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NHS Direct to axe telephone answering service

It has been revealed that the call handling service provided for NHS Direct is to be axed in England, although it will remain in Scotland and Wales.

The telephone answering service which offers advice to people on various health complaints and symptoms is due to be replaced by a new 111 number which members of the public can ring for advice. It is now thought that the service will be easier to use as the three digit number will be easier to remember.

Currently being trialled in North East England, the telephone answering service will replace the old 0845 4647 number and will offer health advice to people regarding 24 hour chemists, out of hour GPs and walk in centres. Whereas 999 is designed to be used in an emergency this new 111 number is designed to be used for more general advice.

However, the new call handling service which is expected to deal with up to 14,000 calls every day has received some criticism from parents and other health staff. Although some of the calls will be dealt with my medically trained nurses, the majority of calls will be answered by non specialist staff or call handlers.

This has led to a number of complaints from doctors as parents and other callers are often advised to visit a walk in centre when there is no need to. In addition, the British Medical Association even called for the service to be scrapped earlier this year claiming it does not always offer users the best advice.

Chief Executive of NHS Direct has defended claims that this new service has come as a result of cost cutting. He said: "More value for money doesn't necessarily mean that something will be worse."

The NHS Direct website will still be available to users to browse for health related help and advice.

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