdrawal

[Northerner]

A major provider of the NHS non-emergency telephone service in England is seeking to pull out of its contracts due to severe problems.

NHS Direct initially won 11 of the 46 regional contracts for the service, covering 34% of the population.

It has already pulled out of two services, but the remaining nine are now "financially unsustainable".

The whole NHS 111 service itself has been plagued with problems, including reports of patients facing long waits.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23465966

Would you call NHS 111 if you had a problem? I've heard nothing but bad reports about it

 

[pav]

I have called 111 a few times, after a period of waiting on hold and various voice messages the calls have always been diverted to the local out of hours service.

 

[Northerner]

I have called 111 a few times, after a period of waiting on hold and various voice messages the calls have always been diverted to the local out of hours service.

You can see where the problem lies - if NHS Direct used to get ?20 a call and now only get ?7-?9 a call that's a huge reduction, hence less well-trained staff with sufficient medical knowledge can be employed. One of those cases where cheaper isn't always better. A company I worked for outsourced all their IT to India - the tasks were a tenth of the cost, but took ten times as long and were more prone to subsequent problems due to lack of continuity of staff knowledge. Sounds good on paper, but uneconomic in practice. With healthcare the importance of getting things right is hugely more important. I doubt NHS 111 will make any savings in the long run