Photograph by Den99
NHS Direct, a major provider of the 111 NHS non-emergency call service in England is looking to pull out of its remaining contracts with the service already plagued with problems.
NHS Direct initially ran the 0845 NHS non-emergency phone service and was paid around £20 per call, but with the development of the 111 service, for which the company won 11 of the 46 regional contracts, they only earn around £8 per call. These figures have caused the organisation to call the 111 service “financially unsustainable”, and they are now trying to pull out of the nine services they still control, with their deficit likely to reach £26 million if they are run until the end of the financial year.
The NHS 111 number was launched in April and has already seen a number of issues with callers facing long wait queues, with staffing number insufficient to meet the demand according to a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation. Delays have also pushed the launch of the service ins some areas to 2014.
The other regional 111 services are run by a variety of private companies and ambulance trusts, with discussions currently underway as to how they may be able to take over the regional services NHS Direct leaves behind.